It was a rather brief evening of theater. And dance. And theatrical dance--at Columbia College on Thursday. This last event, in a two week hip-hop series of concerts, workshops and panel discussions called B-Real, provided something completely different from the previous weekend’s Compagnie Kafig. (see review 2/23/2014)
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater remains true to its mission of “celebrating the human spirit using the African-American cultural experience and American modern dance tradition” in its Chicago season opener this past Friday at the Auditorium Theatre and continuing with three rotating programs through March 9th.
The second series launches with Reggie Wilson offering a distinctive conversation and performative sharing of his extensive research into the legacies of African and African American culture.
Go on a journey with Gnawa by global choreographer Nacho Duato, whose work the Chicago Tribune calls “gorgeously classical and pertly idiosyncratic.”
Potent dance works by 6 risk-taking choreographers.
"A haven for new directions and ongoing experiments" - Laura Molzahn
In his newest work, Moses(es), Reggie Wilson examines the multiple iterations of the Moses story—secular, religious and mythical—to ask: how do we lead and why do we follow?
"Technically stunning and emotionally raw" — The New York Times
"One of this country’s most talented choreographers" — The New York Times
“And now for something completely different” could have been the sub-title for “Contemporary Choreographers,” Joffrey Ballet Chicago’s winter season, running from February 12-23 at the Auditorium Theater. Brock Clawson’s Crossing Ashland (2012), Christopher Wheeldon’s Continuum (2002), and Alexander Eckman’s Episode 31 (2011) made for an especially stimulating evening of distinctive styles, intriguing structure, and original movement vocabulary, but common threads provided unifying elements.
by Lynn Colburn Shapiro
Names and titles can inform or confound, inspire curiosity or obscure meaning. Esoteric Dance Project’s co-artistic director/choreographers Christopher Tucker and Brenna Pierson-Tucker have done all of the above in “Shift/ed,” a program of four new works presented at Links Hall over the weekend.
Something felt amiss at the Dance Center of Columbia College during the opening performance of a double-billed Khecari and The Humans program. The New Stages for Dance grant that brought the two dance companies to the Dance Center intends to open the door for small budget companies to present work at larger venues, to a broader audience. In theory, that sounds great, and indeed the house at 1306 S. Michigan was nearly full on opening night.