Author Archives: Vicki

Throwback Thursday: Peep edition #tbt

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RB and Todd Michael Kiech at ACDF circa 1987.

Oh, the 80s. Picture it. Central Illinois – 1986 – a girl from Decatur meets a guy from the Chicago suburbs at a dance rehearsal. There is laughing, lots of laughing. A friendship is born amid leotards and leg warmers.

Todd Kiech is many things: a dancer, choreographer, teacher, actor, psychic, burlesque star, bartender, but most of all he’s my dear friend. He has the most infectious, boisterous laugh around. He makes me giggle every time I see him. He’s my original peep.

We’ve done hundreds of shows together over the years. I will never forget the sage advice he once gave me in rehearsal. “Vicki, do…something!” Back in the day, I had big hair and he had hair. I love my Todd Kiech. Happy 27 years, my friend.

Dancer Spotlight: Abigail Simon, Dance For Life

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Dancer Abigail Simon. Photo by Gina Uhlmann.

This Saturday, Aug. 18, marks the annual dance performance, Dance For Life, that raises money and awareness for HIV/AIDS prevention. Proceeds from this year’s benefit will go to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Dancer’s Fund and Chicago House. Always a highlight of the show are two world premiere finales, Act I by Harrison McEldowney and Jeremy Plummer/C5 and an Act II finale by Randy Duncan. Participating companies include DanceWorks Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, River North Dance Chicago and Thodos Dance Chicago. Also performing this weekend are independent artists Mauro Villanueva and Abigail Simon.

Simon, 27, was born in New York to a director/actor father and an opera singer mother. The family was bi-coastal spending time split between NY and Los Angeles, where she started dancing at age three. At seven, back in NYC, she studied for three years at Ballet Hispanico and at ten, was accepted to the School of American Ballet (SAB), where she studied for ten years. She danced with American Ballet Theatre‘s second company (ABT II) for two years and with the main company for another two years. “I learned so much there,” she said. “I knew that because I came from SAB and because I hadn’t had much classical training that I needed to go to a smaller company to get my wings.” Joffrey was holding auditions in NYC, she auditioned and spent the next seven years dancing with them here in Chicago.

Some may recognize her from her extremely perky performances as Clara in The Nutcracker, but some of her favorite roles from her time at Joffrey are the virtuoso pas Balanchine’s Tarantella and Valencienne in Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow. Simon has only performed in Dance for Life one other time when she was part of Harrison McEldowney’s finale in 2011. This year, she partners with former Joffrey dancer Villanueva for the pas de deux from Le Corsaire, a gala favorite. “We’re excited,” Simon said. “It’s pure classical. It’s got tricks!”

Simon recently left Joffrey to pursue a freelance career. “I’m going to miss that family feel and being on the road,” she said, “but when I told them I was leaving, it felt like the chains coming off. You’ve got to trust your instincts and follow your heart.” So far, she’s kept busy dancing with Ballet Next, coaching students for the Youth America Grand Prix, modeling for Bloch and Revolution Dancewear. She has modeling gigs set with Capezio and Custom Barre and auditioned for Christopher Wheeldon’s new Broadway project An American in Paris. She’s also up for a lead role in an upcoming movie with actress Sean Young set to film next year in Venice, Italy. (Rumor has it people affiliated with the film will be at the show on Saturday. Perhaps if we clap extra loud, she’ll get the part!)

Simon said it is easier to find consistent work as a freelance dancer in New York, so she and her boyfriend are getting a place there too and will be splitting their time. “I’m excited,” she said. “I’m very open. It took me a couple of years to figure out, but if you’re positive and open to change, good things can happen. Just get on the horse and start riding. I’m so happy.”

Dance for Life at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., Saturday, Aug. 17 at 8 pm. Tickets for the performance only are $50-$75.

A pre-performance gala reception will be held in the International Ballroom of the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan Ave., at 5 pm. Gala tickets (which include a ticket to the performance) are $200-$500.

For more information, call 312-922-5812 or visit danceforlifechicago.com.

Throwback Thursday: Cindy edition #tbt

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RB as Winter Fairy in "Cinderella".

This #tbt is inspired by Breaking Pointe*, the CW docu-drama series following Ballet West**. This season on the show the company is performing Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella. (The filming took place during their 2012-2013 season.) This past Monday the cast list went up and had me meandering down memory lane.

Cinderella is one of my favorite ballets. Prokofiev’s sparkling music, the magical transformation with the carriage, the hilarious ugly step sisters (Yes, I was one. Too fun.), the whimsical choreography (I’m fairly certain all versions take liberally from Ashton) and the story. Even though I take issue with the lesson that everything is “happily ever after” once you meet your prince…I’m still a sucker for this romantic tale.

I really, really wanted to be Cinderella. It was my dream part. Alas, my best friend and roommate got the coveted role. As awkward as that sounds, we immediately discussed any hurt feeling and I ended up sitting in on her rehearsals for moral support. (She was fabulous, by the way, and admittedly a better dancer than me.) I was cast as the Winter Fairy, which has a beautiful, but slightly boring variation. I also had to wear a powder blue tutu. Yuck! I coped by wearing copious amounts of blue eye shadow. Blue rogueness.

While the solo variation wasn’t particularly challenging , the group fairy variations with the Fairy Godmother were fast and fun. The tick-tock clock countdown in Act II was hard and a blast, but the Act III interlude before the wedding pas, where we bourree in place forEVER killed my poor hips.

* I live-tweet the episodes on Monday evenings. Follow along @rogueballerina

**Ballet West will be performing in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre this October. Get tickets here!

Cloud Gate Presser with Lin Hwai-min

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Cloud Gate dancer WU Chun-hsien in "Songs of the Wanderers". Photo by YU Hui-hung.

Tuesday I attended a Press/VIP launch for the upcoming 2014 Chicago performances of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, their sixth appearance in Chicago. The event was held on stage at the iconic Auditorium Theatre (fantastic views!) mostly for members of the Chicago Asian Pacific American Press, but RB and fellow dance writer Lauren Warnecke* (artintercepts.org) claimed seats in the back row and listened in. Many thanks to Jill Chukerman for the invite.

Actor Marc Rita served as Emcee and introduced an array of presenter/speakers before getting to the main purpose of the presser – hearing Founder and Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Lin Hwai-min speak. Lin, a small and quiet man, began by saying he sometimes thinks being a dancer/choreographer is a wrong choice and that, as the creator of work, if people like it, you are “punished” by having to watch it over and over. He went on to say that Songs of the Wanderers (the work being presented next March) is the exception – even after 19 years. “I’ve seen it thousands of times,” said Lin. “I love to see it, not every night, but it’s special.”

The work has a global flavor being inspired by Asian religions, German writing, set to Georgian folk music and performed in/with 3.5 tons of golden Taiwanese rice. “These performing rice are very seasoned,” quipped Lin. He also told of a trip he took where he saw people drinking water downstream from where cremated bodies were being thrown in – “Isn’t that life itself?” – and finding peace in a sunbeam under a tree. The trip changed his life and inspired the work, which is about meditation. “The work, it came out of me like a river.”

Lin said his dancers were mad when he told them the new work was about meditation. “I forced them to sit with their eyes closed,” he said. “The want to jump and turn.” He says if you look close when they are performing Songs, you can see that most of the time, their eyes are closed “drawing the audience onto the stage instead of projecting out”. The dancers must meditate before going on stage. “Meditation is the key. You have to be there.”

I had to run to work, so missed the lunch catered by Vora. I heard it was delicious.

*Read Warnecke’s take on the event here.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s-kWMapYCM]

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan performs Songs of the Wanderers presented by The Dance Center of Columbia College, The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University and The Joffrey Ballet, Friday, March 14, 2014 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, March 16, 2014 at 3 pm. Tickets are $25-$68; call 800-982-2787 or visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org.

Throwback Thursday: Evil rogueness

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RB as the Evil Queen in "Snow White".

About a million years ago, when I was still dancing, in pointe shoes no less, I had another sign of rogueness. I was feeling in a rut and expressed to my Director (and dear friend) that I was thinking of cutting my hair off. After telling me I couldn’t do that (which is the fastest way to get me to do something), she relented, but said I would have to wear a fake bun for the Spring show. Fine.

Instead, I was cast as the Evil Queen and was put in a hood/scull cap. So, I got to cut my hair short, got a kick-ass part (basically looking pissed off and kicking people in between battements, and I’m pretty sure I hissed at the audience at one point – aka, typecasting) and had a blast. Winning.

Ballet Legére Nutcracker Auditions

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The Battle Scene in Ballet Légere's "The Nutcracker".

River Forest company Ballet Légere is holding auditions for their 29th annual performance of The Nutcracker on Saturday, August 17 and Sunday, August 18 at the Légere Dance Centre, 7377 W. North Ave., River Forest, IL.

All roles are available. Dancers need to bring a photo with them to the audition. Gymnasts and tumblers (8+) should call to set up an appointment.

 

A detailed breakdown of audition times is below. For more information, call 773.237.1874 or email balletlegere@yahoo.com.

Saturday, Aug. 17 at 8:30 am: girls, ages 4.5+, under 45″

Saturday, Aug. 17 at 10 am: girls, 46″-48″

Saturday, Aug. 17 at 11:30 am: girls, 49″-52″

Saturday, Aug. 17 at 1 pm: girls, 53″-57″

Saturday, Aug. 17 at 2:30 pm: girls, 58″-61″

Sunday, Aug. 18 at 9 am: boys, ages 5-12

Sunday, Aug. 18 at 10 am: Male and female dancers, teen thru adult, pointe and non-pointe roles

 

Hamburg Ballet to return in 2014!

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First of all, Happy National Dance Day! I hope you’ll be tapping, pointing, smacking, twerking, turning, jumping, stomping and shimmying the day away.

Big news! The Harris Theater has announced that Hamburg Ballet will return to Chicago to perform in February 2014. The company wowed audiences last season with the epic, overwhelming, evening-length ballet Nijinsky. This season they bring Director John Neumeier’s Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler for the only American performances. Tickets go on sale – today! Deets below.

Other touring dance highlights in the 2013-2014 season are Savion Glover‘s STePz (Jan 24, ’14) Alonzo King LINES Ballet (Feb 27-28, ’14), Trey McIntyre Project (April 3, ’14) and Ballet Preljocaj (May 2-4, ’14). That is on top of the regular season performances by local troupes /resident companies Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, River North Dance Chicago, Thodos Dance Chicago, Ballet Chicago and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater.

And, I’m super-duper stoked that Wendy Whelan: Restless Creature is coming (March 20). This project pairs the incomparable New York City Ballet ballerina with four contemporary choreographers including Hubbard Street’s Alejandro Cerrudo! The program has its world premiere this August at Jacob’s Pillow (“someone” couldn’t afford to go see it, so…yay!).

Tickets for the Hamburg Ballet’s “Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler” go on sale today – Saturday, July 27 – at 10 am. Tickets are available at the Harris Theater Box Office (205 E. Randolph); call 312.334.7777 or visit www.harristheaterchicago.org.

PRODUCE: What is it?

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McCurdy and Zerang.

So, what is PRODUCE? “It’s hard to explain,” said Lauren Warnecke of Art Intercepts. She’s the creator and co-host of the annual artistic mash-up program called PRODUCE.  “I’ve yet to come up with a catchphrase. I usually call it a dance/music experiment or a choose-your-own-adventure novel for experimental dance and music.”

This is the third year for this funky collab show which mixes and matches local artists/groups so that every performance out of the four is unique. “I’m looking for a reality t.v. show in a live performance,” Warnecke said. “I want conflicting aesthetics, conflicting creative processes, conflicting ideas, conflicting personalities. It’s super trad dancing all the way to playing a drum with a dildo. It’s putting people together who wouldn’t normally be.” Past performers have teamed up for subsequent projects after meeting here.

The Ensemble Project and Signal Ensemble Theatre‘s Julie Ballard (lighting) and Anthony Ingram (sound) are presenting this season of PRODUCE. Ingram also serves as co-host with Warnecke. The performance is broken down into sections. After each section, the audience gives feedback and the co-hosts, acting as “producers”, decide what changes to make with the music, sound, arrangement, pairings, etc. before the next session begins.  “We’re pulling as many manipulations out of these set works as possible. That helps the artists grow and let’s the audience into the process,” said Warnecke. “It’s about wanting to let the audience have a little bit better point of entry in this type of performance (experimental), so they can feel more comfortable with it.”

Performers this year include Country Death Trip, Mark Hardy/Celestial Architecture, Carol McCurdy and Michael Zerang, Philip Elson, The Nexus Project, crawlspace, Newman and Newman and hey girl hey omg girl real life.

Let me get this straight. A mash-up, choose-your-own-adventure, interactive, inclusive, evolving, unique, hosted mix-and-match performance with dancers, musicians, performance artists, a psycho-billy/goth country band, constellation projections, sisters and a drag queen? And you get a drink! All for $8?

Count me in!

The Ensemble Project & Signal Ensemble Theatre’s Julie Ballard and Anthony Ingram present PRODUCE, Friday-Saturday, July 26-27 and Friday-Saturday, Aug. 9-10 at 7:30 pm at Signal Ensemble Theatre, 1802 W. Berenice. Tickets are $7; call 773.341.8940 or visit www.artintercepts.org/upcoming/.

#Throwback Thursday: Tales of Early Rogueness

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Hey - these shoes are made for running!

There were early signs of rogueness. The “old school” walker was just an accessory. According to my Mom, I would pick it up and run with it, then stop, sit and rest. Sounds about right.

One day, wanting to follow my big brother, I rode it down the 12 steps to the basement. Wee!

Another sign happened at the public swimming pool. While my Mom was talking I jumped into the deep end diaper and all. She found me at the bottom, looking up at her with bubbles coming out of my mouth. Hi!

Sorry Mom 🙂

Creative Arts Therapies Benefit Concert

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This Thursday, July 25, the Creative Arts Therapies Department at Columbia College Chicago hosts its 14th annual benefit concert at the Dance Center.

The student and faculty performance will support scholarship funds for the department, the Jane Ganet Sigel Award (assisting students becoming therapists) and the Warren Lamb Award (assisting with Graduate Laban Certification).

There will be a reception and raffle after the performance. Details below.

14th Annual Creative Arts Therapies Benefit Concert, Thursday, July 25 at the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. concert at 7 pm. and reception with raffle at 9 pm. There is a suggested donation of $20 (!10 for students w/ ID). Call 312.369.8330 or visit www.colum.edu/dcat.