Displaying items by tag: Critical Parts

Identity Performing Arts presents “Effervescent” with two original dance premieres: “Enthralled" created by Artistic Director, Ginny Ching Yin Lo, and "Critical Parts" created by guest choreographer, Braedon Barnes in collaboration with Identity’s performing artists. The program also features the return of captivating excerpts from Lo’s full length dance work, “Instinctual”, described by See Chicago Dance as, “...exploring primal, subconscious, and animalistic urges through shadowed, earthy movement”. 

Lo’s newest production, “Enthralled”, is a reflection on fascination, seeking to evoke a feeling of being deeply drawn in, captivated, or bewildered by a certain force, figure, or concept. Her choreography uses narrative devices to convey a compelling story, exploring the interplay between being spellbound, in a hypnotic state, and intense emotion, questioning whether enthralling experiences yield beneficial or adverse outcomes. 

Barnes’s collaborative dance work, “Critical Parts”, explores the body as a component within a larger machine—necessary, under constant demand and yet replaceable.The work examines how human emotions become excess within systems built for efficiency and productivity. As bodies function, what cannot be processed begins to surface: care, resistance, and need. The piece asks what happens when the machine keeps running, but the parts that make us human do not. 

EFFERVESCENT invites the audience to reflect on the complex interplay between their conscious minds and the deeper, often hidden forces that shape their behavior. A Q & A session following the performance will offer a brief dialogue between the audience and the choreographers. 

This program is partially supported by Illinois Arts Council. 

About Ginny Ching-Yin Lo and Identity Performing Arts:

Established in 2016 by founder and artistic director, Ginny Ching-Yin Lo, Identity is a not-for-profit dance organization dedicated to dance education and professional performance. Lo choreographs dance that represents her lived experiences as a Chinese-American artist and woman of faith; her works are a testament to the beauty that comes from staying true to all of the pieces of her personal history and identity. 

The commitment to sharing identity through dance enables members of our Chicago community who share those experiences to feel acknowledged, valued, and represented. She has performed in the U.S., China, France, and Germany with her original works. The organization transited into a full-season contemporary dance company, presenting its inaugural live concert in fall 2021. Lo has been creating dance works perpetually since starting the company with 3 dancers, now with 10 dancers, Identity is one of the resident companies of Visceral Dance Center since 2022. Lo led the company on a national tour in the Seattle International Dance Festival and internationally in Hanover, Germany. Identity hosts its own Elpis Dance Festival annually in Chicago since 2023; the fourth festival will showcase more than 10 companies this June.  All works created for and performed by Identity dancers express the beauty of our individual identities, interconnected in unity.

About Guest Choreographer Braedon Barnes 

Braedon is a Chicago-based director, choreographer, and teacher with over 15 years of choreographic experience. He has danced professionally with companies including BalletMet, Joffrey Ballet Chicago, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Billy Elliot the Musical, and has worked with choreographers including Danielle Agami, Kevin O’Day, Marguerite Donlon, Matthew Neenan, and Lucas Crandall.

His choreographic work has been presented across the United States and internationally, earning first-place honors at the REVERBDance Festival in New York and YAGP in 2021. He has created work for companies including Nevada Ballet Theatre, Cirque du Soleil, Visceral Dance Chicago, Peoria Ballet, Water Street Dance Milwaukee, and Indiana University.

In 2020, Barnes founded Symbiosis Arts, a Chicago-based nonprofit dance company dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration and expanded performance formats. He also serves as Co-Director of Visceral Encore, a company for dancers over 35. 

Two Premiere Dance Works 

Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 at 7 pm

Ann Barzel Theater

Visceral Dance Center, 3121 N Rockwell St, Chicago IL 60619

Free Street Parking

Program Run Time: One hour with a 15 minutes intermission

Post-Performance Q & A 

Tickets $35

Tickets Link

https://effervescent.eventbrite.com

 For more information, call 312.600.3076 or visit

https://www.identityperformingarts.org/