Spotlight Shines on White City Doc

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Vicki

Thodos dancers in "The White City". Photo by Kai Harding, Inc.

This Thursday night, instead of watching Leno or Letterman or Colbert, at 10:30 pm turn on WTTW Channel 11. You won’t be sorry. Our local PBS affiliate will premiere Christopher Kai Olsen’s Beneath the White City Lights: The Making of an American Story Ballet. This new dance documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at rehearsals and preparation for Thodos Dance Chicago‘s (TDC) choreographic take on the 1893 Columbian Exposition, which premiered at the Harris Theater in 2011. Inspired by historical events surrounding the fair and Chicago’s architecture, Thodos founder Melissa Thodos and gal pal, Broadway star Ann Reinking developed a story board and the project took off from there. To create a multimedia experience, they enlisted the help of Emmy-winning filmmaker Chris Olsen to produce a series of short, video projections to aid in moving the plot along. (Olsen previously worked with Thodos, Reinking and company for the documentary Fosse: A Prelude.) Once immersed in rehearsals, Olsen found he didn’t want to stop. “I wanted to understand the process,” he says. “I wanted to make sure I was fully ingesting it. Rehearsals would end and I’d keep shooting. I just wouldn’t leave.” He ended up with almost 100 hours of footage.

Olsen decided to take what he’d seen and piece it together. The result is a wonderful 30-minute film showing the dancing, directing and dedication behind the creation of The White City: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. I spoke with Olsen (in sleep-deprived, post-production mode) over the phone about the project and the PBS premiere.

Are you excited about the premiere?

Heck yes!

This isn’t your first premiere, so what makes this one so special?

From the very first meeting about this project all the way to now was a big adventure. It’s been an exciting year. This is true independent cinema. It’s rewarding to get to this point and have the support of PBS or, in this case, WTTW to be able to air it is remarkable. For it to be received by the audience you were hoping to show it to is really important. I want people to see the (live) show, but if they can’t…I at least want them to see parts of it.

You’ve worked with Melissa and Ann before. How did this project come about?

Melissa reached out and said she had another project. No matter what it had been, I wanted to be on board. I have a love of that specific time period. I’m a huge Chicago architecture buff. My Dad’s an architect. And, the stories surrounding the Chicago World’s Fair were phenomenal, so when she said she had an idea about doing a story ballet about the Columbian Exposition, before she could finish the sentence, I said, ‘I’m in!’

Is it difficult to shoot dance, or is there just a learning curve?

I don’t know if it’s hard. I’ve always been sort of a portrait person…portraits in motion, if you will. I love being able to capture someone in the lens, but I’ve never been happy with just a single frame. It goes to my appreciation for animation –the idea of motion over time with design. The same eye, I apply with dancing. I look for what’s cool, that moment that captures the soul of the moment. That’s how I shoot. Dance gave me a subject that matched better for how I liked to shoot. It was fun to be able to find that.

Chris Olsen, Melissa Thodos & Ann Reinking at Thodos Dance Chicago's 20th Anniversary Gala. Photo by Bob Mihlfried.

With White City, you were originally on board, but was it just for the projections or were you always going to be filming a documentary?

No, I didn’t set out to make a documentary. I set out to document. The result is a documentary. Honestly, that’s how almost every project I do starts. I’m not necessarily aiming towards any one end goal, the art for me is the process of capturing and creating, coordinating and working with the other artists is the art. Everything I’m capturing is the evidence. I loved the idea from the very first second, it was exciting and interesting and you knew it was special. The whole process was like that. I was in the rehearsals, because I wanted to understand the process to help me with the 14 short films I produced. To be able to be there and immerse myself was a huge part of my creative process…and that doesn’t require a camera, but I brought one anyway. I wanted to record it. I wanted to make sure I was fully ingesting it. I like being able to absorb thing through the camera. I’m sort of fixing my perspective and be able to refer to it later, like taking visual notes. That was all part of my process, my creative approach. The whole time I was gathering information. Towards the end, I knew I had the potential with all this material, there was a storyline in my head that was evolving in a way I could piece it together.

Can you walk me through your thought process while making the documentary?

My original hope was that you’d have a mix of footage that gave you a good idea of the scope of the work showing you what went into it. A peek behind. A place only dancers ever see. I think people have a fixed idea of what a documentary is. And I’m not a very traditional documentary filmmaker, but the enjoyment I get out of interpreting portraits and trying to capture that moment of light or that spark of energy, that creativity…it’s about a perspective on an event. The trick is how do you create something that is compelling without giving away the farm.

When it airs on the 23rd, are you going to watch it?

Yes! I’m very excited to be able to TiVo my own show. I’ll still watch it live, but I’m going to record it.

Are you nervous?

Yeah, but it’s a good nervous. Every since we got the air date confirmed, I’ve been absolutely nervous and giddy. The whole reason why we do what we do as artists is to connect with other people and to share ideas. Finding that path with your audience is sometimes the hardest challenge. How do you speak to the people that you’re hoping to reach in a way that’s easy for them to see? I love PBS’ mission. I love that arts outreach is part of who I am. There is no better vehicle I could’ve asked for. You’ve gotta be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it – and I got it!

Beneath the White City Lights: The Making of an American Story Ballet airs Thursday, Feb 23rd at 10:30 pm on WTTW Channel 11

Bringing the Heat

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Vicki

Joffrey dancers Christine Rocas & Rory Hohenstein in William Forsythe's "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated". Photo by Herbert Migdoll.

In a pre-show video at opening night of Joffrey Ballet‘s Winter Fire program, artistic director Ashley Wheater says, “This company is eclectic and diverse, the repertory should reflect that”. The three works presented from international contemporary choreographic stars William Forsythe, Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor were eclectic, diverse and showed the current company of dancers in a new light. A big, hot spotlight. This show reminded me of the Joffrey I fell in love with years ago. A company that always pushed boundaries with challenging, interesting new works. A company that made you sit up and ask,”What is happening on stage?”…in a good way.

This program pushed the dancers to a new level, challenging technique and complacency. They rose to the challenge – they were hot! The hottest of them all was Rory Hohenstein. He hasn’t been featured much in his first season with the company (aside from a stand out solo at Dance For Life last August), but wow, keep your eyes on this one. Last night, he was on fire. A fierce presence in every piece, Hohenstein showed off his partnering skills, flexibility and attitude with every flick of his wrist, penché pitch and swing of his head. Paired with Victoria Jaiani in two of the three pieces, he held his own with the dancer that has become the unequivocal star of the company (“All stars/No stars”? I’m not so sure that’s the motto here anymore).

Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated featured these two in dazzling duets that were so intricate and hyper-extended you wondered how they got through them without being tied in a knot. Jaiani’s incredible capacity for extension and impossibly thin frame punctuated the dark, downlit stage. Similar in build and flexibility, Christine Rocas – let’s call them the bendy/flexy twins – showed her stuff alongside a strong cast. There were some extraordinary things happening on the sidelines, particularly with April Daly, Amber Neumann, Anastacia Holden and Ricardo Santos that unfortunately got lost with so many things going on at once. Also, the two lead females (Jaiani and Rocas) were supple and strong in the partnering, but seemed timid on their own. I spotted Chicago Dancing Festival‘s Jay Franke and David Herro in the audience, with Mayor Emanuel and family. Hint: this would look great on the Pritzker Pavilion stage in August! Yes for the Fest?

Joffrey dancer John Mark Giragosian in Wayne McGregor's "Infra". Photo by Herbert Migdoll.

The LED projections of figures walking displayed above the dancers in Wayne McGregor’s Infra was distracting at first, but became part of the movement theme happening below. Inspired in part by the 2005 London bombings, McGregor takes the every day action of going to and from work and turns into an emotionally charged romp set to a cyber techno beat by Max Richter. You could see a hint Forsythe’s influence at work here. Again, a strong ensemble cast featuring virtuoso turns by all. Amber Neumann showed her acting chops with a mental melt down center stage. A large cast of extras walked across the stage sweeping her off with them alluding to the fact that life goes on. Jaiani and Hohenstein end the work with another eye-popping duet.

Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain was the mid-show palette cleanser offering a softer break from the hard-hitting opening and closing numbers. The music, Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel im Spiegel (which can make me weepy within the first three notes), was brought to life with accompaniment by Paul James Lewis, Paul Zafer and Carol Lahti. A stellar cast of Jaiani, Hohenstein, Daly, Matthew Adamczyk, Fabrice Calmels and Valerie Robin added maturity and nuance to the work that was a company premiere in 2010.

Joffrey dancers Victoria Jaiani & Fabrice Calmels in Christopher Wheeldon's "After the Rain". Photo by Herbert Migdoll.

The duet by Jaiani and Calmels, which was stunning last season, was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen on stage (aside, perhaps, from the Act II pas in Giselle). What once had a breathtaking romantic feel, like how a young girl dreams her first time in love will be, evolved into a heartbreaking, lifelong love shifting in need. For me, it took on a she’s-dying-and-he’s-taking-care of-her/Dying Swan vibe. Whatever the impetus, it works. As the donor’s rose to their feet in ovation, you could sense the many wallets falling open asking simply “how much?”.

Tear It Apart

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Vicki

Joffrey dancers Victoria Jaiani & Fabrice Calmels in William Forsythe's "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated". Photo by Herbert Migdoll.

“Just music, head, hands,” he says to the dancers. It’s Monday morning and the Joffrey Ballet dancers are ready for a run-through of William Forsythe’s 1987 work, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated. They’ve learned all the steps and had two days off over the weekend. Some dancers have been sick, so répétiteur Glen Tuggle tells them to take it easy. “Mark it, but always do head and hands.” Even marking, you can see the difficulty of the choreography. The intricate hand grips, the off-center leans, the speed. This 22-minute abstract piece pushes dancers to their limits and then asks them to go one step more. Stretch their technique to the limit, or “tear it apart”.

Tuggle, currently the Ballet Master/Teacher with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, has danced with Harkness Ballet (disbanded 1975), Zurich Opera, Stuttgart Ballet and Frankfurt Ballet (disbanded 2004). He met William (Bill) Forsythe while in Stuttgart at the age of 22. Forsythe had just started to choreograph. Fast forward 23 years and Tuggle has the enjoyable task of teaching/setting Foysythe works around the world. Having danced Middle for numerous years, he is intimately familiar with the work. Originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet, Forsythe cast a young Sylvie Guillem in one of the lead roles and made her a star. I sat down with Tuggle at the Joffrey Tower to discuss the famous work and working with our home town company.

How is it working with the Joffrey dancers?

Wonderful! I’ve been having a great time. We’ve all been having a great time. I set ‘Middle’ in 17 days. I know it, of course, but for the dancers to learn it that fast is amazing.

What is the most difficult thing about teaching it?

In ‘Middle’, we take the classical language and stretch it – tear it apart. Some of the classic lines…you see them, but then they go to a further degree and you don’t recognize them anymore. I think the hardest thing about teaching it is helping the dancers understand how far they can go. Giving them enough confidence in themselves to be comfortable doing that.

How do you do that?

I find most of my work, whether it’s setting ‘Middle’ or the other ballets I set for Forsythe or teaching class, is to care for the dancers…let them know that I believe in them, that I care for them. It’s a dialogue we have together as a teacher or rehearsal director or coach. It’s quite intimate. I find one of the most interesting parts of my job is the psychological aspect of working with dancers either individually or as a group. It takes a lot of thought to help them understand how far they can go and to trust themselves. I’ve worked with many dancers who’ve been damaged by the schools they went to and they hear “No” way too often in their career. I learned from some of the most influential people in ballet over the last 30 years that the use of language is extremely important when working with dancers. You try not to use too many negatives. There is always a way of saying things without “No” being in it. Especially if you see a dancer who is already not confident. Even if they have the everything, the beauty, the body, the technique…they don’t actually believe what they see. You have to really convince them that they are beautiful.

Why do you enjoy setting this particular work?

It’s always so fulfilling for me, even after 23 years of working with ‘Middle’, because the dancers have such a great time and you’re introducing them to a world they aren’t familiar with in Bill’s works. He says, “Be where you are.” If you’re not where you want to be, dance and be where you are. Technically he’ll let them go for something really difficult, because they’re just going to walk out of it. So if it works, you can say, it really worked tonight, but if it doesn’t work, no one will know. The audience won’t know. You’re not usually asked to do that. I’ve seen some phenomenal things happen in ‘Middle’, where the people themselves couldn’t believe they did it.

Is it just an abstract dance or is there meaning behind it? What is the audience supposed to take away?

I think he just wants them to be stimulated by it and see the degree and the level of dancing that’s possible when one is given the opportunity and given the freedom to tear it apart. There is a lot of freedom in ‘Middle’. The last pas de deux (which is just phenomenal), he said it’s like you’re in a disco and just tearing it apart. It’s so technically so difficult, because of the speed.

Also on the program, Christopher Wheeldon’s beautiful After the Rain, which made its Joffrey premiere in 2010 and Wayne McGregor’s Infra, inspired in part by the 2005 London subway bombings. Joffrey will be the first company to perform the work outside the Royal Ballet, where it premiered in 2008.

Joffrey Ballet presents Winter Fire – Feb 15 – 26

The Auditorium Theatre, 50 E Congress

Tickets are $25 – $149. Call 800.982.2787 or visit ticketmaster.com

Joffrey Week!

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Vicki

Joffrey dancer Ricardo Santo in Wayne McGregor's "Infra". Photo by Sandro.

Blergh. I’ve been down for the count with what I like to call “the ick”, so I’m behind on posts, BUT…I’m excited because this week is Joffrey Week! Tomorrow night is opening night of Winter Fire, a triple bill of contemporary works at the Auditorium Theatre and Saturday is the Chicago premiere screening of the documentary, Joffrey Mavericks of American Dance at the Gene Siskel Film Center. A second screening is scheduled for Feb. 22nd, but if you can’t make either and are curious about the roots of this uniquely American ballet troupe, you can purchase the DVD on the website.

Look for my preview/interview with Forsythe répétiteur Glen Tuggle and my review/report on the movie and post-show discussion led by the Chicago Sun Times’ Hedy Weiss.

Artist Profile: River North’s Lauren Kias

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Vicki

RNDC's Lauren Kias. Photo by Bob Gallagher.

This weekend River North Dance Chicago (RNDC) takes the Harris Theater stage for its annual Valentine’s weekend engagement. Love is… features six pieces including two world premieres, Contact-Me by Italian choreographer and director of Spellbound Dance Company Mauro Astolfi and The Good Goodbyes by RNDC director Frank Chavez. Revivals of audience favorites Ella, Risoluta, Sentir em Nós and Al Sur Del Sur round out the program.

The company returned from an extended tour of Virginia last week and went right into rehearsals for the Valentine show. After a few failed attempts at scheduling an interview with veteran dancer Lauren Kias, we ended up doing a quick Q&A via email. Here is an edited version of our “chat”.

How was the tour?

One of the many things I love about this job is the national and international traveling we are asked to do. Touring with the company is much like traveling with the circus. You have a group of dancers very diverse with big personalities performing on the road together for up to a month at a time. You can be on the road so long and travel to so many places you often will wake up and not know what city you are in. We were just in Virginia for about 10 days. We had performances in Lexington, Fairfax and Richmond. On this particular tour I was responsible for warming up the company before the shows. This usually entails teaching a ballet class that will get the dancers on their leg and help set them up for a long day in the theater. This responsibility comes with a fair amount of stress because dancers are very particular on what they like to do before a show. I was up for the challenge and did the best I could.

You’re in your seventh year with RNDC. Was the company always on your radar?

I first saw River North in high school when they were on tour in my home town of Indianapolis. I remember loving the company immediately and keeping them in my radar from that moment on. While attending Butler University, I participated in their summer intensive program. I had such a positive experience that I made it a goal of mine to become a member of the company. After that summer I moved to Chicago and Frank asked me to be a company apprentice. After two years as an apprentice I was given a spot in the company.

Why is it a good fit for you?

River North is a good fit for me because the rep is so versatile. I love to dance as many different styles as I can. We get to work with a number of different choreographers every year that create very diverse pieces. The variety that we experience keeps our minds and body’s fresh and growing in this ever changing art form.

What is the most exciting part of dancing with RNDC and what is the most challenging?

It’s an exciting time to be in River North. There has and continues to be a lot of international touring gigs for the company. In the last couple years we have traveled to Germany and Switzerland twice for three weeks of touring. Last summer we performed on an ocean front stage at an International dance festival in Busan, South Korea. We are currently in the process of organizing a month long tour to Russia with as many as twenty shows. I love to travel and see the world and I am very fortunate that my job can take me on so many adventures. The most challenging part of being in this company, or any company for that matter, is staying injury free and staying in the best shape that you can. While at home we have all of the resources to help us stay healthy and injury free. Most of the time when we travel we don’t have access to physical therapists or a proper gym. You have to rely on yourself and the support of your fellow dancers to maintain good habits and injury prevention to stay as healthy as we can.

What will you be dancing in the upcoming show?

In this weekend’s ‘Love Is…’ Valentine’s performance I will be performing four very different pieces. The first is a solo choreographed by Robert Battle entitled ‘Ella’. The second is the world premier of ‘Contact-Me’, choreographed by Mauro Astolfi artistic director of Spellbound Dance Company in Rome, Italy. ‘Contact-Me’ connects the dancers in intense relationships of intertwining movements to the music of Jon Hopkins and the Italian Cellist Giovanni Sollima. I will also be performing in another premiere, this one by our very own artistic director Frank Chaves entitled ‘The Good Goodbyes’. Mr. Chaves has teamed up with Josephine Lee, Artistic Director of the Chicago Children’s Choir, who has written an original composition for the new work. Lee will be performing live with the company on the Friday and Sunday performances. Finally, we are closing the show with a sultry suite of Argentinean tangos choreographed by Sabrina and Ruben Veliz entitled ‘Al Sur Del Sur’.

Tell me about your solo Ella. What was it like working with Robert Battle?

‘Ella’ is a high energy comical solo set to Ella Fitzgerald scatting. This piece is by far the fastest movement I have ever done that has everything and the kitchen sink. Complete with quick articulated movements, a little tumbling, and Battle’s legendary “falls” that make your bones ache. A couple of us in the company have come up with the term “Battle wounds” which is something you require from doing Robert Battles movement. I love working with Robert Battle. He has a wonderful sense of humor and it takes center stage in this solo. He makes you want to push yourself beyond your limits and at the end of the day you end up surprising yourself.

Ok, Charles Moulton’s ball piece: really hard, fun or a just a pain in the ass?

Hahahaha! All three! Charles Moulton’s ball piece was about as fun as a ten car pileup on the way to a wedding where you rear ended the bridal party. In all seriousness, I had a great time with this challenge. We had a little less than two weeks of learning patterns different types of passes, as well as run drills for what to do when you’ve dropped your ball. If you happened to fumble a ball, you had two spare behind your back secured by a cummerbund that you would whip out in a Billy-the-Kid fashion. I am happy to say that River North was up for Charles Moulton’s challenge and answered by not dropping a single ball at our first attempt on the Harris stage under the hot lights.

River North Dance Chicago presents Love is… Feb 10 & 11 at 8pm, Feb 12 at 3pm

Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph. Tickets are $30-$75. Call 312.334.7777 or visit harristheaterchicago.org

Saturday, Feb 11 there is a post-show party with drinks and desserts, where you can mingle with the dancers. Tickets are $25.

Out of Mosh Pits & Mash Ups

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Vicki

BONEdanse. Photo by Chrystyne.com.

Under the muscle and punk rock exterior, Atalee Judy is a true beauty. Piercing pale blue eyes, refreshing honesty and self-awareness tinted with humor are what you get one-on-one. She’s fierce, cool and definitely one-of-a-kind. Her background is as interesting as her look. Judy grew up on a horse ranch in Mansfield, Texas. After her father died when she was 12, she ran away to New York and lived with three punk bands, serving as a techie and housekeeper. Her uncle, a rich Republican that lived in the Chicago suburbs adopted her and she ended up in an all-girl Catholic high school which happened to have a terrific dance program. “I was on the basketball team…and the basketball coach was inspired by the football players taking ballet and dance to get better coordination. We got thrown into dance class and I pitched a fit about not wanting to wear pink tights. I didn’t want to take ballet, so she put me in this modern dance class. I insisted on wearing my basketball jersey. I was such a fucking tomboy. I fell in love. From that point on, I was doing talent shows. The nuns loved me. I had the shaved head, Sinead O’Connor look with my combat boots and little Catholic girl uniform.” A brief stint as a bio chem major led her to realize that dance was her passion.

As Artistic Director of BONEdanse, the new incarnation of her brainchild Breakbone Dance Co, which she started in 1997 after graduating from Columbia College’s dance program, she’s tackled social and political issues with tenacity and creativity. She’s also codified her own technique – the Bodyslam Technique – that she teaches in the Chicago area dance scene. “At Columbia, I realized that this whole falling stuff that I’d been working on was very interesting to them, but also confusing,” Judy says over coffee and some very hot tea. “They didn’t know what to do with me. When given a choice to improvise, instead of using classical technique stuff which I didn’t have an interest or want to do, I’d be doing prat falls and things I thought were exciting or energetic.”

For This is a DAMAGE MANUAL, four dancers (including Judy) and a sock puppet named Earl take the stage for a two-week run at Theater Wit starting Thursday. The evening-length work takes its cues from 1950s self-help records mixed with some 80s themes and a little psycho-analysis and self-reflection. Characters (a stressed out housewife, a dysfunctional ballerina, a Hitler-esque figure with a cold that under hypnosis becomes an Elvis impersonator) born out of last summer’s 12-week video project Danse Skitz are brought to life in problematic glory while trying to “fix” their damage via hypnosis and outdated advice. I sat down with Judy in mid-January to talk about the show.

From punk bands to dance, it seems an unlikely transition.

I was choreographing early on. It felt like something that I needed to get out. I’m a doer. I’d just do, not knowing what I was doing. When I was a kid, I would sketch the horses an try to make them move as opposed to static pictures. I was always watching them, how graceful and gorgeous they are. When you’re up on a balcony and looking down on a mosh pit, that kinetic energy going on and the whirlpool that happens…I’ve always wanted to bring that to the stage. I want a mosh pit on stage. I’ve always said there’s a lot of fall and recovery in the mosh pit. You really have to know where your weight is or else you’re going down to the ground and get a boot in your face.

Why the name change?

A lot of cumulative things. Some are kind of trivial, some are deeper, but I really feel personally trapped when I get categorized too much or defined…even when I feel obligated to be something that I don’t want to be or I’m not all the time. I think Breakbone started defining itself and me as this one thing and that’s all I did. I wanted to fold and just create something else that had a little more leeway and a little more play with it to where I could do anything I want, so I wouldn’t be defined by it. Oh, she falls a lot. I didn’t want to be the one-trick pony. It started getting to get to where I was demanding this of all my dancers. A lot of dancers don’t think they are athletes. I couldn’t keep working on the psychology of their issues. Either you’re an athlete and you believe it and you go to the gym and work out and build your muscles or you atrophy. It’s not enough just to do the movement. I was projecting a lot of my values onto them and I hate when people do that. I dwindled it down to people I really wanted to work with, because they offered different skill sets. And the other thing is the trust issue, making sure that I trusted their skill sets to be more collaborative. I used to come in with all the movement, all the concepts, all the answers – not in a control freak way, well they may have thought it was – they wanted to be fed and I would have all the answers for them. They just had to implement. Things have changed the trajectory. It feels more open, a little bit freer…less defining. One of the other elements is I feel like I said everything I wanted to say with Breakbone. We had a lot of social issues, political stuff that was very ragey, some controversial. I’m not going to top any of that. I think I’m done talking about that. The new trajectory it’s getting into a more psychological level of evaluating my own issues as well as things that I’m sharing with the company right now. It’s deeper versus reactionary.

Tell me about DAMAGE MANUAL.

I don’t know what I’m sitting on with this show. There’s a solo I do that’s so fucked up that I don’t even know if it’s funny. It’s just wrong. The whole show has a mash up feel. I saw Jyl Fehrenkamp perform this solo once for a show with Winifred Haun and it blew me away. It was about Women’s Stress Disorder. When we were working on this show, that idea kept coming up. I commissioned that from her. We’ve been working on a ten-minute chunk from last spring that we did it for the Other Dance Festival. My partner Karl has an old collection of self-help records from the 50s. Oh my, are they creepy. The records have all the glitches and skips. Somehow the 80s was coming in so I just went with it. There’s a therapist’s office, a ballet studio, a bathing suit section with a Crisco can, bathing caps and tanning bed goggles, a bullet bra…a mash up.

WHAT’S YOUR DAMAGE?

BONEdanse presents This is a DAMAGE MANUAL, Feb 2-5 & Feb 9-12, Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm

Theater Wit, 1229 W Blemont, 773.975.8150, $15-$24

Thoughts on HSDC’s danc(e)volve – for real!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Vicki

Johnny McMillan in "Never was" by Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Over the weekend on the MCA Stage, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) presented nine new works created by HSDC dancers/choreographers and the winners of HSDC’s 2010 National Choreographic Competition. danc(e)volve – preview here – proved to be an interesting and intimate look into what makes HSDC tick: its artists. Tickets for the four shows were sold out early, but there are tickets still available for the upcoming shows this weekend except for Saturday, which is already sold out. (Hint: get your tickets now!)

Unlike most HSDC programs, this new works festival serves up multiple shorter pieces averaging 15-minutes a pop. It’s like going to your favorite restaurant for a five-course chef tasting. You aren’t sure what you’re going to get, but you’re confident you’re going to like it. Unlike a big, gluttonous meal like an Ohad Naharin work, with a number of smaller pieces, you get varying tastes: an amuse bouche, a palette cleanser, complex notes, sweet and light and the one course that wow’s you. If you don’t like one course, something completely different is coming next. (Hmm…note to self: remember to eat before the show!)

Each work in danc(e)volve looked remarkably like the dancers that choreographed them, which is testament to their honesty as an artist. The natural way they move embedding itself into their art. Many took the opportunity to play with traditional conventions, pushing the definition of what the audience is used to seeing. Lighting effects – shout out to lighting designer Matt Miller! – (downstage footlights creating shadows on the back wall), entrances and exits (utilizing the side door in the audience), even starting/ending points (music beginning in darkness or the dance ending in darkness, while the music still plays). Some were greeted with tentative applause (is it over?), others with a murmur of surprised approval.

Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s duet Never was, at seven minutes one of the shortest pieces, served as the main course of each program. Placed in the middle of Programs A and B, his newest work takes trademark moves (a quick sauté in second, a perky parallel pop up like a pencil, a partnered promenade slide in plié) and distills them into their purest essence. You see moments of Cerrudo’s previous works woven in and watch as he hones his craft before your eyes. Straight up props to Emile Leriche and Johnny McMillan (two of the younger dancers in HS2) for their strong showing in this dense, intense piece.

Other pieces of note: Robyn Mineko Williams’ Recall, a techno-infused meditation on memory with some breaking tossed in for fun; Penny Saunder’s humorous and slightly creepy Vaudevillian Bonobo; and Terry Marling’s thrice, which completely transformed from its previous incarnation, twice (once) that premiered last December. Many of the works used the dancers from HS2. It was nice to see the younger dancers perform at home (they tour a LOT) and in challenging works made by their HSDC mentors.

Hubbard Street presents danc(e)volve, Jan 26 – 29

MCA Stage, 220 E Chicago, 312.397.4010

Thoughts on HSDC danc(e)volve – Program A…ish

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Vicki

If I’m covering a performance or intending to post a review, I take notes throughout the show of impressions or the name of a dancer or whatever catches my eye. Thankfully, a word or drawing usually sparks my memory, because the notes – since they’re written in the dark, while I’m eyeballing the stage – are a hot mess.

For example, this image is of the notes I took last night at Hubbard St‘s danc(e)volve performance for Alejandro Cerrudo’s Never was. I’ll decipher: the number three indicates the order in which it appeared in the program; AC, the choreographers initials; the word duet, self-explanatory; drawings (and I use the term loosely) of lighting design; and then…nothing. I was so transfixed on what was happening on-stage that I didn’t/wouldn’t/couldn’t write anything down. After bows, I wrote “wow”.

Needless to say, I need a little more time to sort my thoughts (hint: I liked it!), so I’m going to chill at my friend Josh’s in Racine by the fire, with a glass of wine, watching it snow, and ponder.

More thoughts coming soon…

Pina!

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Vicki

If you have the chance, go see this incredibly beautiful movie. Pina, the 3D documentary of legendary German choreographer Pina Bausch is a visually stunning, inspirational homage/memorial that is a work of art in its own right. I saw a screening on Wednesday and, even though I didn’t know much about her work going in, was struck by her artistry and career-long loyalty she inspired in her dancers. The film by Wim Wenders is the first 3D art house film. At first, the 3D seemed awkward as if the dancers were cut-outs in a doll house, but as you get used to it, you become part of the art happening on-screen.

Pina opens today in two Chicago theaters: River East 21 at 322 East Illinois and Century 12 at 1715 Maple Avenue in Evanston. Columbia College Dance Center‘s Bonnie Brooks and Phil Reynolds will lead a post-screening discussion after the 7:00 pm showing at River East.

Hubbard Street Evolving

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Vicki

HS2 dancers Johnny McMIllan & Nicholas Korkos in Clébio Oliveira's "The Fantastic Escape of the Little Buffalo". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

The West Loop studios housing Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) were bustling last week when I stopped by in preparation for dance(e)volve, a two-program, two-weekend set of performances showcasing in-house choreography opening tonight on the MCA Stage. Bad news up front: this weekend’s show are already SOLD OUT! Tickets are still available, but going at lightening speed, for next week’s run (Jan 26 – 29).

As a natural evolutionary step from HSDC’s Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop that is held every summer, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton picked certain pieces from last year to be expanded, reworked and presented in the MCA’s intimate theater. Along with the HSDC and HS2 choreographers, two National Choreographic Competition winners from 2011 will show new works. HSDC company member Penny Saunders takes inspiration from Vaudeville traveling shows, while Clébio Oliveira ponders the human/animal connection. New dances from Jonathan Fredrickson, Alice Klock, Johnny McMillan, Robyn Mineko Williams, Taryn Kaschock Russell, Terence Marling as well as a duet by HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo also appear on the programs.

Williams’ and McMillan’s works are featured on Program A (Jan 19,20 & 28,29). I sat in on rehearsals for these very different pieces. Williams showed her choreographic chops by teaming up with Marling for last year’s hit Harold and the Purple Crayon. Her new work, Recall stems off the concept of memory. “I’m fascinated by how different memories work and from one scene people have a similar memory, but a different perspective.” Set to a driving beat by The Chromatics and an original score by Chris Menth (parts are reminiscent of Canadian band Men Without Hats classic song Safety Dance), the 15-minute piece combines walking in a maze-like patterns and shifts in tempo where some dancers move in slow motion. It reminded me of the inner workings of a clock, only with Williams’ smooth dance style and personality showing through. “Glenn wanted me to try something different from Inside/Out,” she says. “I walked into the studio with no ideas, no music…nothing. I worked like that for three days. It’s amazing what starts to develop in such a short time. With these dancers, they bring so much to the table that it’s much easier for the choreographer.” Williams’ piece has a techno rewind vibe, but McMillan’s new work Path and Observations takes a more earthy, grounded path. With a soundscape of Sami folkloric music (Pekka Lehti, Mari Boine), he incorporates autumnal leaves and emotional movement with moments of stillness. “The first 40 seconds of the piece are two people on stage in stillness,” McMillan (who just turned 20 on Tuesday) tell me. “It allows the audience to take in everything, to sit there and think, maybe go off in their own thoughts before they have to watch the dancing.” Promoted from apprentice to HS2 this season, he’s always been interested in choreography and created his first dance at age 16. “It was a ballet piece with 21 girls. It wasn’t very good. There were a lot of bourrés.” He’s excited to see his new work on the stage this week and is a perfect example of the creative evolution from Inside/Out to danc(e)volve.

Hubbard Street presents danc(e)volve: Jan 19-22 & 26-29

MCA Stage, 220 E. Chicago, 312.397.4010, Tickets are $35

rogue ballerina

dishing on dance diva-style

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