The crucial need for diversity and racial equality in the performing arts inspired The Joffrey Ballet to create The Winning Works Choreographic Competition in 2011 to promote talented and emerging ALAANA choreographers (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American), whose access to professional exposure has typically been limited in the predominantly white male concert dance industry.

The South Loop Spark Plug is an arts incubation series for dance commissioned by the Chicago Artists Performance Platform (CAPP) with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and hosted by The Dance Centre of Columbia College Chicago. Four choreographers—Vershawn Sanders-Ward, Orlando “juice” De León Jr., Keyierra Collins, and Keisha Janae—took part in a six-month residency with Bebe Miller, acclaimed choreographer, dancer and artistic director of the Solo/Duo Dancing Project, and Dance Center faculty member Darrell Jones.

As the snow melts and the ice thaws, dance companies and audiences are warming up to the idea of returning to live performances. This March saw live shows by large companies like Chicago Tap Theatre and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the return of companies like Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Chicago’s smaller black box theatres are also opening back up, housing performances by the community-driven, hard-working independent dance companies in abundance pre-COVID.

With a brand new rehearsal space couched in the famed Water Tower Place and the one-year-anniversary celebration of hiring Artistic Director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, excitement is in abundance at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Our city can expect big things from the beloved, 44-year-old dance company. Re/Connect, Hubbard’s spring concert series, rises to the occasion with two programs spanning two extended weekends.
 

Ailey is back! With a long hiatus from Chicago due to the pandemic, opening night at the Auditorium Theatre was just the reunion and fellowship we forgot we needed.

Before the program began, I searched my program looking for the theme of the evening.

Like Prometheus of Greek lore, interdisciplinary choreographer Akram Kahn once again brings the fire to Chicago with “Creature,” a dystopian ballet that made its international premiere Thursday night at the Harris Theatre for Music and Dance. Kahn, a natural collaborator, once again teams up with the English National Ballet, whose previous collaboration, a reimagined “Giselle,” was met with critical acclaim when it performed here in 2019.

In an interview with London-based choreographer Akram Khan, I was let in on the basis of his new work “Creature,” featuring the English National Ballet and scheduled to premiere in the U.S. Thursday at the Harris Theater. 

Initially sparked by the themes of isolation present in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” and further guided by George Büchner’s unfinished play “Woyzeck,” “Creature” takes us on an arctic journey exploring the last frontier, testing human thresholds and challenging us to question what we inevitably leave behind on our collective quest for more. 

Although Valentine’s Day was nearly a week ago, you can still feel the love—the love of tap dance, that is! Last Saturday evening at the Athenaeum Theatre, CTT opened their 19th season with “For the Love of Tap,” a presentation of the company’s favorite repertory works and some world premieres. Known for their narrative-driven story shows, artistic director and founder of CTT Mark Yonally decided that what tap in Chicago needed this year was a shot in the arm—no pun intended—and put together a program that is light of heart and heavy in rhythm.