"Suppose"/Photo: Erika Dufour

RECOMMENDED

Once again River North gives ticket buyers their money’s worth in its annual V-Day engagement, packing the program with two world premieres, two pieces that premiered last fall and four popular works from the company’s repertory. Brand new works include a driving three-way dance battle by, coincidentally enough, New York choreographer Robert Battle, and a look into the tension between group creativity and individual expression by commissioned choreographer Lauri Stallings. Frank Chaves, River North’s artistic director, restages “Forbidden Boundaries,” his intensely personal, athletically rigorous premiere from last fall that seeks quite literally to strip away the protective layers of self-doubt and inhibition keeping us from success. Romantic, valentines-y pieces on the program include Chaves’ stormy duet “Sentir em Nos,” set to the über-sexy vocals of Andrea Bocelli, and Battle’s “Ella,” a physical scat that sets pace with formidable vocal dancing of Ms. Fitzgerald’s “Air Mail Special.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, (312)334-7777. February 12 and 13, 8pm. $30-$65.

"Moon Water"/Photo: Liu Chen-hsiang

By Sharon Hoyer

“Everything goes spiral. The spiral is the DNA of Tai Chi.”

I’m talking with Lee Ching-chun, the associate artistic director of Cloud Gate Theatre of Taiwan, about their celebrated piece “Moon Water,” coming to the Harris Theater this weekend. It’s 9pm Taiwan time and the sun is not yet up in Chicago—what better time than daybreak to discuss a dance form derived from the ancient martial art, exercise and meditation form Tai Chi Tao Yin.

Tai Chi training inspired Lin Hwai-min, artistic director of Cloud Gate and the choreographer of the company’s signature work. “He wanted to create a piece based on this energy training, to make it into a dance movement,” Lee says. The movement originated, as with any meditative practice, with the breath. Read the rest of this entry »

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The boys are back and on point with another lighthearted tribute to the oft-stodgy world of ballet. The all-male Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo take a somewhat Elizabethan approach to dance: all the roles are performed, and quite competently too, by men—professionals who finally get to strap on the toe shoes and tutus and give the daintier Giselles a run for their money. The one-night program at the Harris salutes dance both classical (no Trock performance would feel complete without the action-packed second-act battle from “Swan Lake”) and modern; this show includes a riff on Merce Cunningham’s “Points in Space.” Also on the program is “La Vivandiere Pas de Six” inspired by Arthur Saint Leon and Majisimas, staged with choreography by Raffaele Morra. (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph (312)334-7777. January 27, 7:30pm. $45-$75.

RECOMMENDED

Certainly nothing compares to a Hubbard Street Dance premiere, but this year’s Winter Series is doing everything it can to top itself. When this fantastically dexterous beast of a company crawls onto this Harris Theater stage this month, it will dig into its pocket to bring with it some of its most dynamic work. It is hard to decide what to get the most excited about. We can be thankful the company will bring back Israeli choreographer Ohand Naharin’s “Tabula Rasa.” Smooth and technical and melancholy and dynamic, there is a reason Naharin is one of the most respected dance makers in the world. Quickly taking his own place on that list is Hubbard Street’s own Alejandro Cerrudo. His “Off Screen” is a testament to his deliciously wiggly aesthetic. But more important, it is a testament to his ability to make us laugh. Johan Inger’s “Walking Mad” will continue that smile’s creep across your face. Set to Ravel’s  ”Boléro,” this theatrical piece elicits laughs and audible gasps out of the audience every time. Apparently Hubbard Street knows that as the dark days of a Chicago winter approach, we all need a little something we can smile about. (William Scott)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph (312)334-7777. December 3-6; Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. $25-$90.

RECOMMENDED

It’s impossible to have too much Fosse. The legendary choreographer is responsible for aesthetically defining generations of movement on stage and film. Thodos Dance Chicago agrees, and with the company’s Fall Concert they give us a trilogy of Fosse’s work staged by one of the dancemaker’s greatest talents, Anne Reinking. “Cool Hand Luke,” “Mexican Breakfast” and “Tijuana Shuffle” form the bones of the trio with Reinking contributing world-premiere transitional choreography. Awesome. And if there is any doubt that Fosse is still relevant, see the video mash-up of “Mexican Breakfast” and rapper Unk’s “Walk It Out” on YouTube that inspired Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video. Also on stage will be the Chicago premiere of Artistic Director Melissa Thodos’ “Driven” and three company premieres by  Wade Schaaf, Jessica Miller Tomlinson, and the team of Mollie Mock and Jeremy Blair, all from the company’s New Dances 2009 choreography performance series. Plus two other Thodos audience favorites. Sounds like a program well worth the money, and you can catch it at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie or later in the month downtown at the Harris Theater. (William Scott)

November 13, 8pm at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 North Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, (847) 673-6300, $38. November 28, 8 pm at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 East Randolph Drive, Chicago, (312)334-7777, $25-$60.

Melanie Manale-Hortin and Michael Gross/Photo: Marc Hauser

“We’re all emotional beings,” Frank Chaves, artistic director and primary choreographer for River North Chicago Dance says over the phone, “but dancers…when you go to work, you’re dealing with your body and your emotions.” The emotions Chaves has been grappling with over the past four years emerged in the aftermath of a surgery to remove a cyst on his spine, a procedure that altered his physical capabilities. “I was great at recuperating from the surgery itself; I’m very determined with things like that,” Chaves says, his words rapid and upbeat, fresh from the inspiration of the classroom. “ But once I was back from that and discovered what I was left with and how my life was going to change, that’s when I started dragging my feet. We all have a great ideal about the direction our life is going to take,” he continues. “All of a sudden you come to a stumbling block and you can hang on to fighting for what you thought your path was going to be, or you can change direction.” Read the rest of this entry »

Nube Blanco/Photo: Kristie Kahns

In the midst of this, their tenth anniversary year, the founder and artistic director of Luna Negra Dance Theater moved to New York to take the helm of Ballet Hispanico: the first company he danced with professionally. This week, Eduardo Vilaro is back in town to premiere “Danzon,” new work for Luna Negra, now in the process of vetting a new creative director. The return is a comfortable one; talking with him in the rehearsal space on South Wabash, watching him direct and critique during rehearsal, it doesn’t feel as though Vilaro ever left.

“I miss Chicago,” Vilaro says. A Cuban immigrant, he spent his later childhood and early professional life in New York, then left fifteen years ago when the city was still, as he puts it, on edge. “It’s lost a little bit of that edge, but what it hasn’t lost is this constant energy of creation, both capitalistically and artistically—there’s a lot of movement.” New York has changed significantly in the last decade and a half, but Vilaro is quite comfortable returning to direct Ballet Hispanico. “I don’t feel estranged,” he says. “I feel like the environment, the actual physical space welcomes me.” Change comes naturally to Vilaro, who describes himself as an immigrant who has still not found home. “For a while I was extracted from my family. In the assimilation process you’re ripped apart. It gives you drive, but there’s a harsh part, where you never know where you’ll plant your feet. It puts me in a place where I need to connect.”

For now Vilaro is staying connected with Luna Negra and forming new ties via a collaboration with Latin jazz artist Paquito D’Rivera. “Danzon” is a sexy, playful work that weaves lush athleticism sprinkled with lighthearted break steps into D’Rivera’s stormy, suggestive clarinet lines. The piece will be presented as part of Luna Negra’s fall performance this Saturday at the Harris, along with repertory favorites including the sultry, cinematic “Tango Vitrola” by Argentinean choreographer Alejandro Cervera and “Nube Blanco,” Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s delightful, immensely witty surrealist confection that must be experienced at least once.

“I’m going to do my best, to stick to my vision of the impact I want for the whole Latino community,” Vilaro tells me. “Here to New York to Los Angeles to Latin America to Spain—my goal is to connect, not disconnect. I want to keep working on giving voice to a culture while inviting people in to explore.” (Sharon Hoyer)

Luna Negra performs at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph (312)334-7777. Saturday, October 10, 8pm. $25-$55.

My Witness/Photo: Todd Clark

RECOMMENDED

Kudos to Chicago dancemakers, venues and sponsors for striving to make dance ever more accessible in times of economic tribulation; each year the all-free Chicago Dancing Festival seems to double in duration, quality and attendance. A smattering of free shows in the Pritzker throughout the summer made it possible for anybody to see dance on a fortnightly basis for the cost of a stroll through the park. This kind of investment in art speaks well of our city, our artists and the folks putting up money to keep these projects going. The good news is, they keep going.

As the weather cools off, things move indoors with Harris Theater’s “Eat to the Beat” noontime series. It’s not free, but it’s cheaper than your lunch, which you’re encouraged to bring along and consume during the forty-five-minute performances. The series consists of three shows; the first—“My Witness,” choreographed by Gina Patterson and accompanied by folk trio Sons of the Never Wrong—goes up this Tuesday. Subsequent performances will be in November and February. Musicians and sound artists are encouraged to submit proposals to accompany the final show, Alex Ketley’s “If Ever (an Ocean) Relinquished.” (Sharon Hoyer)

At the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, (312)334-7777. September 15, November 17 and February 23, noon. $5 or $10 for the series.

Sabrina and Ruben Veliz

There are a handful of adjectives reliably attached to every mention of an Argentine Tango performance, workshop or dancer: seductive, passionate, sultry, smoldering, fiery, sizzling or, quite simply, hot. As a (unfortunately lapsed) tanguera, I can attest that, yes, the spicy descriptions do apply—most of the time—but, in my opinion, the universally fevered characterizations do a versatile form a gross disservice. Tango is an almost entirely free-form partner dance without any basic footwork pattern; an intricate flurry of feet is generated spontaneously (at least in social contexts where the dance truly comes to life) by communication between partners—a partnership that is entirely unique from couple to couple and capable of expressing, at its best, the infinitely varied complexity of human relationships. However, this exchange between partners takes place in a rather limited physical area—from one torso directly to another—so projecting the emotional subtlety of tango beyond the confines of the embrace, much less to a 1500-seat theater, can be a difficult task. This is probably why promoters of tango tend to fall back on sexual buzzwords to stir up interest—the side effect being that the public is given one reductive story: the virile, hyper-masculine Latino and his seductive, leggy partner, the infidelity of both and the hyperbolized heartache that ensues. After all, it’s easier to titillate with descriptions of flirtatious kicks, flicks and lunges than the fluid quality of connection between seasoned dancers. Read the rest of this entry »

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company/Photo: Todd Rosenberg

RECOMMENDED

No matter how endlessly dismal the winters, you’ve really gotta love Chicago in the summertime; it seems like every band, dance company and arts organization in town plays the Pritzker Pavilion at least once, sometimes two or three times, gratis. Wander past that bandshell resembling a giant space insect sprung from the mind of Frank Gehry any time of any day and you’ll either catch a show or see the setup and rehearsal for a show to come. Even the Harris Theater has joined in the populist sentiment, hosting free “ticketed” performances of music and dance throughout the season. The mood is vibrant; Millennium Park has become the omphalos of the city’s summertime cultural programming and a remarkably successful use of downtown public space.

Next week, the park hosts the third annual Chicago Dancing Festival—four all-you-can-eat days of free performances by sixteen companies from across the United States. Tuesday at the Harris, catch River North, the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Aszure Barton & Artists and the Joffrey Ballet performing newish works by young, emerging choreographers. If you favor time-tested choreography, hold out till Thursday and see some phenomenal companies brandish the precious gems of their repertory in “Modern Masters”: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet do Forsythe, New York City Ballet do Wheeldon and Luna Negra, Limón. Read the rest of this entry »