This Fall, the Dance Center of Columbia College presents a virtual series called “The Dance Buffet,” a smorgasbord of workshops and performances from over 30 Chicago artists. Tap dancer Jumaane Taylor wants to assault your senses and leave you with a so-bad-it’s-good taste in your mouth with his new work, “Ugly Flavors.” Ironically, it is one of the main offerings in the “dessert” portion of the buffet.

As I write this, snow is falling on gardens still bursting with color and life and trees are just coming into the fullness of their vibrant fall foliage. The irony isn’t lost on the valiant struggle in the arts for some grasp of normalcy in a season that is about as far from normal as things get.

The chill comes early this year, and perhaps fittingly so, as we peer into a season fast closing in on more containment and a dark, uncertain winter.

While COVID-19 has flatlined many curatorial projects, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), like many cultural art houses and performance venues, continues to explore ingenious ways of presenting and connecting artistic communities, albeit virtually. This year, the MCA partnered with artists and institutions nationally, hoping to present works that could be accessed at home through a combination of internet, phone, mail and interactive live events.

A couple months ago, I first saw the trailer for choreographer Rena Butler's then-untitled dance film which would be opening Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's 43rd season. I was intrigued not only because the work would be Hubbard Street's first virtual season premiere, but because its narrative core was expressed through the perspective of two fellow native Southsiders: Butler and filmmaker Talia Koylass.

With the majority of live dance performances and classes now online only, how do you keep children engaged in learning about dance? Books! Reading is an interactive way to teach not only steps and basic technique, but also to weave a narrative of dance history in a way that’s fun. We found two companies that are using books as an aid to their online dance programming and, guess what? It’s fun for the student, teachers and writers too. If you look on the surface American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York City and Bollywood Groove (bG) based here in Chicago don’t have much in common.

Chicago had cast its spell on dancer/choreographer Nejla Yatkin long before “The Other Witch” called out to her imagination. Connections that gave birth to Yatkin’s newest multi-media, multi-lingual creation transcend international and historical boundaries, from World War I Germany to a remote village in East Anatolia, Turkey, to 20th-century Berlin and ultimately to its realization in Chicago.

More than a year after Heather Hartley’s departure, See Chicago Dance once again has a permanent executive director.