Illuminate. That's the title of the program that Nomi Dance and Chicago Repertory Ballet will present at Chicago's Athenaeum Theatre (Saturday, October 28th at 8pm), and it's a title that's likely to be a good synopsis of the kind of experience that their audience can be looking forward to. These are two very accomplished dance companies -- both of them bright, both of them bold, and each of them likely to shed more than a little light on the artistry of the other.
It would be difficult to exaggerate how good the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre performance at Studio5 was. On the 13th of October, they performed their beautifully constructed fall concert Alone / Together in front of a sold out Studio5 house. Cerqua Rivera still has one more performance in their cross-city tour for Alone / Together, and this time they're at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts. We asked Cerqua Rivera's Executive Director Catherine Painter to tell us some more about the program based on four photos from Alone / Together. Here's an inside look at where just four of the moments in a superb evening come from.
Soul and soles. If you're wondering what those two things have to do with one another, just ask Project Bound Dance Co-Artistic Director, Ashley Deran. Well, we asked, and got some answers that made us want to ask a hundred more questions. In collaboration with vocalist Jazelle Morriss, Project Bound Dance will premiere 'Imprint' at Hamlin Park Field House Theater October 19 + 20. DancerMusic's Kristi Licera took some time with Ashley to find out more:
When Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre brings their very successful fall concert Alone / Together to Studio5 on Friday, October 13, you'll be seeing layer upon layer of creativity. That's because one of the most imaginative dance companies you can go see, Cerqua Rivera, will be performing in one of the most imaginatively designed venues in Metro Chicago.
There's an old saying that goes a little something like this: "You never know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes". Try dancing a full evening length concert that includes 42 pairs of shoes - that is exactly what the artists at Project Bound Dance intend to do in their upcoming world premiere of 'Imprint'. DancerMusic's Kristi Licera caught up with Co-Artistic Director Ashley Deran to get a sneak peek at what will be hitting Chicago's Hamlin Park Field House Theater on October 19 + 20:
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre opens its fall concert series, "Alone/Together", at Links Hall, October 5 - 7. DancerMusic's Kristi Licera has been keeping up with the artists at CRDT throughout the season. See what she has learned about this creative, mind-opening evening of dance:
'Pushing the boundaries' is always risky, because those boundaries often enclose what works well. Venturing beyond them requires inventing new ways of realizing an artistic vision, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Fall Series presentation of Peter Chu's Space, In Perspective was full of hazards. But what Peter Chu and Glenn Edgerton accomplished was something to see, as they quite literally wove new perspectives of dance into, around, and on top of a very different kind of dance concert.
There's already been a lot of great Taylor Mitchell choreography on Chicago stages and beyond, and his latest work, a collaboration with composer Dan Hesler called "Here Comes Treble". will premiere next month at Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre's extensive series of concerts for their fall series Alone / Together. We asked Taylor a few of the many things that you could ask this talented young choreographer, and here's what we learned ---
Visceral Dance Chicago kicked off their Fall Engagement series with a performance at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie this weekend, and DancerMusic's Kristi Licera was in the audience to capture what you missed:
Chicago Dance Crash is a company as unique as its artists, with a history of bending the rules of concert dance. In its 15th anniversary season, this band of professional misfits took on the task of creating an original full length production, 'The Bricklayers of Oz' - currently in the running for 'Most Inventive New Work' in Dance Magazine's Readers' Choice Awards 2017. Company Dancer Kristi Licera tells us why this show deserves your vote!