As artists, the best way for dancers to express and work through something as close to home as body expectations is, of course, through dance. This is exactly what The Joffrey Ballet will be bringing to the stage at Dance for Life 2018 with Myles Thatcher's Body Of Your Dreams. DancerMusic caught up with choreographer Myles Thatcher to learn more about his work, as well as Joffrey Artists Derrick Agnoletti and Nicole Ciapponi to get perspectives on working with Myles and dancing this highly athletic work. Here's what they told us:
Among the many arts of the Art of Dance, freestyling is its own special world, but it includes just about every part of what makes dance an art. Great freestyle starts with having such a range of motion and technique and inspiration that you can present any of it at any moment. Although the creative decisions are made faster than even the fastest of movement, those are the same decisions and the same creativity that are always the essence of making a dance. So it's quite remarkable that at Dance For Life 2018, Chicago Dance Crash is there to freestyle -- which is almost unheard of for such a monumental production. Crash Artistic Director Jessica Deahr took some time to give us a little closer look at four moments from Chicago Dance Crash's very rich freestyle history in 4PHOTOS from Crash. Here we go:
There can't be too many things in Dance more complicated, more challenging, or more promising than the collaboration between choreographer and composer. But there probably aren't too many people in Dance or Music better able to tell us about the mysteries of this process than Joe Cerqua. Cerqua is the Co-Founder of Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and at Cerqua Rivera, dance and music are richly and relentlessly interwoven in everything the Company even thinks about. We thought this would be perfect time to ask Joe to tell us about working with Sherry Zunker on "Between Us", which Cerqua Rivera will perform at Dance for Life 2018. Oh yeah, we also asked him to give us a quick look at the new piece he's working on with Monique Haley. Here's what he told us:
At Dance For Life this Saturday, August19, one of the more intriguing performances will be of In the Meantime. The collaborators describe the work as "a celebration of our distinct cultures and a recognition of our common impulses and the universal desire to make rhythm". Here, CHRP's Lane Alexander gives us an inside look at two of the photos from the work ...
The weekend is nearly upon us, which means many of Chicago's dance professionals are gearing up for Dance for Life 2017 - a one-night only dance benefit concert at The Auditorium Theater. One company taking the stage this Saturday night is none other than Visceral Dance Chicago, who will close the series of company performances with 'Ruff Celts', choreographed by Marguerite Donlon.
Each August, the Chicago dance community packs the city's Auditorium Theatre for Dance For Life. For a special look ahead, DancerMusic reached out to each of the Partner Dance Companies that perform each year at Dance For Life. Each of them has selected a photo from their performance, and given us some insight into what they will be performing.
On a warm summer, Saturday evening each year, the Chicago dance community unites in spectacular form to support those with critical health issues. Dance for Life 2017 continues the 25+ year tradition, bringing the best of Chicago dance to the Auditorium Theater stage this coming August. This year, Dance for Life welcomes Jessica Miller Tomlinson of JMT Choreography to the stage with 'In Tongues': a joyous choreographic work set to the music of The Talking Heads. Tomlinson, a seasoned member of the former Thodos Dance Chicago ensemble and recent addition to Adjunct Faculty at Northern Illinois University, is no stranger to the Dance for Life stage as a performer, but is participating as a presenting choreographer for the first time. KLic Creative caught up with JMT to get the inside scoop on what Tomlinson is working on for this not-to-be-missed evening of dance. Read on for our five part Q&A with JMT:
For seventeen years, Dance For Life's Next Generation has showcased the work of the very best young dance companies.
To celebrate the 20th presentation of New Dances, we asked Amy Wilkinson, Jeff Hancock and Joshua Manculich, each with their own rich New Dances history, to tell us about this great series, taking place this year as virtual concerts beginning Saturday, June 20, 2020.
Life as we know it has changed, and thus, dance as we know it is changing as well. DancerMusic Editor and professional dancer Kristi Licera gives us an honest and concise look at what quarantine has been like for her so far, and how she has found hope amidst uncertainty. Here's what she told us: