It is a reasonable expectation that an evening spent with Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater will be one of awe-inspiring, passionate and energetic Spanish dancing, and the 43rd annual American Spanish Dance & Music Festival’s crowning event, “Flamenco Passion,” is no exception.

There are two basic timelines for any choreographic process. In the churn and burn world of big budget companies, two months can be a luxury, with as little as a week or two afforded to many choreographers creating for companies who present work multiple times a year.

Editor's note: In the last moments of my conversation with See Chicago Dance's outgoing executive director Heather Hartley (of which you can read part one here and part two here), I asked her to name something she was surprised that See Chicago Dance has been able to accomplish, as well as any unfinished business she's leaving behind.

Editor's note: Yesterday I shared the first part of my "exit interview" with See Chicago Dance's outgoing executive director Heather Hartley. Here we chat a little more about the origins of the orginization and some reflection on how to tackle ongoing challenges in Chicago's dance community. Tomorrow I'll share some of my conversation with interim executive director Surinder Martignetti about her role keeping the ship afloat as SCD seeks new leadership.

Editor's note: As Heather Hartley, the former executive director of See Chicago Dance, and her husband Phil Reynolds, the former executive director of Chicago Dancers United, embark on the next phase of their careers in North Carolina with a new organization called Trillium Arts, I had the pleasure of chatting with Heather for nearly an hour about her time in Chicago, the progress made and challenges that remain at See Chicago Dance, and what's next for her and Phil. I found it tricky to boil down our conversation into sound bites, and frankly, I think all of it's worth reading.

Dance is so in-the-moment that it’s often gone before we can register what we’ve seen. Hubbard Street’s summer series, closing season 41, gives us a welcome second look at four stellar works from company repertoire: two duets, “A Picture of You Falling,” and “The Other You” (2010) by Crystal Pite, Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Out of Your Mind,” (2018), and a reworking of Brian Brooks’s “Terrain” (2016). Performances take place at the Harris Theater June 6, 8 and 9.  

At Links Hall on June 2, Laryssa Husiak from Minneapolis and Mitsu Salmon and Christine Shallenberg from Chicago presented three solo works as a part of their first performance together, “Triple Heartbeat.” Each work combined projections, voice, text, song and movement to share each artist’s histories, intimate presence and personal rituals with an engaged and supportive audience.

It’s graduation time, the annual rite of passage that brings to mind Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” march, caps and gowns and diplomas. Now picture tutus and toe shoes, try a little music by Delibes, and instead of diplomas, contracts with a world-famous ballet company, and you’ve got a graduation of a different sort for several young members of the Joffrey Academy Studio Company, three of whom have just been invited to become members of The Joffrey Ballet.

Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s (CHRP) “Stomping Grounds” wrapped up its fifth annual city-wide festival with a rousing Grand Finale at the Harris Theater Friday, featuring a melting pot of percussive dance representing the cultural traditions of Mexico, Spain, India, Ireland, Africa, and America.