On May 5 at The Myron R. Szold Music & Dance Hall, Identity Performing Arts presented “Fearless,” a series of repertory works and one premiere by choreographer and company artistic director Ginny Ching-Yin Lo. The works were set on a small company of dancers and performed to music both recorded and live, with sweeping soundscapes created by experimental electronic duo “Chromabeats,”—whose members are named Mancho (Marshal Greenhouse) and functionless (Wiebe Dirk)—with the addition of Alex Brinkman on cello and Eli Lu on keyboard.

On Wednesday April 27th the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago premiered its spring program—a split bill consisting of the company debut of George Balanchine’s “Serenade” and the world premiere of Cathy Marston’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” The two works ran for a total of two hours, but it passed in the blink of an eye. Visions of suspended tulle whipping furiously around the stage and haunting images of grayscale murder scenes linger in my mind, so divided in aesthetic yet bonded in brilliance.

Wanna see something rooted, swinging and soulful?
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre presents “Celebrating Black Excellence,” May 7

Zephyr, an experimental dance company and Chicago arts mainstay, made its return to live, in-person performance at SITE/less with “Not Dead Yet,” a shared evening of new work by Michelle Kranicke (Zephyr), Joanna Read (Same Planet Performance Project), and Tom Brady (Sartori).

When asked what drew her to John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella, “Of Mice and Men,” British choreographer Cathy Marston said, “It asks all the questions that invigorate me—faith in friendship, why people are so isolated…”

See Chicago Dance reached Marston by phone during a break in rehearsals at Joffrey Tower where she is putting the finishing touches on the world premiere production, opening April 27th at the Lyric Opera House. (See below for details.)