The baseball diamonds, basketball court, and jungle gym were bustling at Hamlin Park this past weekend. I loved walking up to this scene of springtime activity and I especially loved knowing that a professional dance performance would take place right upstairs in the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse theater. Call me sentimental, but these well-used neighborhood fieldhouses supporting sports, arts, and community make me proud to be a Chicagoan. If only the show inside had been as vivacious as the activity out.
 

The past few years have not been easy for the Joel Hall Dancers and Center. The company moved its studios, moved locations from a pricey second floor studio in the heart of Andersonville to its current home occupying a storefront on the 5900 block of north Clark Street, and while this move led to the designation of Honorary Joel Hall Way by 48th Alderman Harry Osterman, it also meant less foot traffic and chronically empty storefronts for neighbors.

Bricks are loosely stacked to create arch-shaped benches, forming a circle with a few points of exit, and a place for patrons to sit for the premiere of “Shadows Across Our Eyes,” Zephyr Dance artistic director Michelle Kranicke’s newest work. This short, circular wall-turned-benches forms a Venn diagram, interlocking with knee-high wooden arches propped up on their narrow ends.

Chicago Dance sails into May with dance happenings around every corner of the city. Take advantage of the many free and low-cost events like open studios, lecture demonstrations, and open rehearsals listed on our calendar.

The most beautiful, perfect woman I have ever known was Ruth Ann Koesun, my first ballet teacher. Petite, with exotic looks reminding me of some sort of delicate fairy, I was enchanted the first time I saw her. I began my formal ballet training, with Ruth Ann as my teacher, when I was around eleven, studying with her for only 18 months or so. Her influence on me has continued to this day. By chance, I read her obituary in February and all sorts of emotions and memories surfaced, taking me by surprise.

Each year, See Chicago Dance hosts a discussion series called Moving Dialogs, with the goals of unpacking central issues in the dance community, and exploring dance as a means of broadening and deepening socio-cultural understanding in Chicago. 

The emotional  intensity of bodies in turmoil wove a common thread across Visceral Dance Chicago’s one-night stand at the Harris Theater Saturday night. Unlike last year’s varied repertoire, the five works in “Spring Five,” three of them by company founding director Nick Pupillo, revolved around the volatility of human relationship.