Joffrey Ballet’s lavish production of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella (Auditorium Theater, May 11-22) is a gift of classical ballet on its grandest scale, but with a stroke of modernity, a glittering finish to the company’s sixtieth anniversary season.
By Sharon Hoyer
Racism, sexism, homophobia, the hypocrisy of Victorian mores in post-World War II America, the military draft lottery and the Viet Nam War all fueled a stormy climate that gave rise to the 60’s protest era and the counter-culture rock music that accompanied it.
A hip hop/contemporary work on Wrong & Right.
Kyle Abraham is a Renaissance man in almost every sense.
Miami City Ballet cruised into town this past Friday with a luscious program that soared on a wave of musical complexity and choreographic brilliance. In each of the three large-scale ballets in the first of its two-program weekend, killer choreography showed off the company’s technical chops, while superb movement design made grand partnerships with great symphonic music, performed live by the Chicago Philharmonic. If Friday’s program was any indication, music is important to the Miami City Ballet. What a treat!
Inspired in part by varying scales of extroversion vs. introversion, UNDER(cover) is set in an intimate, somewhat immersive environment, uniquely built to engage audiences in a less conventional, more visceral way. An experience that is shaped by you.
Bras, broomsticks, and triple time steps sweep across the Chicago dance landscape in the merry month of May! Chicago Dance Month continues into the coming month with a bursting bouquet of exciting dance events you won’t want to miss.
MAY HIGHLIGHTS:
Emily Stein’s latest installment of her Secret Experiments in Ballet, running for three performances last weekend at Dovetail Studios, integrates her depth of knowledge about classical ballet with post-modern choreographic sensibilities. As with her other “experiments,” Stein, a master ballet teacher and former Associate Artistic Director of Zephyr Dance, has made a long-term commitment to peeling back layers of the ballet onion in order to uncover new movement possibilities from within the form.
THRUST! is a one of a kind double feature of tap and modern dance showcasing the work of long-time Tapman collaborators Tristan Bruns (tap) and Kate O’Hanlon (modern) and special guest choreographer Ian Berg (tap). The pieces performed are created specifically for this thrust (three-sided) stage with elaborate props and set design, original music by Trainwreck Symphony and composer Carolyn O’Brien, and new arrangements of popular music.