RB has been keeping busy this month (although you wouldn’t know it by the lack of posts) and there are tons of things coming up to get excited about. This morning I attended a Dance Community Convening held by Audience Architects at Joffrey Tower. It was so nice to meet so many artists, administrators and advocates from the Chicago dance world. AA’s web sites are a great source of information if you want to see or take dance in the city: SeeChicagoDance.com and TakeChicagoDance.com. Also, check out their new YouTube page!
Coming up in July is Dance/USA‘s national conference to be held at McCormick Place. You can still sign up for the three-day event and a chance to network, take in lecture sessions and see the performances featuring a variety of Chicago dancers and companies. Look for an upcoming interview with Dance/USA Board member and DanceWorks co-founder and Artistic Director Julie Nakagawa.
August is jam-packed with dance too. The 20th is the 20th anniversary of Dance For Life and they are celebrating not only with a new venue, the Auditorium Theatre, but with a documentary to be aired on WTTW (on August 11th at 10:00 pm) by the award-winning HMS Media. The following week is the 5th anniversary for the Chicago Dancing Festival. They’ve expanded this year to five nights of FREE (yes FREE!) performances at the Harris Theater, MCA, Auditorium Theatre with the final performance outside at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. Read more about the festival here and keep on the look out for upcoming posts with some of the dancers involved.
Later in the fall, check back for an interview with a legendary dance figure that I had the great luck to land. Unfortunately, I can’t say who (boo!) and I can’t post it until the article runs in another publication. But, just wait! *If you want to guess or already know, please keep it to yourself, I don’t want to get into trouble.
On a personal note, I’ve been busy taking care of my dog Giselle, who had knee surgery late last week due to a torn ACL (like mother like daughter). After a ruff (get it?) weekend, she’s feeling better and will no doubt be difficult to keep immobile for the next 6 weeks of recovery time. Hopefully by the end of summer, she’ll be chugging along like a good little wili.
That’s it folks! I’m looking forward to a summer packed with great dance, meeting new friends and exciting conversation about the community.