June 2nd marks the successful return of Modern Marvel Dance Company’s “Marvelous Monday,” a free public performance in Northcenter Town Square that brought together ten works by local dance companies and independent artists. What began as a hashtag—#marvelousmonday—has grown into a real-world space for community connection, reflection and celebration.
Presented in a casual outdoor setting, the event invited everyone to engage with local artistry and movement. Passersby would turn toward the music and smile as dancing graced their vision. All who watched were reminded of the joy and value of community-centered performance.
“Faith of a Mustard Seed,” choreographed and performed by Robin Davis of The Human Experience Dance Project, is a solo that plays with gravitational forces, balance and surrender. Davis moves through space as if in constant conversation with gravity, her flowing sunflower-gold dress trailing behind her like sunlight, swinging between play and purpose. The solo feels intimate and expansive, inviting the audience into a personal meditation on faith, resilience and the physical toll of pursuing a labor of love. Each shift in balance, each controlled fall, becomes a quiet declaration of trust in Davis’ body and in the act of dancing itself.
“I Hear You,” choreographed by Ginny Ching-Yin Lo and performed by Vanessa Bonilla, Wilson Hicken, Emma Raney and Tiana Thompson of Identity Performing Arts, is a slow-burning quartet that radiates power through subtlety. The music, sparse violin and piano, underscores their intentional, breath-centered movements. Controlled tilts, compressions and twisted stares hold space for unspoken questions—evoking a conversation beyond words.
“Sixty-Five 14,” choreographed and performed by Najah Iman and Caitlin Wonsowski, pulses with a relaxed but undeniable electricity. Their style—fusing popping, breakdancing and lo-fi hip hop coolness—stands out as one of the most distinctive of the evening. The dancers nod, jerk and isolate with the rhythm, reacting to the funky synth and techno soundscape with confident, clean musicality.
“Things Long Forgotten,” choreographed by Nik Graves and Reign Drop and performed by Graves and Audrey Hartnett of We Are Collective, is a sharply crafted duet that follows the breakdown of a relationship. Set to music by Hozier, the piece balances soft, flowing gestures with syncopated, reactive movement. The contrast builds to a final conflict, where every movement speaks to longing, miscommunication and the ache of love slipping away.
“Echoes of the Unseen,” choreographed and performed by Ava Faber and Dani Oblitas, draws on the myth of the siren to build an abstract world full of touch, tension and queer allure. To a soundtrack of rainforest clicks and pulsing bass, the dancers move in animalistic, low-to-the-ground poses that seem at once predatory and tender. Their bodies twist into geometric forms, using their arms and legs as tools as they explore what it means to be seen. The result is a haunting and visceral portrayal of queer identity, grounded in instinct and interdependence.
Other pieces include “Research Team,” choreographed by Kimberly Baker and danced by Hannah Bailey, Stephanie Rankin and Shanae Sterba, which uses synchronized, work-inspired arm movements and longing stares to portray the resilience of NASA’s early female human computers, dancing quite literally through calculations with notebooks in hand.
“Quickly Forgotten, Erased,” choreographed and performed by Avery Wilde and Kate O’Hanlon Bruns, is a work in progress from a larger series that evokes a sense of abandonment and the struggles of finding balance amidst questioning one’s existence through haunting choir music and off-balance movement.
“What We Don’t Say,” choreographed and performed by Destiny Barnes and Taylor Danan, blends mirrored, hesitant gestures and graceful lifts into a duet about the vulnerability of early Sapphic love.
“On the Road,” choreographed by Stephanie Levielle and performed by Clark Marie Finkelstein, O’Hanlon Bruns, Jenn Vaile and Meredith Weissert, captures the necessity of allowing help for chronic pain as an ensemble gently uplifts and supports a central soloist to rustic, country-pop warmth.
“My Way,” choreographed and performed by O’Hanlon Bruns bursts forth with bold, confident gestures and upbeat energy, embodying fearless optimism and the power of tuning out doubt to move forward on your own terms.
The joy of sharing art defines this year’s Marvelous Mondays. Although several pieces relied heavily on floor work, which proved difficult to see from certain vantage points in the open-park seating, the event succeeds in what it sets out to do: spread the art of dance.
“Marvelous Monday 2025” by Modern Marvel’s Dance Company performed on June 2 at Northcenter Town Square, 4100 N Damen Ave. More information can be found at modernmarvelsdancecompany.com.
Copyright 2025, See Chicago Dance, All Rights Reserved
