You may think the ballet “Giselle” is about love, betrayal and redemption, but in Akram Khan’s modern reimagining of the classic tale for the English National Ballet (ENB), economic strife fuels the story.

You can catch a performance of ENB’s exclusive North American premiere of “Giselle” Feb. 28 through Mar. 2 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

Each year, a collective called Still Inspired selects a local visual artist to create four dances by four choreographers. In a cute and cozy third floor venue at the Athenaeum Theatre, artistic director Laura Thurston and choreographers Lizzie Mackenzie, Rebecca McLindon Blanchard and Annie Conway presented dances derived from oil paintings by Elsa Muñoz for Still Inspired's fifth season.

“Chicago is no longer a second city,” said Greg Cameron, the president and CEO of the Joffrey Ballet, on stage at the premiere of the company’s highly anticipated “Anna Karenina.”

We never were, Greg, but your point is well taken, and February was, indeed, an indelible month for dance in Chicago, with exciting premieres and historic accomplishments from more than one of our large and long-standing dance institutions.

Five dancers form a clump on the floor of the rehearsal space, their bodies woven together, breathing together. An external voice cuts through the air: “Whose story is told and who tells it?” it asks. One at a time, the dancers find their way out of the clump, moving through athletic solos and embodying characters from old Mexican legends. Their stories are told through an original spoken word poem and contemporary choreography, mapping out a history and culture that is just as relevant in Chicago today as it was in Mexico when it first took place.

The stage lights came up, illuminating the first dancers—and revealing myself and the other audience members who chose to sit on stage. In slow motion, the dancers moved through different series of short, strained phrases as the full cast entered. One dancer held her right wrist behind her back, struggling to free it from the grasp of the left hand. Another spiraled up and down from the floor, discomfort spreading through her face. Another traversed across the stage, two hands pressed in a “V” against her pelvis.

Yesterday marked the opening of the Joffrey Ballet’s world premiere of “Anna Karenina”, choreographed by Russian ballet choreographer, Yuri Possokhov, and co-produced by The Australian Ballet. As the lights dim in the Auditorium Theatre—located on the newly-named E. Ida B. Wells Drive—The Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director, Ashley Wheater, and Joffrey President and CEO, Greg Cameron appear from the wings. Cameron welcomes the audience to the performance and speaks to the magnitude of the evening’s ballet.

What does it mean to be in close-proximity to another person? To be of the community and to exist as an individual?  What roles do artists play in the reactivation of forgotten spaces, and how do we reclaim these spaces for imagination and play that speaks to our culture and personal contexts? These are some of the questions I think about as I watch Emma Draves and Andrea Cerniglia rehearse developing works for their shared concert, “SNUG,” Feb. 15-16, at 4251 N. Lincoln Ave.

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

These famous first lines of Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel, "Anna Karenina," echo throughout the Joffrey Ballet’s world premiere production of "Anna Karenina," set amidst the turbulent times of late-19th century Imperialist Russia.

How do artists approach violence as both subject and action in performance? How are audiences complicit as witnesses to acts of violence on stage? How can we demonstrate our complex experiences of rage, grief and fear, and where do we find relief? These are just some of the questions inspiring the four-day Power Ouch Festival opening this week, Feb. 14-17 at Links hall. 

There are two performances of "Giselle" happening in Chicago this month: Akram Khan’s “Giselle” performed by the English National Ballet Feb. 28-March 2, and Vertical Sideshow’s “Giselle" this weekend.