Displaying items by tag: dance performance

Five years is an important milestone for any arts organization, but for a contemporary dance company it also marks an artistic coming of age. Identity Performing Arts celebrated its fifth anniversary at the Edlis Neeson Theater at the Museum of Contemporary Art with a program of three works - Enliven, Muted, and the premiere of Untitled Identity - that reflected both how far the Chicago-based company has come and where it is headed.

Founded as an organization dedicated to dance education, Identity Performing Arts transitioned into a full-season contemporary dance company in 2021, presenting its inaugural live concert that fall. This anniversary gala demonstrated how that evolution has expanded into a confident repertory of original work.

I had the privilege of sitting with Rehearsal Director Mollyanne Nunn during the performance, and her insights helped me better understand what I was seeing. Contemporary dance often communicates through gesture rather than narrative, and Nunn's perspective revealed how intention, relationships, and emotional shifts were woven into the choreography.

The afternoon opened with Enliven, choreographed by Founder and Artistic Director Ginny Ching-Yin Lo, a vibrant celebration of energy in motion that blends Eastern and Western artistic influences. Performed by a nine-member ensemble, the piece moved effortlessly through an eclectic musical landscape, from delicate instrumental passages to expansive contemporary compositions.

What stood out was the company's sense of connection. Rather than presenting individual showcases, the dancers created a shared momentum, with movement passing organically from one performer to another. It was easy to see why this work earned a place at the 2024 Seattle International Dance Festival.

Identity Performing Arts in Muted. Photo by Peter Hinsdale.

The mood shifted dramatically with Muted, Lo's deeply personal exploration of silence and communication. The work examines what it means to be muted, to silence another person, and to experience connections that exist beyond words.

The seven dancers gave physical form to emotions that are difficult to articulate. Gestures of distance, hesitation, and reconciliation suggested that our most significant conversations often happen without speech. The score, culminating in a reimagining of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, reinforced the work's emotional weight without overwhelming it.

The evening concluded with Untitled Identity, the program's premiere and its most ambitious work. Featuring a twelve-member cast, the piece explores how identity continually shifts between our inner understanding of ourselves, and the perceptions imposed by others.

The expanded ensemble created striking visual patterns, while cinematography by Cem Koc, visual effects by Simon Parfrement, and Hannah Wien's expressive lighting design gave the performance an added theatrical dimension. The varied musical score carried the dancers through moments of tension, release, and transformation, suggesting that identity is never static but always evolving.

Seen together, the three works formed a thoughtful progression - from celebration to introspection to self-discovery. Lo's choreography provided a consistent artistic voice while allowing each piece to inhabit its own emotional landscape.

Anniversary galas often look backward, celebrating past accomplishments. Identity Performing Arts chose instead to use the occasion to look forward. By pairing established works with a compelling premiere, the company demonstrated that its greatest strength is not simply what it has already created, but its continued willingness to explore new ideas through movement.

Five years after becoming a full-season contemporary dance company, Identity Performing Arts has found a distinctive voice. This gala made one thing clear: like the identities it explores, the company remains beautifully in motion.

www.identityperformingarts.org/about

It was the flippant statement heard round the humanities. An errant comment, a sweeping generalization, and another dismissive remark towards the arts. While the internet might have lambasted the commentator, the commentary at its core is the erroneous belief or misunderstanding that the arts are a relic of a bygone era. Despite repeated talks of automating away human interaction and computers replacing all the creative elements of life, art, opera, ballet, and more thrive in Chicagoland. One cannot walk anywhere in Chicago without seeing works of art in all their forms, celebrated and muraled and inviting to visitors and locals alike. There is no truer testament to the lasting power of an art form than in its inclusive programs that empower the next generation, offering them time and space to captivate audiences of all generations. I can recommend no finer program than Winning Works, now playing at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Winning Works is a mission-driven, access-oriented initiative that upholds The Joffrey Ballet's core values of “Joffrey for All.” Performed by students and trainees of the Grainger Academy of The Joffrey Ballet, the program provides opportunities for everyone, regardless of background, to experience, support, and participate in dance. The goal of the award is to recognize talented, emerging choreographers whose unique perspectives will inspire creativity in the form of original works of dance. Through Winning Works, the Joffrey aims to broaden access for artists who have been historically excluded from the art form and empower those who embody its values to shape the future of dance.

The Grainger Academy and Winning Works is the strongest example we have that ballet might change and grow and evolve with the times, but will never fade into obscurity. The performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art is itself an exhibit of movement, exploration, love, and light. Set against its contemporaries, Winning Works features incredible performances that leave you spellbound, each more unique than the last. Each performance features a brief introduction by the choreographer, detailing their reflection on the program and staging a performance offering a unique perspective only the artist themselves could give the audience. Audience members will love the contemporary movements of To Carry Our Own Names by DaYoung Jung, enjoy the whimsicality of Alexandra Schooling’s Hushed Power, shimmy and shake along with Daniel Ojeda’s Visitors, bask in the glow of the light and airy Eclat by Julia Feldman, and marvel at the uniqueness of Fran Diaz’s A Strange House We Must Keep. There is truly something for everyone, all performed by the incredibly talented young dancers who will no doubt grace the stages of the grandest theatres across the world.

For as many years as I have lived in Chicago, I have heard “the arts are dying,” that they are old-fashioned and outdated. Truth be told, it’s rarely heard from Chicagoans, mere projections from those who would never visit the city let alone entertain the arts. Like the many seasons (and false seasons) of this great city, the arts and humanities have their seasons of flourish and seasons of slumber. Like Spring itself, Winning Works ushers in the new season with new performances filled with light, love, and beauty. Commentators may come and go, but ballet and the arts will always stand the test of time.

Winning Works is performing for a limited run from March 13-15 and March 19-22 at the Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago). Tickets are available at https://joffrey.org/. As a bonus, audience members can show their Winning Works program book to receive a free admission voucher to the MCA, proving that the arts are inescapably intertwined and will always win.

Dancing normally isn't my thing, but literature is. And "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is, surprisingly, a better candidate than most short stories for a dance interpretation. It starts as something quaint, recognizable, and spirals its way into madness: something dance and music can convey potently.

Gilman's feminist classic "The Yellow Wallpaper" brought much-needed light to the issue of women's mental health when it was published in 1892, and it still sheds light on this often misunderstood experience today.

The postpartum-suffering protagonist of this story wants to be heard, but her husband silences her at every turn — confining her to the house, isolating her from friends, even discouraging her from writing — leaving her anxiety and confusion nowhere to turn but inward. She starts seeing things in the yellow wallpaper of her bedroom. She sees a woman trapped behind bars, her own situation playing out in the wallpaper every night. By the end, she and her hallucination are one and the same. With no other outlet for her emotions, she's turned herself into something flat and silent, but weirdly free.

And to see this all acted out through dance is visceral and wonderful.

This joint production by Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble and RE Dance Group comprises of two shows: "The Attic Room" by RE Dance and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Danztheatre. The choreography by Michael Estanich and Ellyzabeth Adler, respectively, is desperate and graceful, the characters losing control in one moment and suspiciously, blithely sedated the next. The dance incorporated into the story was emotive and seamless. As a dance dummy, these vague terms are the best I can use to describe it, but what I can say is it made me feel things.

What was an unreliable narrator on paper, too wrapped in her psychosis to describe herself objectively, is now right in front of us, slowly losing it and crying out for help. While "The Attic Room" is more abstract, both productions depict a slow undoing of a character's reality, and the helplessness and confinement of not understanding her own mind.

"The Attic Room" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are playing November 19th & 20th at 8PM at 1650 W Foster Ave. Tickets at Danztheatre's website.