Still Inspired Season 6 choreographers Laura Thurston, Lizzie MacKenzie, Lauren Blane and Annie Conway each chose a piece of Mary Porterfield's artwork to inspire fresh choreographic works, which are set to hit the stage at the Athenaeum Theater Chicago February 21 & 22, 2020. DancerMusic Editor Kristi Licera recently caught up with Still Inspired Artistic Director and Choreographer Laura Thurston to learn more about this year's program. Here's what she told us:
With new works from Shannon Alvis, Rebecca Lemme, Anna Long, Lizzie MacKenzie, Jacqueline Stewart, Jessica Miller Tomlinson, and Chicago Repertory Ballet, Dancing to Dream promises to be one of the years most imaginative dance concerts. We asked Dancing to Dream's Jacqueline Stewart about her dream to make this all happen. Here's what she told us:
Each year, a dozen or more companies of young dancers gather to present the annual benefit Dance for Life's Next Generation, and in twenty five years it has come to be known not only as a showcase for imaginative and talented young artists, but even more as an iconic collaboration of good will. We asked Diane Rawlinson to tell us more about this widely anticipated event, which takes place this year on March 3rd at 5pm at Wheeling High School's Sang Theatre. Here's what she told us:
When the average person thinks of Chicago, a few things hit the top of the list: the sports teams, the vibrant downtown scene and its iconic architecture... the wind (and for locals: confusing parking signs and that particular smell of the ‘L’). What does not immediately come to mind is the incredible array of outdoor spaces and field houses that make up the Chicago Park District. Chicagoans all over the city burst out of their winter hidey-holes to enjoy the fresh summer air and sunshine, and people from the world over come to the more well-known parks for events like
There's something magical that happens to Chicago in the summertime. After a long, cold, winter, it comes as no surprise that everyone wants to be outdoors, including the city's dance artists. These professional dancers spend a majority of their careers training and rehearsing in the studio and performing in concert and theater venues, with few opportunities outside of site-specific work to experience dancing outdoors. But thankfully, for the past ten summers, Dance in the Parks has given dancers and audiences alike the opportunity to consume concert dance in some of the cities most communal centers - Chicago's neighborhood parks. Dance
There’s nothing like a good get-together with friends, especially around the holidays. You never know what can happen at these gatherings, and we are certainly curious to know what will happen when the dance artists known as The Cambrians present Chicago Dances, a special gathering of their own running December 14-18 at Hairpin Studios. DancerMusic’s Kristi Licera recently ran into Noelle Kayser, and could not help but get the inside scoop on this collaborative evening of original works:
Anyone who knows Lizzie Mackenzie's choreography is probably surprised that she's not better known as a choreographer. She's widely known as a truly exceptional dancer, from her performances with Giordano Dance Chicago and then with River North Dance Chicago, as well as her many guest appearances in high profile special events. She's also well known, especially in the world of preprofessional dance, as the founder and artistic director of Extensions Dance Company, one of the most successful and respected preprofessional dance companies in the country. When she does choreograph, the results are often spectacularly rich; she combines an ability to
The program is entitled MOMENTUM, and it promises to be the kind of lush and lucid ride through a uniquely River North landscape that the Company always manages to put together. Lizzie MacKenzie has a really good idea of how they do it.
I went to see Extensions Dance at the American Dance Awards competition at Governors State University last Saturday, and I’ve never seen a more professional demonstration (although that’s true every time I see this company anywhere, in rehearsal or in performance).
Lizzie MacKenzie is unique in that she continues to be a successful and highly-respected dancer with one of Chicago’s leading companies (River North Chicago Dance Company), while also working as a leading choreographer.
