Harris choreographer Brian Brooks teams with Hubbard Street Dance
Unlike many of us, Brian Brooks looks back to his teen years not only fondly but eagerly. The reason? "I found dance, or dance found me," he says. Choreographing at...
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Review: Dorrance Dance’s electronic tap ‘ETM’ is ingenious but flawed
If you double down, you're putting yourself out there, throwing down the gauntlet. It's a step beyond the ordinary — exactly what Dorrance Dance has done in "ETM: Double Down,"...
Tere O’Connor’s dream dances finally come to Chicago
For years I've been hearing about Tere O'Connor: a choreographer's choreographer, an exemplar of craft and integrity as well as a generous mentor to young artists. He's had a New...
Lizt Alfonso’s ‘Cuba Vibra!’ brings her country’s rhythms to Chicago
Though restrictions on travel from the United States to Cuba have eased a lot in the past year, trips for the sole purpose of tourism are still prohibited. So why...
In an ill-suited venue, Boomerang takes ‘Repercussion’ nowhere
A man lying belly down, arms extended overhead, pulls himself onstage with painful slowness, inching forward as if crawling out of or into something. Gradually we see that there's another...
DCASE’s ‘SpinOff’ series takes on disability in dance
For Chicago artist Barak ade Soleil, the term "disability" describes a "social model," he says, "the construct of oppression brought on by society — not referring to my body per...
Zephyr Dance’s ‘Valise 13’ carries us to strange place
Maybe it's the season, but Zephyr Dance's "Valise 13" made me think of the ghostly chemistry between buildings and their inhabitants, whose histories threaten to combine and combust. Maybe it...
Nora Chipaumire’s ‘Portrait’ is loud, powerful and deeply uncomfortable
Nora Chipaumire's "Portrait of Myself as My Father," running at the Dance Center through Saturday, was in full swing when we walked in Thursday, everyone armed with earplugs supplied by...
Danish Dance’s ‘Black Diamond’ a many-splendored thing
Silver confetti raining down like volcanic ash; a guardian in a "Matrix"-style long coat; masked dancers and a (briefly) nude dancer: All appear against a towering diamond-faceted backdrop whose surface...
Joffrey brings back a stronger, starker ‘Romeo & Juliet’
What a difference a year and a half makes. A bitter presidential race has divided our country — or exposed its divisions — along clear lines in the starkest of...