Born out of crisis 28 years ago, Dance for Life has become a beloved and perhaps even indispensable Chicago institution. Created to raise funds that would help address the dire health needs of dance community members stricken with the AIDS virus, it’s evolved to provide invaluable assistance to dancers confronting a variety of other health and living needs. Drawing from the many tributaries that define the varied styles of dance performed in the city, the annual benefit performance showcases each branch of dance to highlight the depth of impact each has on Chicago’s cultural identity.
Always highly anticipated, the electricity running through the pre-show crowd in the Auditorium’s lobby all but crackles in intensity. Saturday night was no exception and the intermission-free show proved why. From ballet, tap, modern, Latin, jazz and hip-hop; nearly every significant genre of dance was on the program’s roster. And not one of them left their A game at home.
Giordano Dance Chicago opened large with a piece they introduced last year. Saturday night’s performance of Soul looked as if it may have already been reworked. If so, this version’s a bona fide keeper. The flow seems cleaner, crisper and the overall look of the dance seems better tailored to the company’s style. Still riding on the shoulders of R&B giants, Gladys Knight, Al Green and Tina Turner, Soul’s musical foundation is tailor made for fire. In a single instant when the first strains of Proud Mary oozed from speakers, the dancers responded in perfect timing and as one. Click, and the company’s signature seductive dynamism exploded and covered the stage to cheers.
Dance is a language with many beautiful dialects. It can pulse with that dynamism found in Soul and then move seamlessly to the cool measured syncopation of tap. Chicago Human Rhythm Project/Stone Soup Rhythms presented Movement 11, a lovely expression of grace and structured rhythm. Initially the music had sound clues that suggested classical. But unusual things can happen when you blend electronic music with jazz. Here it achieved an ethereal timelessness that worked beautifully with the percussive cadence of modern forward thinking tap.
Short video clips interspersed through the show called attention to the people who’ve made essential contributions to the city’s dance culture or have benefited from Dance for Life’s assistance. One tribute recalled the work and life of Claire Bataille before Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists danced an excerpt from Echo Mine; a piece dedicated to Bataille. In it dancers Jacqueline Burnett, Meredith Dincolo and Robyn Mineko Williams moved with the grace of spirits in a time disdaining universe. Virtually identical in appearance and dressed in asymmetrical costumes by Hogan McLaughlin, the effect was to push the dance and our minds into a distant future full of alternate exquisite possibilities.
The Joffrey Ballet contributed two works to the program; Lorelei (2018) and Bells (2011). Both were dances for two and both were beautiful. Choreography and the talents of a singular dancer set them apart. Choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, Bells is indeed passionate. Even in all its subtlety, the work is also hugely complex which adds tremendously to its fascination. Dancers Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili have been performing Bells since its inception and their familiarity with it seems to flow from their pores. The dance is so perfect and Jaiani’s performance is so exemplary that the piece was completely transfixing. Bells has been called a triumph many times and it still is.
Just before Jaiani and Suluashvili took the stage, Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater put a whole new slant on timing, precision and the myriad things you can do with rhythm. Packed together and in the hands of a strong dance company; they make up the primary ingredients of excitement with a distinct flair. Mar de Fuego/Sea of Fire, also created in 2018 by Madrid based choreographer Carlos Rodriguez and dedicated to the company’s recently deceased founder Dame Libby Komaiko, fills the stage with dancers loaded with panache dressed in stunning costumes and flaunting that gorgeous timing. It’s exhilarating to experience dance from the perspective of other cultures. The ensemble funnels its inspirations directly from Spain and focuses on several dance styles that best typify the totality of what Spanish dance is. Showcasing the expressive vibrancy of flamenco Saturday night, the company’s repertoire also includes contemporary work, both folkloric and classical dance and Escuela Bolera (classical Spanish ballet).
Immediately following the delicate beauty of Bells, Chicago Dance Crash nearly ripped the building apart with dance as American as Beyoncé and as current as your next text. Wrapping acrobatics, hip hop, break and concert dance into a tight ball to express thoughts and ideas makes for thrilling dance. Leap of Faith, choreographed by the company’s artistic director, Jessica Deahr was conceived to validate the taking of risks, particularly highly consequential risks that can ultimately lead to self-actualization. Leap of Faith is not only magnificent, it broadens the definition of dance by framing for the stage what grew from the streets.
Tapping into a completely different wellspring, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago did much the same thing with their excerpt from Decadance/Chicago. The blissful marriage of dance and theater, a semi-circle of chairs sweep the length of the stage with dancers standing behind them in the dark clothes and hats of Jewish orthodoxy. Opening to Hava Nagila before morphing into a very muscular and brazenly assertive rendition of Echad Mi Yodea, the dance moves methodically from staid reserve to joyous frenzy with dancers shedding both their inhibitions and their clothes as they lose themselves in joyous rapture.
That sense of joy and excitement carried right through to the finale as a convergence of dancers from across the city’s contemporary dance community performed the world premiere of Randy Duncan’s Release. Well named, the work exuded spiritual flight, an absolute absence of restraint with dancers exalting in some secret happiness that they gladly shared with the audience. Release and everything preceding it proved eloquent reminders of the boundless creativity and staggering talent Chicago’s dance community possesses. And that we are all very fortunate to enjoy.
Dance for Life
August 17, 2019
Auditorium Theatre
50 East Ida B. Wells Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
www.chicagodancersunited.org
