37-years loyal to the city of Chicago, Hedwig Dances is known for its eclectic, theatrical flare paired with a love for free-flowing movement. On Friday, April 8th—for their first in-person performance in two, long years—the company stepped boldly into two completely different worlds with a double bill: “Field Theory.”
For ten years Chicago Repertory Ballet (CRB) has made it a point to stand out from the traditional ballet crowd, choosing instead to approach the art form from a more contemporary perspective. CRB’s focus, according to the program, is on “breaking people’s preconceived notions of the art form and bringing ‘dance that defies labels’ to the stage.”
For 59 seasons, Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) has served as “a prime example of a company that can simultaneously revel in the past and the present” (Chicago Tribune). Considered “jazz dance royalty” (Chicago Tribune), the electrifying performers of America’s original jazz dance company “invariably run on high-octane fuel and generate a similarly high-powered response from their audience” (Chicago Tonight). The high-energy company heats up the Auditorium Theatre stage with an evening not to be missed!
Updated April 7, 2022
Fire Spinning! Dancing! Circus Arts! Acrobatics! Comic Books!….and Belly Dancing? !!@#EE GAD!*#&!!
The performance art collective known as “Raks Geek” turns traditional belly dancing on its ear with this month’s installment of its theatrical spectacle, “Raks Inferno,” at the Newport Theatre (formerly Links Hall) in Wrigleyville this Friday, April 8th. (See details below.)
“This is a proud moment,” Visceral Dance Chicago’s founder and artistic director, Nick Pupillo began as the company celebrates its ninth year in existence, and also the grand opening of a new performance venue. The large black box theater, located at the back of the new Visceral Dance Center, is called “The Ann Barzel Theater,” named after the legendary Chicago dance critic.
Numerology tells us that numbers carry significant energy. They guide us on our sacred path and lead us to our inner and outer work. Nine, the multi-hyphenate number that represents birthing, enlightenment, love, forgiveness and awakening, has also taken another role serving as the fitting title for Praize Productions Inc’s first motion picture.
This weekend marks a major milestone for the Evanston Dance Ensemble (EDE) as they celebrate their quadricentennial anniversary with “Silver Lining: Celebrating 25 Years of Dance,” a review of popular selections from the company’s long presentation history.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Hybrid: In-person at Links Hall & livestreaming on YouTube. See linkshall.org for show info & artist bios.
Weekend 1:
The crucial need for diversity and racial equality in the performing arts inspired The Joffrey Ballet to create The Winning Works Choreographic Competition in 2011 to promote talented and emerging ALAANA choreographers (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American), whose access to professional exposure has typically been limited in the predominantly white male concert dance industry.
The South Loop Spark Plug is an arts incubation series for dance commissioned by the Chicago Artists Performance Platform (CAPP) with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and hosted by The Dance Centre of Columbia College Chicago. Four choreographers—Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Orlando “juice” De León Jr., Keyierra Collins, and Keisha Janae—took part in a six-month residency with Bebe Miller, acclaimed choreographer, dancer and artistic director of the Solo/Duo Dancing Project, and Dance Center faculty member Darrell Jones.