Events: THE BEST OF CHICAGO STREAMING FOR FREE (The Harris’s Resident Companies)

Ballet Chicago

Streaming now, Ballet Chicago’s  Hansel and Gretel  is a delightful story ballet adaptation of the familiar children’s tale featuring 90 dancers. This program was filmed on the HT stage in 2018 and will enchant audiences of all ages. On April 1, a second program from Ballet Chicago –  Danzon!  â€“ will be available on the platform. Set to Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, this 2019 production combines classical ballet with Latin ballroom styles.

Chicago Humanities Festival

Chicago Humanities Festival has three thought-provoking programs available now on the HT Virtual Stage, including two filmed at the Harris – an exploration of art and humanity with  Ai Weiwei  and a conversation with renowned writer and historian  Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  upon receiving the 2019 Chicago Tribune Literary Award. They are joined by two programs from CHF’s fall 2020 virtual festival: “Black Youth and Political Agency in the 21st Century” with  Forrest Stuart  and  Cathy Cohen  streaming now, and premiering April 7, “On the Purpose of Power” with  Alicia Garza  and  adrienne maree brown.

Chicago Philharmonic

Available until March 20 – music, dance, and literature converge in  The Dream,  a striking, theatrical reimagining of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s story “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.” This full-length work is performed by Chicago Philharmonic and Visceral Dance Chicago and premiered on the Harris stage in 2017.

Giordano Dance Chicago

Giordano Dance Chicago’s energetic, joyful style is on display in two works featured on the Virtual Stage. Streaming now,  JOLT  was adapted and directed by Joshua Blake Carter, taking Autumn Eckman and Nan Giordano’s stage work into a site-specific film for the virtual space. On March 17, a recording of Peter Chu’s  Groove, in formed  â€“ premiered at the Harris in 2019 – will debut on the platform.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Streaming now,  A Tale of Two  is a compelling work by Princess Grace Award-winning choreographer Rena Butler and director Talia Koylass. Created, filmed, and scored in Chicago during the summer of 2020, the work is filled with tension and tenderness, with powerful performances by dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. After the screening, join co-directors Rena Butler and Talia Koylass, HSDC dancer Alysia Johnson, and artist-activist Nathaniel Viets-VanLear of My Block My Hood My City for a conversation about the film and the power of art and artists in our communities.

Lucky Plush Productions

Premiered on the HT stage in 2016,  Trip the Light Fantastic: The Making of Superstrip  draws on comic book graphics, immersive video and sound effects, and the “good-natured, archly comic” (Wendy Perron) performances of the Lucky Plush company members.  Superstrip  is streaming now on the HT Virtual Stage.

Music of the Baroque

Music of the Baroque’s 2018 performance of Handel’s  “Zadok the Priest” is streaming now on the platform, performed by the MOB chorus and orchestra led by acclaimed British conductor Jane Glover. (Glover, MOB, and pianist Inon Barnatan will return to the Harris later this month to produce “Barnatan plays Mozart” for their own virtual season, streaming live on March 29 –  click here for details and to purchase tickets.)