September Newsletter

IN THE LIMELIGHT: The Auditorium Theatre presents Ballet West
The Sleeping Beauty: October 4 & 5, 2013 | Mixed Rep: October 6, 2013

Ballet West presents the Chicago premiere of The Sleeping Beauty and a mixed repertory including George Balanchine's Rubies, the pas de deux from Diamonds, and the Midwest premiere of The Lottery. 

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER
By Laura Molzahn

September–traditionally a boom month–may be even more explosive this year, with Chicago favorites returning to jump-start the 2013-2014 season as well as promising newcomers popping onto the scene.

In the only continuing engagement this month, on Sept. 2 actress/movement artist Valerie Hager concludes a three-day run at the Chicago Fringe Festival performing her Naked in Alaska, a "pro-woman" work about her ten years as an exotic dancer. Also part of the Chicago fringe fest is Christine Hands's new hour-long Icicles, opening Sept. 2, then running Sept. 7-8.

The first full weekend of September starts the month off with a bang. Death Boogie: A Hip Hop Poetry Musical–which recently won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival–runs Sept. 5-7 at the Auditorium's Katten/Landau Studio. Victor Alexander–Hedwig dancer, CDF artist, and new director of the Ruth Page School–debuts his evening-length Line of Sighs at the Ruth Page Center Sept. 5-8. Chicago artist Amy L. Roby presents"Viewpoint(e)s: Generating Exposure for Women Dancemakers"(exposing five choreographers, including Roby and SCD contributor Lauren Warnecke) Sept. 6-8 at the Den Theatre. Cincinnati's MamLuft&Co. Dance performs Maps Sept. 6-8 at the Chicago Fringe Festival, while Chicago's own Honey Pot Performance offers its new Price Point, examining the state of the American dream, Sept. 6-8 at Links Hall. At 1:30 PM Sept. 8, WTTW-TV airs Christopher Kai Olsen's half-hour documentary,Shine, about the making of Thodos Dance Chicago's A Light in the Dark, followed by Olsen's full-length film of the piece.

Sept. 9, Links Hall's monthly "Collision" series features Synapse dancers and music group The Green Pasture Happiness. Sept. 12-14, Paula Frasz's DanzsLoop Chicago presents "A Chorus Girl Plays and Dances" at Stage 773. Sept. 14, Tapman Productions performs the Skokie Tap Dance Super Show! at Gorilla Tango/Skokie. Cerqua Rivera presents its fall series Sept. 14-15 at the Ruth Page Center, and the FootworKINGZ and members of Kuumba Lynx perform "eMotion" with the Chicago Sinfonietta at Symphony Center, also Sept. 14-15.

Sept. 19-21, Susan Marshall & Company presents the world premiere of Marshall's evening-length mash-up of high art and pop culture, Play/Pause, at the Dance Center. The Joffrey Balletoffers a short, sweet run of "Russian Masters," Sept. 19-22 at the Auditorium, which includes Nijinsky's Rite of Spring. "Poonie's Cabaret" at Links Hall, also Sept. 19, is guest-hosted by Joe Varisco. On Sept. 20, Thodos Dance performs with Fulcrum Point New Music Project at the Logan Center; the program includes a re-creation of Sybil Shearer's In the Vacuum. And Sept. 20-22, Nicole Gifford and Melissa Mallinson present the fourth annual Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, running Sept. 20-22, featuring 25 artists on three unique programs.

Sept. 26-29 at Stage 773, The Seldoms remount Carrie Hanson's 2008 Monument, her first issue-oriented piece. Also Sept. 26, Tapman Productions performs the Traveling Tap Dance Super Show, this time at Gorilla Tango/Bucktown. Sept. 27-28, the Leopold Group and Winifred Haun & Dancers team up to present"Vision, Faith, and Desire: Dancemakers Inspired by Martha Graham" at the Ruth Page, with new work by Haun, Lizzie Leopold, and Ayako Kato. Finally, Sept. 27-29, Links Hall is home to the "Fall 2013 LinkUP Showcase," featuring Liana C. Percoco and Jose Hernandez.