I expected my first time as an audience member at a live show since the start of the pandemic would be in a dark, dusty, 60-seat theater with the acrid smell of 40 years’ worth of black paint filling my nostrils while sitting in a chair as old as the building itself, trying not to rattle the loose arm rest or pick at the edges of the frayed, red, crushed velvet upholstery. Instead, I found myself roaming the grassy grounds of a stately mansion, trying not jangle my keys as I walked, the aroma of fresh wildflowers wafting through the air. 

“Congratulations, world.”

These two words, chanted by emcee Jyl Fehrenkamp at the bubbles of audience members sprawled across Daniel Webster Park’s welcoming lawn on Friday night, still sit in my mind. It was a phrase that so perfectly captured the emotions of the night and wrapped them in a pristine bow.

“Black Hair E(m)urge: Beyond the Box 4.3” is an original dance, music and calligraphy collaboration presented virtually by Asian Improv aRts Midwest at Links Hall this past weekend.

Tuning into the virtual broadcast of its fourth annual installation in Links Hall’s “Beyond the Box” series, I found myself immediately transported into an auditory world of traditional Japanese string, percussion and vocal music and the visual designs of Japanese calligraphy and contemporary Asian portraiture.

The flagship fundraiser of Chicago Dancers United (CDU), Dance for Life, returns to a live, in-person format in its 30th edition. Dance for Life will take place Aug. 26 in Millennium Park. Established in 1991 as a response to the AIDS epidemic's devastating toll on Chicago's dance community, Dance for Life has changed over the years, most notably with the development of Chicago Dancers United as an umbrella non-profit which manages The Dancers' Fund, Dance for Life's primary beneficiary.

elihunyushwe nguLisa Goldstone

Molara Ogundipe-Leslie (1993) once asked, "Are African women voiceless or do we fail to look for their voices where we may find them, in the sites and forms in which these voices are uttered?" I open with this increasingly persistent question as it is one that I have been contemplating for some time now.  It is a question that remains pertinent in a world that is still governed by dichotomies that want to define us in absolute terms.

The first time I saw the Joffrey Ballet perform, I remember physically attending the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago and being struck by the decadence, the halls and aisles paved in scarlet, velvet and gold. I remember wanting to both cross my legs and fly. A feeling of royalty came across me as the curtains opened, the opulence set the tone for the excellence to come and I knew I would be enchanted by a Chicago unknown.  

Beginning Friday, the Chicago Inclusive Dance Festival (CIDF) is excited to host its third gathering of movement-related activities for dancers of all abilities. The free, open-to-the public, multi-day event features something for all dance lovers: movement workshops, dance films by two local companies, a day of family-oriented events, a keynote address and an animated film screening. This year will be the first time the festival is online-only due to pandemic restrictions, but that isn’t diminishing the content or enthusiasm of its coordinators or participants.

This Friday, Loyola University Chicago’s dance program celebrates the graduating senior class through the annual “Dance Senior Showcase.” This year, the performance highlights the changed artists who are taking the stage after a year and a half of the pandemic, and it features one ensemble work and six solos performed by each of the graduating dance majors—all prerecorded and streamed on Zoom.