First impressions are important . There's no denying it, especially when you are debuting a brand new dance company in a city that has an abundance of them. There are many ways to make a great first impression, but often, the best way to do so is to stay true to who you are and to step into the light with a kind and open heart. This is exactly what Founder and Artistic Director of South Chicago Dance Theatre, Kia Smith did. This past May, Smith curated SCDT's first evening-length performance at University of Chicago's Mandel Hall. What may not
If you had just happened to walk in on one of Chicago Human Rhythm Project's annual STOMPING GROUNDS performances, that would have been amazing enough. STOMPING GROUNDS is a series of concerts that Chicago Human Rhythm Project has presented across the city of Chicago for the past four years, and it's not like anything else. Chicago Human Rhythm Project brings together a real all-star lineup of percussive dance companies, and to see the bright, energetic, irrestible enthusiasm of percussive dance in so many different forms, from so many different artists, steeped in the heritage of so many cultures, well that wouldn't just be amazing, that's more like a waterfall of amazing experiences, moment after cascading moment. But the Grand Finale of STOMPING GROUNDS promises to be all of that and more. There was so much that we wanted to learn about all of the dimensions of this multifaceted event that we asked Lane Alexander, Founder and Director of Chicago Human Rhythm Project, to give us a little more insight into STOMPING GROUNDS. Here's what he told us:
Some of mankind’s greatest discoveries were accidental. If it weren’t for these happy accidents, we would be missing everyday items such as super glue and (god forbid, especially if you’re a college student) the microwave. But we should also remember that accidents can pave the way for artists, including the dancers at Simantikos Dance Chicago. Founder and Artistic Director Haley McElwee did not start with the intention of creating a dance company, but in the three years since its founding, the company has experienced growth that has taken them from area rug-sized performance spaces to artistic collaborations in Italy. DancerMusic’s Kristi Licera recently caught up with Haley to get a peek into Simantikos’ upcoming performance at. Here’s what Haley told us:
Unique, intriguing, and compelling are three words that come to mind when describing Alice Klock. There are a lot of different sides to the Chicago-based artist; Alice is a dancer, a painter, as well as a choreographer. I recently got the opportunity to work with Alice on one of her newest creations with Hubbard Street’s Professional Program (HS Pro). During the process I chatted with her about her choreographic exploration and perspective as an emerging female choreographer. Here is what she told us:
Ashley Deran founded A. Deran Photography in 2011 with a focus on dance concert events and dance publicity. Since then, she has photographed for companies including Chicago Dance Crash, The Seldoms, Chicago Repertory Ballet, Inaside Chicago Dance, Chicago Dance History Project, Salty Lark Dance Company, The Chicago Fringe Festival, Columbia College, and Western Michigan University. It is also worth mentioning that Ashley is an established dance artist in Chicago and is the Co-Director of Project Bound Dance. Her keen eye both inside the studio and behind the camera lens, as well as the ability to direct a dancer in both circumstances, produce sharp, expressive images that any dancer would love to have. In this 4PHOTOS, Ashley takes us through the four images that every dancer should have in their portfolio, plus the do's and don'ts on how to get them. Here's a pro's advice on how to put your best foot (and face) forward:
It adds another dimension to choreography, and an extra degree of anticipation, when a choreographer imagines an especially intriguing context for their work. Gustavo Ramírez Sansano has always brought an imaginative boldness to the way he conceives of creating dance, but in his World Premiere of Espíritus Gemelos for Ballet Hispánico's New York Season (April 10-15 at The Joyce), he does so in an especially engaging way. We asked Gustavo if he could share some of his process, his inspiration, and his experience in creating the work for Ballet Hispánico. Here's what he told us:
Bebe Miller's "In A Rhythm", will be performed by Bebe Miller Company April 5,6, & 7 at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. The Company's performances mark the end of the Process v. Product Festival, which invited "choreographers, dancers, students of dance and audiences to consider and reflect on ideas around how and why the creation, practice and witness of dancing can be more than a product for spectators." DancerMusic's Kristi Licera caught up with Bebe to find out more about "In A Rhythm", as well as more about the importance of sharing the creative process. Read on to see why Bebe Miller Company is the perfect fit for the end of this festival:
There are a lot of stories in this story. There's a story about being a choreographer -- how to become one, and what it's like to be one. Taylor Mitchell is unusually eloquent in his movement vocabulary, and just as much so in sharing his always-carefully-constructed perspective, so when we heard that his first major professional dance work, Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours was also going to be his most recent dance work, we thought it would be a good time to hear more about his journey. There's another story in this story about being a dance company. The Big Muddy Dance Company in St. Louis is performing Meet Me In ... (on Friday, April 6 at 8pm and Saturday, April 7 at 2pm) at St. Louis' Grandel Theatre. Meet Me In ... is about Big Muddy's hometown of St. Louis, about its roots and heritage and its great icons. It's a program that will include work by Artistic Director Brian Enos, world-renowned choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams, company dancer Robert Poe, and Taylor Mitchell, which gets us back to that first story.
On Saturday, April 7, the audience for Visceral Dance Chicago's SpringFive performance will see choreographer Kevin O'Day's latest work, the World Premier of "A Fine Line", and there wasn't much time between when (a) we heard about this and (b) we knew we wanted to hear more about this. So we reached out to Kevin and learned all kinds of interesting things about "A Fine Line", about working with Visceral, and about Kevin O'Day's rich and humane understanding of the art of dance, and for that matter, the art of understanding. Here's what he told us:
Manuel Vignoulle's ability to create intensely engaging choreography is something that a lot of people in the dance world have known about for a while now. Not surprisingly though, his choreography gets even more attention now, because last November, his work Black and White was awarded the 2017 Choreography Festival Grand Prize Award at the McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival.