Witness the magical 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with young Marie and her Nutcracker Prince in two-time Tony Award® winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s holiday masterpiece. It’s a celebratory Christmas Eve, and thanks to a surprise visit from the enchanting Great Impresario, Marie embarks on a spellbinding adventure into a realm of spectacle and wonder. Experience our holiday magic in this must-see tradition boldly reimagined for a new generation.
Join See Chicago Dance at the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago on Wednesday, December 6th for the next installment of Screendance Club, the radically casual watch-party and discussion of short dance films. Different from a typical talk-back, Screendance Club aims to create an environment of open conversation and exploration--with artists, filmmakers, and viewers on an equal footing.
Celebrating 30 years of training, performance, and community, Hyde Park School of Dancebrings together fans of ballet, modern, and hip hop with its annual presentation of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Performances are December 8–10 at Mandel Hall on the University of Chicago campus, 1131 E. 57th Street, Chicago.
Emerging choreographer Esther Pauline Farley presents "Bodies of Water", seventeen pieces that introduce different characters brought to life by a collective of artists from the Chicago area that premiered on October 20 - 21 at the Greenhouse Theater Center.
Before the dancing begins, the allegory of water is already on the nose: soap bubbles adorn the curtain and cottony clouds hang from above, all lit in hues of blue. Ocean waves play in place of music, and a projection mimics the ebb and flow of a water’s edge.
On November 3-4, contemporary dance company Hedwig Dances will present “no ideas but in things,” featuring three world premieres. SeeChicagoDance was invited to view a preview performance of “K@O2” by Rigoberto Saura, “Pat & Dianna” (working title) by Noelle Kayser and an untitled work by Jenna Pollack. As the show’s title suggests, each artist was prescribed a single objective: to merge dance with a tangible visual environment.
Liam Scarlett’s “Frankenstein,” presented at the Lyric Opera House by The Joffrey Ballet, breathes new life into a worn-out property. The dancing relays the tragic tale acutely. Production Designer John Macfarlane and composer Lowell Liebermann bring classic horror movie and 18th-century aesthetics to life to create a sort of “living film.” The characters are reimagined, some roles are expanded, and surprises await even die-hard fans of the misanthropic monstrosity.
October is a prime time for release, renewal and the celebration of culture; it is also Hispanic heritage month. Ballet 5:8’s proud Mexican American founder and choreographer Julianna Rubio Slager honors her culture through her chosen medium of dance. Her latest revival of “BareFace” returns this fall to the Athenaeum Center in Chicago, Oct. 18 - 21, furthering a celebration of distinction, love and what it means to be Hispanic at this moment in history.
In the borderland where El Paso and Ciudad Juárez converge, thousands of women have tragically vanished, commuting between their homes and neighboring sweatshops. These women are more than statistics—they are cherished mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and wives. Their absence demands that their voices be heard, and their names remembered.
Mary Shelley’s groundbreaking science fiction/horror/philosophic novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” has been a tremendous hit ever since its publication in 1818. Despite Shelley’s young age—she was eighteen when she began the work, twenty when it was published.
Existentialism, humanism, isolation and betrayal are themes in the original novel that have led to countless reincarnations over the years.