Photo: William Frederking

Rachel Damon’s project for four dancers, a year in the making with help from a Chicago Dancemakers Forum grant, begins simply enough: a greeting in one-word phrases to the audience (small; capacity is about twenty-five), then Damon and Ni’Ja Whitson roll two of three six-foot square walls to opposite sides of the stage. Behind them is Adriana Durant—dressed, as is the whole cast, in grey with three brown leather belts around the hips—who proceeds to quietly explore short movement phrases to a soundscape of water and wind, mixed live by Russell Weiss. She is soon joined by the compelling Marc Macaranas and the phrases grow longer, broader, more florid. Concepts of echo and amplification are introduced. As the piece unfolds, however, the echo becomes muddied, the message lost in the clamor. Read the rest of this entry »

"Crossed"/Photo: Herbert Migdoll

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With such regular fare as “The Nutcracker” and “Cinderella,” it’s easy to forget that the Joffrey has built its reputation as a contemporary ballet company, one likely to lead audiences into reconsideration of the increasingly flimsy boundaries between dance’s genres. With “Eclectica,” a three-piece repertory now at the Auditorium, we can report that the conversation between ballet and contemporary dance is healthier than ever at Joffrey.

Opener “Reflections” is signature Joffrey work. This 40-year-old creation of co-founder Gerald Arpino (which, in a nice symmetry, had its world premiere in 1971 at this very same theater, though the company was then decades away from moving to Chicago) is stripped-down, simple beauty—dance at its essence. Just a cello and piano, playing Tchaikovsky’s beautiful “Variations on a Rococo Theme” for Violinocello and Orchestra, op. 33, and dancers conducting a master lesson in why ballet is such a beautiful art form.

But young choreographer Jessica Lang’s world premiere, “Crossed,” is the showstopper. Read the rest of this entry »

The Joffrey Ballet’s return of Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Cinderella” is well danced but lacks magic. First performed by the company in 2006, this retelling of the classic never gets as dark as the original source material and never gets as frothy and bright as more modern adaptations. The talents of the stepsisters are much appreciated exceptions: hilarious brawling divas so specific in their detail that the fact they are played by men becomes secondary to their comedic ability. Thankfully they dominate a bulk of the ballet. It isn’t until the end of the first act that Joffrey’s female corps takes the stage as fairies and stars and the audience gets a real taste of the magic this company is capable of. When a dozen or so of these remarkable women perfectly execute the quick, intricate formations the power is breathtaking. In act two, the men get a chance to show off their virtuosity at the ball. But these moments aren’t enough to keep the ballet from dragging, and the spectacle (like the rest of the production) is not nearly as exciting as the anticipation it evokes. (William Scott)

At the Auditorium Theater, 50 E. Congress Pkwy, (312)902-1500. Through February 28. $25-$145.

Mauro Villanueva and Victoria Jaiani/Photo: Herbert Migdoll

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The Joffrey Ballet stays true to Sir Frederick Ashton’s definitive version of the world’s best-known fairy tale with plenty of frills and spectacle, including a life-sized pumpkin coach. The wicked stepsisters, played by men, lend a slapstick edge to the saccharine tale. Wendy Ellis Somes, a former dancer with the Royal Ballet, staged this production for the Joffrey, ensuring the piece, already familiar to the Joffrey, resonates with the grace and charm of the original, first produced in 1948, restaged in ‘65. Score by Prokofiev, splendorous sets—this one is for lovers of the classics. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E Congress Pkwy, (800)982-2787. February 17-28, $25-145.

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It has been quite some time since Joffrey Ballet gave Chicago a full-length narrative ballet, but the company opens its new season with the premiere of  Lar Lubovitch’s “Othello.” The story of the ill-fated Venetian general dates back well before Shakespeare’s telling to Giraldo Cintio’s original legend published in 1566.  Lubovitch’s adaptation uses strong moving images to paint an impression of the classic tale with a definite modern brush. This rendering of these characters gives the Joffrey dancers the opportunity to  show exactly why they are known for elegance, grace, power, strength and athleticism. Desdemona is light and lovely and heartbreakingly tragic in her final moments as danced by April Daly. Fabrice Calmel’s Othello is a masculine presence commanding the stage. Though Lubovitch’s choreography  infuses a contemporary aesthetic into the classical, I must admit that at times the modern movement feels forced when he works with a single dancer or a group.  However, none of that matters when he turns his attention to amazingly crafted duets. Dance after dance, when Lubovitch works with two dancers magic happens; he creates movement that flows from a deeply rooted tradition and wakes it up. Iago (Matthew Adamczyk) and his wife Emilia (Valerie Robin) embody this meeting of styles in angular and angry moments of dance that transcend everything else in this already powerful ballet.  (William Scott)

At the Auditorium Theater, 50 E. Congress Pkwy, (312)902-1500. Through October 25. $25-$145.

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Stridulation is the production of sound achieved by rubbing two body parts together. One of the opening—and most stunning—moments of the new collaborative work by choreographer Rachel Damon and voice artist Dan Mohr casts a spot on two humming dancers, stacked back-to-back and rotating like a giant nocturnal insect inspected under a flashlight. Stridulate is divided into numerous such segments by blackouts; sound generates all movement in these little chapters and the performers generate all sound: hums, croaks, snippets of invented language and rich, major chords. Damon and Mohr explore a wide range of ways to embody the versatile voice over an hour, from gestural, improvisational movement fueled by playful grunts to the meditative stillness achieved by a sustained hum. The press release notes that this is an exercise in formalism and (like many such exercises) it feels lacking in content at moments, like when sounds are coded directly to movements and repeated in fugue. But this isn’t to say exercise doesn’t yield fruit. One example: when a kneeling Jeff Harms—who inhabits the sounds he creates with his entire being, thin body vibrating as if hewn from wood—emits a disturbingly hypnotic croaking while the supine ensemble members arch and writhe as though shaken in their graves. (Sharon Hoyer)

At Galaxie, 2603 W. Barry. June 12 and 13, 19 and 20. Friday shows at 8pm, Saturday shows at 4pm and 8pm. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/59695 for tickets. $15

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The distance in this case is measured with rigor, in potent, disciplined strokes. Two new pieces, each fueled by near uninterrupted momentum, stand in bold yet harmonious contrast. In Ashleigh Leite’s “I Live in Perfect,” limbs seem to reach beyond their physical limits to slice massive curves across the stage; straightened arms push aside the air or manipulate limbs of fellow dancers with an urgency evident on each face. Place this beside Molly Shanahan’s undulating, qi-driven “Stamina of Curiosity: Everywhen” and you have two poles of contemporary choreography: dancerly extension and precision of form versus profoundly organic, internally generated movement. Shanahan’s gorgeously personal choreography sits well on this company; rippling spines move from floor to the air to the backs of others on waves of palpable energy, bodies weaving intricate jungle patterns with orgasmic reverie. Conspicuous nods to Eastern forms (like when the cast holds warrior II pose in unison as though suddenly in yoga class) could easily fail but, thanks to the unflagging physical focus of the company, fit in the piece with convincing sincerity. The momentum is maintained with Shapiro and Smith’s spellbinding, sensuous and witty “To Have and to Hold,” which uses three parallel benches to play with shifting horizontal levels and chain reactions of cartwheels, log rolls and somersaults, reveling in the sheer joy of movement. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn Pkwy. (773)506-8730. Fri & Sat. 8pm, Sun 2pm. $20. November 14-16.

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Of his 1924 play “In the Jungle of Cities,” Bertolt Brecht entreats his audience not to “worry your heads about the motives of the fight, concentrate on the stakes.” Peter Carpenter’s latest creation for Lucky Plush, inspired by Brecht’s Chicago tale of two men locked in battle, dissects the concept of a motivation-less struggle from shifting vantage points. We see the virtuosic ensemble struggle, watch struggle, resist and succumb to physical manipulation. Text—some original, some lifted from the play—add theoretical musings and deconstructive moments that peel away at Carpenter’s multi-layered themes while contributing a marvelous texture to the movement. Carpenter invents a physical language full of nuance and humor, yet we feel immediately fluent. The piece takes place between several rooms, and the installation works beautifully in the Galaxie warehouse space—strikingly so in starker moments, as when one dancer, dressed in a vest and button-down shirt, slithers across the floor in pursuit of a dollar bill; or when another discovers the spontaneous grace of her limbs before awkwardly posing with a self-conscious grin. (Sharon Hoyer)

“The Sky Hangs Down Too Close” runs at The Galaxie, 203 West Barry, June 27-29. Tickets available at luckyplush.com.

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“American Moderns” is finally here. The name of the program refers to choreographers that challenge expectations and broaden the definition of what dance can be. It is Joffrey Ballet, however, that is truly the master. Nowhere will you find such grace, athleticism and all around badassery as you will on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre right now. From beginning to end it is one delicious dance after the next. Paul Taylor’s “Cloven Kingdom” fits elegantly a company in top physical condition. I can’t imagine it fitting anyone better than Joffrey. The three dancers in Mehmet Sander’s “Inner Space” wiggle around inside a Plexiglas box in a way that defies logic. It is funny and fantastically absurd. The company premiere of Lar Lubovich’s “…smile with my hear” is a fresh tribute to Broadway composer Richard Rodgers and a light palette cleanser before the next of the evenings premieres. Twyla Tharp’s quirky choreographic feast “Waterbaby Bagatelles” is a definitively Tharp showpiece for the entire company. As schools of fish under the florescent lighting of a tank, the stars of these dancers glisten. Complex and joyous, this dance should join Joffrey’s permanent repertoire. There are four more performances of “American Moderns” left. I wish I could see it four more times. (William Scott)

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress, (312)902-1500. This production is now closed.

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Never one to shy away from the provocative, Bill T. Jones tackles murder and morality in the latest production of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, “Chapel/Chapter.” Central to the piece is a question posed by Jones: “How can this event suggest the uneasy distance our mediatized era helps create between the passive observers which we are and the disturbing, sometimes incomprehensible ‘news items’ we encounter every day?” Across a sharply lit white floor-grid surrounded by a red velvet-draped theater, the dancers explore this question in three different repeating narratives both sung and spoken by live performers. The audience sits in pew-like seats surrounding the stage and as jury/congregation watches the three true stories—two of them high-profile murder cases and one a personal narrative from one of the dancers—being enacted before them on the stark, unforgiving stage. (Tamara Matthews)