If we had to choose one word to describe Monte Rezell.... well, honestly, we couldn't. Monte is a man of many talents: dancer, emcee, DJ, lyricist, producer, teacher - the list goes on and on. But what stands out most about this hip hop artist is the warmth and passion of his spirit. Within moments of meeting Monte, it is clear that his heart belongs to hip hop. DancerMusic's Kristi Licera got a chance to catch up with Monte before he hits the stage with his company, Movement Revolution Dance Crew for Off the Wall: The MJ Remix Experience this Sunday, December 10 at Links Hall in Chicago. Here's what Monte had to share:
You might recognize the face above from your television. That's right -- Chantelle Mrowka most recently graced screens across America as part of the dance company, Diavolo - finalists on this past season America's Got Talent. In the midst of Chantelle's jam packed touring and performance schedule, DancerMusic's Kristi Licera got a chance to ask her about moving across the country, Diavolo, her advice on bouncing back from injuries, and more. Check out what Chantelle had to say, and keep your eye out for her on stages across the US!
If you had a chance to read our PRE-View for Ballet 5:8's Compass, then you know that Artistic Director Julianna Slager and her company of expressive dancers have committed their season thus far to spreading compassion in every community they touch. This past Friday, Ballet 5:8 took the stage at the Athenaeum Theater in Chicago and delivered an evening of inspired choreography and thought-provoking performance. DancerMusic's Kristi Licera was in the audience for this one-night only performance, and invites you to join her as she RE-Views Ballet 5:8.
The McCallum Theatre's influential annual dance program, The Choreography Festival, will return for its twentieth edition this weekend. One of the performances on Saturday's program is an intensely thoughtful duet choreographed by French choreographer Manuel Vignoulle. The work is entitled Black & White, and Vignoulle performs in the work alongside Rena Butler. Here, Vignoulle shares with DancerMusic a whole range of thought provoking and often inspiring perspectives on the work. **** PHOTO DISCLAIMER: Please note that this article has images that contain nudity. Dancers featured in these photographs appear topless, as it is integral to the presentation of the work's choreographic vision. ***
The very heart of what a dance company has to share with its audience is the choreography and its performance. Here we've reached out to Amy Sanderson, Ballet 5:8's Executive Director, and along with several of the performers in Ballet 5:8's "Compass", she shares with us some more of what Ballet 5:8's audience at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre will see.
Ballet 5:8 is an imaginative, hard-working group of artists with some very carefully thought out ideas. On Friday, November 10, they bring their new evening length program Compass, a collection of four works, to Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. As we've learned more about this company, and about Compass, we've become more and more aware of how intricately and carefully imagined the choreography, the construction, and the performance of these four works is, and we asked Artistic Director Juianna Slager to tell us more about it.
Lighting design is one of the most important, collaborative and creative contributions in the making of a dance concert. Last July, David Goodman-Edberg worked with Abby Ellison on her achingly beautiful work "Beneath the Clouds, Above the Rest", and with Brennen Renteria on his wildly enchanting "When In Doubt". We asked him to choose two photos from each work, and tell us whatever he wanted about his thoughts, his process and his inspiration. His insights offer an incredibly valuable look into the well-lit, but still mysterious world of Lighting Design.
Here at DancerMusic.com, one of our favorite ways to learn about what's going on in Dance and Music is to ask some of the gifted artists that we've worked with. That's why we asked HSPro's Melissa Panetta to tell us about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's "bold, adventurous and forward-looking" fall engagement, Peter Chu's "Space, In Perspective" ...
In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of Ballet Chicago’s Studio Company, Chaves was commissioned to create Ascension. This romantically haunting pas de deux features an original score for piano and cello by Josephine Lee, who will join the dancers onstage with cellist Meena Cho this Saturday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
We asked the choreographers whose works will be presented in Ballet Chicago's Platinum Anniversary Concerts on May 6 to choose a photo from their piece, and give us an inside look at what that photo captures -- about the Ballet Chicago Studio Company performers, about the Company's vision, and about their own perspective.