Preview

Joffrey Ballet’s “Winning Works:” A Win-Win For The Arts And For Social Justice

The crucial need for diversity and racial equality in the performing arts inspired The Joffrey Ballet to create The Winning Works Choreographic Competition in 2011 to promote talented and emerging ALAANA choreographers (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American), whose access to professional exposure has typically been limited in the predominantly white male concert dance industry.

Critical Context: Continuing Khan’s legacy, ‘Creature’ gives voice to the voiceless

In an interview with London-based choreographer Akram Khan, I was let in on the basis of his new work “Creature,” featuring the English National Ballet and scheduled to premiere in the U.S. Thursday at the Harris Theater. 

Initially sparked by the themes of isolation present in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” and further guided by George Büchner’s unfinished play “Woyzeck,” “Creature” takes us on an arctic journey exploring the last frontier, testing human thresholds and challenging us to question what we inevitably leave behind on our collective quest for more. 

Urgent Wake-up Call for Humanity in World Premiere of Akram Khan’s “Creature”

Discord and dissonance breathe an urgent wake-up call for humanity in “Creature,” Akram Khan’s newest work for The English National Ballet (ENB), premiering Thursday-Saturday, February 24-26, at the Harris Theater.
 
In the beginning of the piece, provided as a trailer on the ENB website, we hear a heartbeat and the voice of Richard Nixon repeating over and over, “The heavens have become a part of man’s world,” and the repetition of, “because of what you have done,” a clear indictment for the dire global predicament “Creature” portrays.
 

Chicago Tap Theatre’s Love Letter to Tap Dancing Marks A Return to Live Performance

“For The Love of Tap” epitomizes Chicago Tap Theatre’s return to live performance at the Athenaeum Theatre this Saturday, February 19th. Throughout the pandemic, that love has sustained the company, its dancers, its students, and the community at large with initiatives that have harvested unexpected blessings from dire circumstances.
 

Eiko Otake’s “The Duet Project: Distance is Malleable” examines how people deal with life, death, race, age and gender.

Whatever you think you are going to see at an Eiko Otake performance, forget it. Prepare yourself to be surprised, or startled, or experience unbearable intimacy. Expect a never-ending stream of papers with words like “stone” and “I will not” to be scattered in heaps across the stage. Expect raging gods and monsters, or the ghosts of distant relatives, who live in the brushstrokes of colossal paintings projected against the wall. Anything is possible! If Otake’s long history of work is any indication, expect something special, thought-provoking and deeply personal.

Trinity Irish Dance Company Returns To The Stage With Cross-Cultural Innovation

What’s extra special about Trinity Irish Dance Company this season? “Everything!” said associate artistic director and Trinity dancer Chelsea Hoy in a recent phone interview. Enthusiasm has never been in short supply for Chicago’s Irish cultural treasure, but Hoy, just off the plane and catching her breath from the company’s live stage performances in Overland, Kansas this past weekend, could barely contain herself.

Visions of sugar plums dance on for Joffrey 'Nutcracker' children's cast

For countless people around the world, “The Nutcracker” is synonymous with the holiday season. Be it the tale of Marie or Clara and Fritz or Franz, the story has been choreographed and re-choreographed, told in myriad ways. The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago’s 2016 iteration transports spectators young and old back to the World’s Fair, circa 1893. Christopher Wheeldon may swap the Sugar Plum Fairy for a Golden Statue and Russian Trepak for Buffalo Bill, but the essence of this holiday ballet remains the same.

Critical Context: Ragamala Dance Company explores life, death and rebirth at the Harris

The below piece is part of Critical Context, a paid writing residency created in partnership with the Harris Theater. The initiative engages past SCD Critical Dance Writing Fellows in a three- to six-month residency in mentorship, research, and deep exploration of Harris Theater Presents dance programming.