Photo courtesy Herbert Migdoll

RECOMMENDED

The Joffrey closes their season on a Romantic note—the capital R specifically pointing to Edwaard Liang’s “Age of Innocence” and Jerome Robbins’ “In the Night.” Both pieces are favorite Joffrey standbys: the former a lush ensemble piece inspired by Jane Austen, in which white-clad dancers play out formal, yet passionate courtships before three red velvet curtains; the latter a series of duets depicting three different romantic dynamics. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo courtesy Paul Kolnik

RECOMMENDED

In his first year as artistic director, Robert Battle is setting an ambitious course for Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, judiciously honoring the past while infusing the Ailey rep with fresh works outside the company’s signature fare. Programs for the six Chicago performances each conclude with the requisite staging of “Revelations,” Ailey’s iconic work set to African American spirituals, but the journey from curtain to bows is an eclectic one. Read the rest of this entry »

Osipova Hallberg/Photo: Gene Schiavone

RECOMMENDED

Perhaps the only dance company in the world so famous it can be recognized by its initials alone, ABT visits Chicago for the first time in seventeen years to perform the iconic 1840 story ballet “Giselle.” The massive company boasts sixteen principals, over a dozen soloists and a corps (practically an army) of sixty technically superb dancers. With a rotating cast of leads, one could have an entirely different experience at each of the five Auditorium Theatre performances. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Gadi Dagon

RECOMMENDED

Without fail, Batsheva elicits breathy wows from audiences worldwide—not for acrobatics or acts of contortion, but for a superhuman precision in phrases that slow down and speed up in a way that’s hard to grasp. You can almost feel the people in the surrounding seats rubbing their eyes and blinking with disbelief. Ohad Naharin, the visionary director of Batsheva, developed his own movement awareness approach, dubbed Gaga, that’s anchored in refining the dancer’s presence within the moment and a notion of there being “plenty of time.” Read the rest of this entry »

THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE OF ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES 2012 – 2013 SEASON

World-Class Dance Takes Center Stage with an Eclectic Lineup Including Ballet Folklórico de México, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, River North Dance Chicago with Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble and the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg

Music Fills the Auditorium’s Legendary Theatre with Susan Werner, Michael Feinstein and Jeff Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra and the Annual Production of “Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz Gospel Messiah”

CHICAGO, IL — Executive Director of The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (ATRU) Brett Batterson announces the Auditorium Theatre’s 2012-2013 season featuring six world-class dance productions, an annual favorite and musical treats for Chicago audiences. In keeping with its commitment to showcase and celebrate the diverse talents and cultural treasures of the local, regional and international creative landscape, the Auditorium will present a treasure trove of spectacular performances all season long. Subscription packages and group tickets go on sale May 1, 2012 by calling (312) 431-2357. Visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org for more information.  Read the rest of this entry »

Ricardo Santos/Photo: Sandro

RECOMMENDED

White, line-drawn figures walk across an LED screen running the length of the stage while below a few dancers create abrupt, angular lines to sounds reminiscent of subway stations and the beeps of a telegraph machine. Thus begins Wayne McGregor’s “Infra,” a piece he created for the Royal Ballet of London after the underground bombings in 2005. The Joffrey brings the piece to the U.S. for the first time, executing choreography that demands hyper-flexibility interspersed with quicksilver phrasing.

The cool precision of McGregor’s choreography can sometimes come off as devoid of emotion, but the currents of anxiety and fragility underpinning the subterranean “Infra” are very human. A series of duets that follow the opening sequence, set to strings and piano by Max Richter, are the embodiment of urban modernity: coolly flawless, detached, yet yearning just beneath the polished surface. When the couples line up across the stage, each pair executing their precise sequences in separate, constricted rectangles of light, digital figures passing overhead, never has perfection looked so quietly desperate. Read the rest of this entry »

Former Bolshoi principal dancer Mikhail Lavrovsky places new choreography on Prokofiev’s famous score in this staging by the State Ballet Theatre of Russia. The Voronezh-based (south of Moscow, some 300 miles from the Ukraine border) company has been around since 1961, but is a somewhat new import to the States. Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: Steven Caras

As the name professes, this all-male ensemble has street cred aplenty, especially on the major thoroughfares of Broadway and Hollywood Boulevard. Flashy moves and flawless technique have earned the Bad Boys accolades from across the high-profile entertainment spectrum, from competitive TV dance shows to Carnegie Hall, sharing bills with the likes of Lady Gaga and Elton John. Read the rest of this entry »

DV&D, Lux/Photo: Phil Knott

In just five years, the Chicago Dancing Festival has grown from a one-night showcase at the Pritzker Pavilion to a five-day multi-venue event encompassing performance, film and lecture. Like Lollapalooza, Dancing Festival tickets are snapped up shortly after they’re released. One difference being that, instead of $190 a pop, it’s all free.

Celebrated New York choreographer and Chicago native Lar Lubovitch along with dancer Jay Franke curate programs that include renowned companies from across the country, giving us the unique opportunity to see Martha Graham’s, Merce Cunningham’s and Mr. Lubovitch’s companies all in the same evening. I spoke with Jay Franke about the birth, growth and future of the festival.

How did you conceive of the festival?

Lar and I danced together at Hubbard Street and I danced in his company in New York later. We both felt there was a need for a dance festival in Chicago. We felt if we were able to give an audience access to the best that was out there, we would attract and grow a new audience for dance. We had our eye on the Pritzker—it’s a very grand performance space and democratic. We had 8,500 people show up to our first performance, so we felt we had an overnight hit on our hands. Read the rest of this entry »

Rachael McLaren/Photo: Andrew Eccles

RECOMMENDED

Calendars align as Alvin Ailey rolls through Chicago the same weekend Hubbard Street performs an Alonzo King piece created for Ailey. It’s a small modern dance world after all, but Alvin Ailey is one of the biggest fish in an ever-growing pond. Judith Jamison steps down as artistic director this year (the successor to Ailey), leaving a legacy behind her and a company she helped make a household name. The program—the last under Jamison’s leadership to be performed in Chicago—is a tribute to old and new: “Revelations” every night of course, but also two new works by AD-to-be Robert Battle that portray two sides of masculinity—aggression and vulnerability (sadly, never in the same evening)—and a company history lesson by Christopher L. Huggins entitled “Anointed” that nods to the passing of the torch from founder to Jamison to Battle. Three more Chicago premieres pepper the program, including one by Ailey, set to the music of Duke Ellington and celebrating the lives of Balthazar, Solomon and MLK. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 East Congress, (800)982-2787, May 18-May 22. $30-$87.