Captivating Evening Concert Enliven by Identity Performing Arts
About the Program:
Enliven is choreographer Ginny Ching-Yin Lo’s newest work, which continues the concept she first conceived during filming of the dance, Kindred. The liveliness in Enliven reflects the spirit of both herself and the dance company, drawing life from the inner depths of each dancer.
WARNING: This review contains descriptions of sensuality, sexually explicit acts, profane language, shouting, screaming, loud music…
But enough teasing!
“Queer Dance Freakout,” presented by Gender Fucked Productions on Sept. 24 at the Elastic Arts Center, defies all expectations of a traditional dance performance. (And that’s a good thing!)
As Hubbard Street's Season 46 opener, Fall Series: Of Peace welcomes audiences back to the Harris Theater with a triptych of sweeping, celebratory works to lift your spirits and warm your soul.
FEATURING:
Dichotomy of a Journey
by DARRELL GRAND MOULTRIE
Coltrane's Favorite Things
by LAR LUBOVITCH
return to patience
Company Premiere by Resident Artist ASZURE BARTON
“Change” is this year’s theme as Giordano Dance Chicago dives into its 61st season, dubbed “Unlimited,” with changes in administration, artists, and board of directors. The company held a cocktail reception to introduce new Executive Director Erica Lynette Edwards, and new Board President Chris D'hondt, at the Whitehall Hotel on September 7th.
Edwards joins the Giordano team replacing Executive Director Michael McStraw, who transitions into the role of mentor to Edwards.
Join See Chicago Dance at the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago on October 18th for first ever in-person Screendance Club, a 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. SCD writers curate and facilitate conversations on viewing and interpreting dance on screen.
“The Arpino Chicago Centennial Celebration” honors the legacy of Joffrey Ballet Co-Founder Gerald Arpino (1923-2008) with a three-day festival of events, featuring his innovative choreographic contribution to 20th-century dance.
Two performances at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre comprise the centerpiece of the festival with seven ballet companies performing some of Arpino’s best known works on Saturday, September 23 at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, September 24 at 1 PM. (Go to seechicagodance.com for program details)
A modest table of hors-d’oevres and an ample array of alcoholic beverages greeted me when I arrived at the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) headquarters, tucked away on the 4th floor of Water Tower Place, for a reception to welcome choreographer Aszure Barton as the acclaimed Canadian/American dance artist begins a three-year artist’s residency with HSDC. The come-and-go residency will include creating new work and setting some of her established repertoire on the company.
From September 7-10, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents “Chicago Performs 2023.” The performing arts festival gives emerging artists entering a new phase of their practice an opportunity to explore new ideas and directions, expand their scale of work, and reimagine their art in a new space and for new audiences.
On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre returns to Links Hall with “The Island,” a new work by Michelle Manzanales, featuring an original composition by composer and violinist, James Sanders, and based on a true story.
“The Island” premiers as part of “Inside Out,” the work-in-progress series which offers insight into the choreographer’s process of creation. The program is also a part of CRDT’s “Stories from the West Side”, a series that focuses on stories from Chicago residents who are people of color from that part of town.
The Righteous Beauty of the Things Never Accounted For explores Black Fugitivity, the ongoing and historical resistance to systems of oppression that Black people face and the ways in which we have sought to escape or evade those systems in order to preserve our autonomy, dignity, and freedom. In Righteous Beauty, J’Sun Howard uses movement as an anchor and source for practicing freedom, allowing us to discover unexpected beauty that’s typically hard to experience in a carceral state. It is an embodied look into existing when the cosmos does not want us to exist.