Dance Archives - Page 3 of 10

A group of people dancing in a park, with the Chicago skyline behind them

Moving beyond performance

by Irene Hsiao February 11, 2022February 11, 2022

Following years honoring public art, creative youth, theater, and music, the city of Chicago has designated 2022 the Year of Chicago Dance in recognition of an art form that is ubiquitous, burgeoning, diverse—and precarious. “The pandemic took a particularly devastating toll on our performing arts industry as shows were canceled, venues were closed, and artists […]

Black woman in white sleeveless top and white trousers and shoes sitting on a chair with her head resting on her hand. White jacket on back of chair.

Dance

Kia Smith is a south-side diplomat of dance

by Nora Paul January 20, 2022January 21, 2022

At Chicago Dancers United’s Dance for Life festival last August, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion stage reverberated with layers of rhythm. Each row of dancers formed a different section of intertwining phrases—movements playful and powerful that recalled the musicality of jazz. The piece, South Chicago Dance Theatre’s Architect of a Dream, was the work of Kia […]

Dance

The collective quest of Chicago dance

by Irene Hsiao December 22, 2021December 23, 2021

Two events occurred toward the close of 2020 that suggested that life and art as we knew it (for better or for worse) might have a fighting chance of existing in 2021: the election in November and the emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines in December. But more briefly than the duration of most resolutions, […]

Ensemble of the Joffrey Ballet's The Nutcracker assembled in front of a screen showing shadows of the upcoming 1893 Columbian Exposition

Dance

Joffrey’s Nutcracker gets a new home

by Irene Hsiao December 8, 2021December 23, 2021

Year after year the critic comes, that unkind aunt who wasn’t quite invited to the house spoiling Christmas for the children by pointing out that The Nutcracker is, like most American traditions, not as old and established as it purports to be and problematic where it comes to gender and race to boot. This year, […]

Dance

Muscle and mortality in RE/TURN

by Irene Hsiao November 20, 2021November 23, 2021

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, whose last public performance was at the Harris Theater in November of 2019, were in rehearsals on the Harris stage in preparation for their spring season in March 2020 as a citywide lockdown was announced. Following more than a year of virtual programming, the company reemerges at the Harris November 18-21 […]

A person lays on rocks by a shore in a white wig and a dress covered with currency

Dance

Bridge Festival returns (virtually) to Links Hall

by Irene Hsiao November 12, 2021November 12, 2021

Bridge Dance Festival returns to Links Hall November 12 and 13 with a digital program curated by Fujima Yoshinojo (Rika Lin) featuring works by artists from Sendai and Tsu, Japan, San Francisco, and Chicago that reflect their individual journeys through the pandemic, as well as themes of identity, aesthetics, and expression. The festival was established […]

Two women crouched around a wooden table, with shadowy figures behind filmy curtains in the background

Dance

Dances of delusion

by Irene Hsiao November 10, 2021November 10, 2021

Months of confinement and isolation inform two introspective, retrospective works on a bill shared by Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble and RE|Dance this November, and one thing is certain: never has an apse looked more like the inner curve of a cranial vault, and our activities within the bone-white walls of Ebenezer Lutheran Church seemed more like […]

Dance

Home is where the heart is

by Irene Hsiao October 15, 2021October 15, 2021

Twenty months and one (ongoing) pandemic since their last performance at the Auditorium Theatre, their home of 20 years, the Joffrey Ballet launched its new tenure on the stage at the Lyric Opera House with a dazzlingly triumphant program of three new works by Chanel DaSilva, Nicolas Blanc, and Yoshihisa Arai and a classic by […]

Dance

Dancing their Chicago style

by Corli Jay October 4, 2021October 4, 2021

Chicago street dancers represent in Red Bull Dance Your Style.

Dance

M.A.D.D. Rhythms honors the pioneers of tap in Hoofin’ It

by Irene Hsiao September 29, 2021September 29, 2021

Bril Barrett and M.A.D.D. Rhythms celebrate and build on Chicago’s storied legacy of tap dance.

Woman in white dress underneath elevated train tracks

Dance

Breathing life into Red Clay Dance Company

by Irene Hsiao September 15, 2021September 18, 2021

“When you realize there’s inequities, and there’s not as many performance opportunities or presentation opportunities for certain artists, you have to begin to make those spaces for yourself,” said founding artistic director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company Vershawn Sanders-Ward in 2019. Now Red Clay, a company with a mission of teaching and performing […]

Dance

Dance for Life turns 30 in a time of increased need

by Irene Hsiao August 17, 2021August 18, 2021

Dance For Life, presented by Chicago Dancers United, celebrates its 30th year of bringing Chicago dancers together to raise money for The Dancers’ Fund with a performance on August 26 featuring ten dance companies and a new work by Randy Duncan. Founded in 1991 in response to the AIDS crisis by Keith Elliott, a dancer […]