Teaching is everything, it's the future and the past. Each moment is a pivot in time, where what has been experienced becomes a guiding light for experiences not yet encountered. Teaching is more than just an important part of Dance, it's part of every process in Dance, and it's an art that Ethan Kirschbaum has studied carefully. We asked Ethan about why he loves teaching, how he understands the art of teaching, what he hopes for in teaching, and what he's learned about teaching dance. Here's what he told us:
Taylor Mitchell has a brand new work, and naturally, we wanted to hear all about it. It's called Out of Pocket, and its performance by MitchellMovement is part of Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival's second weekend of performances (Friday September 28 and Saturday September 29, both at 8PM). It's an ideal pairing; Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival brings together a rich spectrum of imaginative independent choreography each year, and Mitchell epitomizes the kind of engaging and impactful dance that HCCDF was founded to present. We asked Taylor to let us in on more of what we'll get to see when Out of Pocket takes the stage at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and here's what he told us:
Dancers have the unique ability to take a piece of music and really show it to you. You may be thinking, how is that possible? Sound is a wave invisible to the naked eye, and even if you were to see that piece of music performed live, you would see the action that creates the sound, but not the sound itself. Here's where the dancer comes in. If a dancer were to create movement to your favorite song, chances are that dancer would pick up on the nuances in rhythm, accents in instrumentation, the subtle meaning behind the lyrics, and
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.