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Dance
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Dance Preview: GRAHAM100 (Martha Graham Dance Company International Tour in Chicago)
GRAHAM’S DANCE DYNASTY DESCENDS ON THE AUDITORIUM THEATRE Martha Graham Dance Company pairs signature works with a Bernstein-inspired Chicago premiere. On January 24, The Auditorium Theatre will host the living legacy of a pioneering genius. As part of its celebratory 100th anniversary international tour, the Martha Graham Dance Company will commemorate this unmatched milestone with…
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Dance Review: CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON’S NUTCRACKER (The Joffrey Ballet at Lyric Opera House)
A FAIRYTALE REBORN ON THE SOUTH SIDE Wheeldon’s Chicago-set Nutcracker still casts a decade-long spell Ten years in, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the World’s Columbian Exposition are still a match made in ballet heaven. It’s December 24, 1892, in Jackson Park, a working-class neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. A young girl (Amanda Assucena), accompanied by her…
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Dance Review: MATTERS OF THE HEART (The Joffrey Ballet at The Harris Theater)
FROM FRIDA TO FUNK, MATTERS OF THE HEART THRILLS When words fall short of capturing the fullness and depth of life’s experience, there is dance—or more broadly, art itself. That truth was made irrefutably clear last weekend when The Joffrey Ballet joined forces with Harris Theater for Joffrey at the Harris: Matters of the Heart,…
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Dance Review: PAUL TAYLOR DANCE COMPANY (2025 Lincoln Center Residency Opening Night)
TAYLOR MADE During his 64-year career, Paul Taylor helped lead, define, and shape American modern dance. Out of his 147 works, the Paul Taylor Dance Company opened its three-week Lincoln Center season last night with one of his final creations, Concertiana, which premiered in 2018—the year of his passing. Paul Taylor’s Concertiana Eleven dancers, clad…
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Dance Review: AN EVENING WITH JOHAN INGER (Gibney Company Up Close at New York Live Arts)
RUNNING IN PLACE AMONG THE STARS: A TRANSFIXING EVENING OF JOHAN INGER “I hate dance reviews,” my friend says to me during intermission. There are vertical trails on her cheeks, wet where her tears made slalom paths moments ago. “What could you say that would describe what we just saw?” I agree with her. I…
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Highly Recommended Event: THE 2025 3ARTS AWARDS CELEBRATION (Harris Theater)
CELEBRATING THE INDESPENSIBILITY OF CHICAGO’S CREATIVES Glowing cultural vibrancy and great world cities are so often intertwined they are effectively one. Scan the globe and nearly every city that enjoys high international prestige harbors a rich, and often dazzling, arts community. Whether it’s Paris, Cape Town, Mexico City, Lisbon, London or Hanoi, the arts explode…
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Dance Review: GRAVITY (Ballet Preljocaj, The Joyce)
Angelin Preljocaj has carved out a daring niche in the dance world, fusing classical ballet with contemporary flair to invent a unique, bold alphabet of movements. Now, the US premiere of Ballet Preljocaj’s Gravity is at The Joyce Theater, and it is an amazing experience, a meditation on the invisible force that binds us all….
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Dance Review: LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY (Joyce)
WHAT TO DO WITH MIDCENTURY MODERNISM? The first piece on the evening bill of the José Limon Dance Company’s residency at the Joyce was Limón’s Chaconne. As the director’s note in the program points out, the chaconne was a Mexican musical style interpreted by European composers. This piece, from 1942, was given a contemporary makeover,…
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Dance Review: DEATH AND THE MAIDEN WITH BURLESQUE: VARIATION IX (American Contemporary Ballet)
CORPS MEETS CORPSE: ACB DANCES LIFE TO DEATH (AND BACK AGAIN) Loss and longing pervade the revival of American Contemporary Ballet‘s surprisingly optimistic Death and the Maiden, now running at Bank of America Plaza through November 1, paired with a brand-new installment in the company’s Burlesque series, all accompanied by live music. Death and the…
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Highly Recommended Dance: IGNITE THE SOUL (Giordano Dance Chicago)
Jazz Dance at its Finest Landing Soon on Chicago’s North Shore From the look of Giordano Dance Chicago’s (GDC) upcoming program, Ignite the Soul, at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts on the October 18 & 19, they’ll be entering their fall season hot. The country’s original jazz dance company, who’ve proven themselves…
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5 TIPS FOR SUCCEEDING AS A PROFESSIONAL DANCER
While a career in dancing can be challenging and physically demanding, it offers many fulfilling avenues beyond just performing. In this article, we’ll explore five effective strategies for succeeding as a dancer to help you achieve your career goals. Cultivate Your Artistry While versatility is valuable, developing your unique identity as an artist is essential….
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Dance Review: GRAHAM100 (Martha Graham Dance Company at The Soraya)
GRAHAM100 DANCES THE CENTURY AWAKE Every analysis of 20th century American arts puts Martha Graham in a small class of visionaries who changed the world, with several calling her the “Picasso of Dance.” And since Martha Graham began her dance life in Los Angeles in 1911, it’s not a surprise that the Martha Graham Dance Company…
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Dance Review: FRANKENSTEIN (San Francisco Ballet at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa)
When creation becomes choreography in Frankenstein, the laboratory turns into a stage of desire Mary Shelley’s creation continues to haunt not only literature but the stage, where movement and music conspire to make visible the tremors of his unnatural birth. The late choreographer Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein, brought vividly to life by San Francisco Ballet, joins…
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Highly Recommended Dance: DANCE FOR LIFE 2025 (Auditorium Theatre, August 16 at 6pm)
NOW SERVING LEGS, LEAPS, AND LIFE: AN EVENING THAT OFFERS PIROUETTES WITH A PURPOSE Dance for Life, the exuberant gala of dance created in 1992 to help address the impact of AIDS on a beleaguered community, returns to the Auditorium Theater on August 16, 2025, stronger than ever. Much has changed since its first fundraising…
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Dance Review: LADY WHITE SNAKE (Lincoln Center)
A Woman’s Journey of Self-Discovery Presented in the Year of the Snake, Lady White Snake offers a contemporary interpretation of one of China’s great folktales—long retold in theatre, film, and television, and now reimagined as a two-act dance drama. The story follows a wife’s awakening consciousness and her struggle for freedom against the forces that…
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Dance Review: MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (45th Anniversary Season Kick-Off at The Joyce; Program “B”)
THE MORRIS, THE MERRIER The Mark Morris Dance Group celebrates its 45th anniversary with a dynamic return to The Joyce Theater. Program B showcases a wide-ranging display of the company’s hallmarks: musicality, wit, and structural clarity. Each act features two contrasting works, performed by a company of seasoned dancers and accompanied—often live—by musicians of equal…
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Dance Review: MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP (The Joyce)
PLEASE, SIR, I WANT SOME MORRIS Mark Morris Dance Group kicks off its 45th anniversary season with a two-week sprint at the Joyce Theater. I caught Program A in which the eclectic choreographer revisits three of his works, The Muir (2010), Silhouettes (1999), and Mosaic and United (1993), and then presents a world premiere: You’ve…
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Dance Review: PILOBOLUS: OTHER WORLDS COLLECTION (Tour at The Joyce Theater, NYC)
DEFYING GRAVITY… AND CONVENTION Since its founding in 1971, Pilobolus has made a name for itself by celebrating the expressive potential of the human body—its weight, balance, connectivity, and vulnerability. Now, 54 years later, their mission continues to resonate with vitality, humor, and heart. Currently in residence at The Joyce Theater (June 24–July 13), the…
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Dance Review: RED ANGELS (Chamber Dance Project)
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF CLASSICAL BALLET Founded in New York in 2000 as a means to put professional ballet dancers to work during their summer hiatuses, Chamber Dance Project, now based in Washington D.C., combines art forms to offer live, spontaneous performances, says Project Founder Diane Coburn Bruning. Dwellings, choreographed by Christian Denice (photo Rachel…
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Dance Review: GISELLE (ABT at Metropolitan Opera House)
ABT’S GISELLE IS A TRU RENAISSANCE OF ROMANTICISM Very few ballets have made their mark like Giselle, the jewel of Romantic dance. It emerged in 1841, at the height of an era when people were fascinated by the supernatural and women who seemed more spirit than flesh. Giselle actually redefined the ballerina: no longer merely…
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