The Nutcracker ballet comes in all shapes and sizes. This past weekend saw opening nights of two Chicago Nutcrackers that have each played an important role in Chicago dance history, creating holiday traditions and setting the standard for its production. The Joffrey Ballet celebrates the final season and 28th consecutive year of founding director, Robert Joffrey’s 1987 Nutcracker, while the Ruth Page Civic Ballet observes the 50th anniversary of Miss Page’s 1965 production, which  ran annually at McCormick place until 1997. 

Growing up in Kansas, tapper Mark Yonally found his niche as a dancer by jamming with jazz musicians. His love for embodying live jazz music would become the foundation of Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT), a 13-year old tap company committed to original music and storytelling – a departure from traditional perceptions of tap dance. Where many tap companies view the form as a genre of music, opting for plain costumes and plotless soundscapes, Yonally is more interested in positioning tap as a choreographic form, using stagecraft and live music with tap dance to tell contemporary stories.

Snowflakes with a 90% chance of Sugarplums! Severe ColdWatch, in effect beginning December 4, likely to trigger an infestation of dancing Mice! 

The house of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance was well filled-in last weekend for Day of the Gypsy, a collaboration between RPM Productions and legendary gypsy jazz composer John Jorgenson.

Julie Nakagawa and Andreas Böttcher started DanceWorks Chicago (DWC) in 2007 after leading Hubbard Street 2 together for 10 years. Given Nakagawa and Böttcher’s backgrounds, it only makes sense that the mission of their company is driven by a commitment to early career artists, but DanceWorks employs a relatively new model. Most groups aimed at developing artists are somehow attached to a larger organization of more mature dancers.