Mix at 6 a Must

Despite it being around a couple of years now, Harris Theater’s Mix at Six doesn’t seem to have been fully discovered yet.  If it had, its 1500 seats would have been brimming over like beer suds on a frosted glass Thursday night.

In its coupling of Happy Hour to the performing arts, they’ve hit on a clever and fun way to lubricate, feed and culturally enrich the urban beast all at the same time.

The performance program varies in each of its six or so offerings through the year.  Thursday night featured advanced dance students from the Chicago Academy of the Arts.  Classed as conservatory bound pre-professional performers, the only expectations were that they’d be very young and very good. More about that in a second.

Prior to the show, the Happy Hour portion of the evening verged on raucous since everyone seemed to be in such high spirits.  Revolution Brewing kept the beer following (the first glass was free with your admittance stub).  Cocktails and wine were also available as well as some impressive “grazeables” from a few of the city’s more prominent food trucks.  No worries if you didn’t finish everything by the time the show started.  You can take it in with you.

Chicago can claim an assortment of fine stages showcasing dance.  MCA’s small jewel of a stage comes to mind as well as the Auditorium’s expansive beauty.  Comfortable seats, great sight lines and an industrial chic mood make the Harris a standout as well.

In an all too brief 60-minute performance, the company of dancers presented six pieces; most of them banging with energy and all of them reflecting the precision, discipline and confidence of seasoned pros.  Exclusively comprising students, the dancers were more diverse than true dance companies.  Radiating youth, a number of them stood out because of the sheer extravagance of their natural gifts.  Evan Boersma consistently drew the eye with a grace that didn’t seem possible and an elasticity that resembled flowing water.  Sasha Bass – Ulmer seemed confined in her solo intended as a tribute to the great Chicago pioneer for women’s suffrage and civil rights, Ida B. Wells.  We had to settle for mere elegance and beauty.

Closing with a piece called Thunder and accompanied live by Chicago street performers, the Bucket Boys, dancers and musicians meshed into a single entity that throbbed with  extraordinary sound and captivating visuals.  Who knew plastic buckets could rise to orchestral drama and that artists so young could match that drama so beautifully in dance.  The standing ovation that followed?  Heartfelt and vigorous.