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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)

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“Since first premiering the ballet in New York last spring, we’ve revised some staging and added new costumes which we feel will enhance the overall production, as well as the audiences’ experience,” says American Ballet Theatre’s (ABT) Artistic Director Kevin Mckenzie. The production, a new take on the classic “The Sleeping Beauty” is coming to Chicago’s Civic Opera House, and is staged by McKenzie as well as former ABT ballerina Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov. The timeless fairy tale of the beautiful Princess Aurora comes to life set to Tchaikovsky’s famous score and features sets and costumes by Tony Award-winners Tony Walton and Willa Kim. ABT’s eighty-plus-member company will be accompanied by a live sixty-five-member orchestra. Different dancers will play the prince and princess each night. (William Scott)

At the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker, (312)902-1500. This production is now closed.

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The Luna Negra company presents new works by three Latino choreographers at the Harris Theater, under the broad rubric of “Nuevo Folk.” The theme provides plenty of space for interpretation: Edgar Zendejas finds animus in the “beauty and cruelty” of ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures in “Plight,” an abstract piece that has the body-stocking-clad company undulating to an eerie score that features a child reciting barely discernible fragments of Spanish lullabies. The fluid movements are haunting and challenge cerebral interpretation. In contrast is Joel Valentin-Martinez’s cinematic “Tlatelolco Revisited,” a narrative rendering of the Mexican army massacre of protestors in Tlatelolco Square, shortly before the 1968 Olympic Games. Also featured is a duet by Luna Negra director Eduardo Vilaro—a marriage of classical sensibility and round Cuban motions, rendered with Vilaro’s signature whimsy, humor and nostalgia. Expect a variety of flavors, appealing to different palates. (Sharon Hoyer)

 At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 East Randolph, (312)334-7777. This production is now closed.

RECOMMENDED

I am new to Chicago and not yet had I the privilege to see The Joffrey Ballet live. With the company’s Anthony Tudor Centennial, celebrating the work of the legendary dance maker, I finally saw this exquisite company in top form. Consisting of three pieces, “Lilac Garden,” “Dark Elegies” and “Offenbach in the Underworld,” the program serves as a vibrant tribute to Tudor’s canon. Although “Elegies” is said to be one of Tudor’s greatest masterpieces, “Lilac Garden” exemplifies the psychological drama and narrative form that shape his unique genius. This Victorian melodrama chronicles a secret love affair that is torn apart by the ingénue’s impending arranged marriage. The characters are complex and danced with expert clarity. The turn of a head and power of shared glances meet technique well suited to the depth of the material. Your heart will break for the love that cannot be. The sorrows and revelries of the characters in the following pieces are just as riveting. (William Scott)

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

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Given all of the changes that have occurred at the Joffrey this year, it is good to see that the company’s flagship “Nutcracker” production looks as stunning as it ever did, particularly comforting after the dull and docile new “Giselle” that was unveiled two months ago. Robert Joffrey’s conception, filtered through now retired company co-founder Gerald Arpino, is Victorian America, say Boston circa 1850. The look is Currier & Ives and is always visually compelling, with period costumes and a color scheme of aquas, blues, purples and magentas to match. But what really stands out in the Joffrey version is the transformation to the world of Clara’s imagination: a land of sugar plum fairies and waltzing snowflakes that is as beautiful as it is magical. Both Clara and her Nutcracker prince, which are being danced by alternating performers, are true dancers (the Ruth Page version would cast children in the roles and give them surrogate dancers for their most important scenes together). The snowy winter wonderland is a magical, silver snowscape where we are treated to the “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” complete with the extravagance of having the Chicago Children’s Choir perform the aetherial vocalizations that Tchaikovsky called for at every performance, not to mention the superb orchestral accompaniment provided by the Chicago Sinfonietta under the baton of Leslie Dunner. The dance revue that makes up Act II is gracefully performed, if too slow for the score, yet isn’t afraid to display a sense of humor when appropriate, including a giant gingerbread puppet. This remains the best area “Nutcracker” in a very crowded marketplace for the beloved work. (Dennis Polkow)

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

It’s difficult to know what to make of the new Joffrey “Giselle,” the company’s first in its long history, that was unveiled last week at the Auditorium Theatre. Coming as it does at a time of great transition for the company where co-founder Gerald Alpino is stepping down and new artistic director Ashley Wheater is stepping in, what does it say that this most traditional of all ballets—indeed, the work that is the very precursor to classical ballet as we know it—is being presented in the most traditional manner possible at the beginning of a new era in the Joffrey saga? If you are expecting a rethinking of a classic along the lines of the company’s brilliant and innovative “Nutcracker,” clearly you won’t find it here. What you will find is a staging and sets that could have passed for state-of-the-art decades ago, a “retro” Giselle,” if you will, that makes no attempt whatsoever to take advantage of twenty-first-century stagecraft. Even the sets are borrowed from another company, and the choreographer, 93-year old British choreographer Frederic Franklin, is basing his ideas, we are told, from a Russian version from the 1930s. The dancing is spectacular, to be sure, but derivative, and the gliding “wilis” or ghosts of maidens left jilted on their wedding days, are always a treat. What is missing is the “Joffrey” touch, a stamp that says, “this is ours, this is special,” which is something we have come to expect from this company. If this were a touring production from another company, we would be satisfied. But Joffrey has set the bar higher, and as such, it falls short on the company’s own terms. (Dennis Polkow)

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

RECOMMENDED

The floor is bathed in fluorescent red light. The fifteen dancers, outfitted in designer Laura Hazlett’s monochromatic silver sheer costumes, boast sinewy bodies that writhe with a gesture one moment and instantaneously melt into graceful elongation the next. Then, picking up the hypnotic beat of composer Paul Dresher’s live industrial music, the ensemble burst into an explosion of wonderfully restrained, pulsating restlessness. And that’s just the first fifteen minutes. Choreographer Margaret Jenkins’ seventy-five-minute “A Slipping Glimpse,” an evening-length dance concert collaboration between members of the Calcutta, India-based Tanusree Shankar Dance Company and Jenkins’ own San Francisco troupe, is an alluring East-meets-West hybrid of modern dance that’s difficult to categorize. That’s OK, especially since once your eyes and ears begin settling into a particular pattern of movement or sound, Jenkins’ direction or Dresher’s music might mutate into something completely different. A classically trained Indian quartet featuring Eastern-flavored music gives way to a jazzy large-group number underscored by a steady rock beat. A dancer focuses his energy onto the most minimal physical gesture—the tap of a shoulder—as energetically as they do an Olympian-sized lift. And so on with this study of opposites, and in the words of Jenkins, a piece “conceived at a vertiginous moment in history when it’s often difficult to tell on which side of the looking glass we are standing—or dancing.” For this presentation, production designer Alexander V. Nichols will transform the dance center into a theater-in-the-round configuration in which platforms and cantilevered walkways will nestle between four sections of the audience, guaranteeing a multiple-focus staging effect, and the evening will begin with an outdoor prologue a couple of blocks from the auditorium, weather permitting. Like a mood music album brought to choreographic life, the vertiginous “A Slipping Glimpse” promises to be a soothing and sexy dose of kinetic and aural sensations, as well as a great kickoff to the Columbia College Dance Center’s 2007-2008 Season. (Fabrizio O. Almeida)

At the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan, (312)344-8300. This production is now closed.