Their bodies were “cosmic instruments,” as the dancers would later say, living in the bluesy piano that filled the room. Their dancing was poetic, phrases repeating with variation, and series of hand gestures and sweeping, extending-then-breaking arms ebbed and flowed with the connotation of the music—carrying the same inflection as someone would in their voice as they spoke. Their shadows painted the walls. 

For “Panopticon,” an immersive evening-length performance at Studio5, an audience of about 40 first gathered in the lounge at Dance Center Evanston, the north suburban music and dance venue’s next-door neighbor. It’s the dance studio where former Evanstonian Annie Arnoult used to teach, so it felt fitting that this is where the Midwest premiere of her Houston-based company, Open Dance Project, would begin.

Whether one’s had the pleasure of meeting Molly Shanahan in person or simply enjoying her work as a spectator, it’s impossible to deny the brilliance of her artistic mind. With a BA, MA, and PhD to boot, Shanahan navigates choreography and performance with an inherently academic and somatic bent. Even by listening to the audience Mad Shak draws in, one can hear the echo of Shanahan’s intelligence as the Dovetail theater, a converted studio space, is filled with musings on the benefits of experiential anatomy and imagery.

Waking up to a blanket of white reminds me of those years growing up in McHenry County, when more than one Halloween was spent going door to door and explaining the costumes under our hats, puffy coats and boots. The realization that fall is fleeting is one we face every year, but in the arts scene, November means fall—whatever the weather.

This year has probably been my most favorite year for dance in Chicago, mainly because a lot of it was happening down the street from my former South Shore neighborhood. The new Green Line Performing Arts Center, Sweetwater Foundation’s Thought Barn, Washington Park, Stony Island Arts Bank, Blanc Gallery, and so many other spaces were enlivened with dancers, musicians and artists based on the South and West sides of the city.

The silhouettes of two bodies fly and spiral amid green, stark light. I can hear heavy panting and flesh hitting the floor as the two women use each other’s bodies as leverage, sharing weight to complete the task of propelling through space. The dancers, Kara Brody and Amanda Maraist, negotiate time and space in a scribble of movement, sound and effort that is both tender and fierce.        

The weather was heavenly, the crisp fall day of sunshine and clear blue skies beaming its benevolence through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the studio on South Archer Avenue. It was as if the day had anointed Giordano Dance Chicago’s rehearsal run-through of its 57th season opener with the blessings of grace, harmony and an abiding faith in the power of dance to touch the essence of where we live within ourselves.