Chicago Tap Theatre’s “Changes” retro-fires its rockets back to the future of 1940’s outer space drama in a production that revives a past success and forges new creative ground. (June 30-July 16, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 3 PM, Stage 773),
Strike up the band for July! Tap Dance dominates with the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s annual Rhythm World Festival (July 17-23) and Chicago Tap Theatre’s extended run of “Changes” (June 30-July 16). Joining the midsummer Chicago dance roster are three programs devoted to the development of new choreography: Cerqua Rivera (July 13), Thodos Dance Chicago (July 15-16) and DanceChance (July 28).
There are rare moments when a dance performance transcends itself and becomes something more. “Water Section,” excerpted from Alejandro Cerrudo’s evening-length “One Thousand Pieces” (2012) brought Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to that brink midway through a stunning opening night of the company’s 40th anniversary Summer Series (Thursday, June 8-Sunday, June 11, Harris Theater).
July Dance Community Convening
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Lawyers for the Creative Arts
A dancer dies twice – once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the most painful. ~Martha Graham
As Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) takes the Landmark Stage at the Auditorium Theatre this weekend, they will be saying goodbye to two company dancers. But, unlike Ms. Graham’s quote above, there will not be pain – there will be nothing but joy, love, and gratitude. Rachael Lynn Berube and Joshua Blake Carter will take their final bows with full hearts and eyes open expectantly toward the future.
ONCE AND ALWAYS A DANCER
The pointe shoes nest on the shelf nearest where I draw my jewelry designs.
They are such a part of the landscape that I don’t notice them most days. Those pointe shoes have always been a part of my life history, just like my Nana’s “magic” perfume bottles.
A joyful bombardment of rhythms from all corners of the globe fell on a whooping audience at downtown Chicago’s newly-restored Studebaker Theater Friday night for a celebratory culmination of The Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s “Stomping Grounds.”
The month of June kicks off a summer of Chicago dance with neighborhood festivals, company seasons, and single events, with dance styles ranging from contemporary to jazz and tap, multi-disciplinary to culturally-specific, musical theater to hip-hop. Check out our highlights, and try something new in June!
JUNE HIGHLIGHTS:
Before Phil Brooks’ stand-up routine introducing “Persist,” the latest installment of Audible Odyssey’s fanfare for Chicago tap dance (8 PM, May 26-27, Stage 773), tappers drifted onto the raised wooden sound board of a stage, shuffled and ball-heeled casually into circle formation, and began keeping the beat.