Now in its 33rd year, Dance for Life has grown from an inspired idea to an invaluable tradition. Both a performance showcasing the breadth of Chicago’s dance talent, and a benefit raising funds to promote the well-being of dance professionals; the concept has exploded to become a force on both counts. Saturday night’s dance gala at the Auditorium Theatre, featuring ten dance companies representing a grand array of technique, approach and form, trumpeted the vitality of Chicago’s dance culture. The experience proved electrifying.
Lineups vary from year to year, but the mix of styles and dance traditions presented always represent the cosmopolitan nature of this metropolis. Dance dynasties and newer, less heralded companies share the same stage for the same purpose, with all invariably delivering stellar performances.
Along with the outstanding dance displayed over the evening, Dance for Life 2024 seemed particularly balanced in its flow and in the way it regulated the evening’s energy. That thoughtful calibration added a sense of drama and expectation to the show that heightened excitement and kept anticipation at a constant boil.
Kicking the effort off with signature sizzle, Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) led off with an excerpt from Gershwin in B, a commissioned work they premiered in the Spring to thunderous approval. Set to Gershwin’s masterwork, Rhapsody in Blue, it’s a sultry stroll through seduction and cool expressed in the language of dance. Tailored to the company’s legendary sophistication and its love of pin point precision, Gershwin in B beautifully depicts the timeless appeal of jazz dance and its ability to meld into any era. Without even trying, Erina Ueda’s dance charisma turns into a siren call, highlighting the power of movement to create magic.
SAVOR After Hours, a dance collective currently performing at Broadway Playhouse on North Michigan Ave., made a surprise and very welcome appearance following Giordano’s smash of an opener. After extending GDC’s dance fire with a little of their own, they announced the winners of a raffle arranged to boost financial support for Dance for Life and its sponsoring affiliate, Chicago Dance Health Fund. Not tied to or officially a part of the show, SAVOR was simply there to demonstrate how dancers support dancers.
Victoria Jaiani and Alberto Velazquez with the Joffrey Ballet brought serenity to the celebration with their Italy Pas de Deux from Anna Karenina. Danced to live piano, with Jorge Ivars exquisitely playing Ilya Demutsky’s delicately reflective score, the pair brought to life the tragedy of Tolstoy’s star-crossed heroine. An elegant capsule of perfection, contained and subdued, it proved dance’s ability to stir our emotion even when restrained. Jaiani, a featured dancer in many of Joffrey’s ballets, mesmerizes in her appearances and did so here to ravishing effect.
Praize Production’s Rize Pro-Elite Company, a dance troupe made up entirely of women of color, was one of the three companies making their debut appearance at Dance for Life this year. In Black is the Color, restraint was not their objective. Full blown exuberance and consummate pride in being were instead their goals and deliver they did. Powered by the driving music edits of Dave Felton, along with Breon Arzell’s defiantly dynamic spoken word voiceovers; the seven women of Praize danced the joy of heritage to an anthem of self-love. Theirs was a rousing introduction and a tantalizing prelude to what we might see from them in the future.
It was only appropriate they’d be followed by something equally dramatic, but with an entirely different tone. Although I’m sure it’s been noted many times before, Trinity Irish Dance Company can be as exciting and as groundbreaking as any contemporary dance company in the country. Indeed, they seem to make a habit of being both. With their presentation of Communion, a piece choreographed by their Founding Artistic Director, Mark Howard, and acclaimed percussive dancer, Sandy Silva, Communion speaks to the possibility of dance to express the essentiality of human connection. Traditional Irish dance, body percussion, acapella voice and visionary choreography combine to create chillingly beautiful dance splendor.
The variety of dance never failed to keep growing throughout what was becoming an extravaganza of dance moods and flavors. Visceral Dance Chicago, fresh off their ambitious and highly lauded rollout of Carmen, as interpreted through dance; went light and fun for this party. Dancing Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s refreshing and carefree 18+1, they were collecting smiles and had a house full of them by the time the curtain went down for intermission.
It rose again to torrid dance heat. Ever since Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell took over as Artistic Director at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) in 2021, the company has been conspicuously bulking up on excellence. Presenting a generous portion of Rennie Harris’s brilliantly incendiary Dear Frankie, the company, in full force, transfixed a very receptive audience. A fiery homage to the man who introduced House music to world, Frankie Knuckles, the piece followed Praize Production’s lead with a full-throated declaration of “I’m just fine with who I am”. Making it a joyful clarion call to the world’s gay and queer communities. The company danced the point emphatically and sublimely. Through synchronized voguing, show stopping solo runs and a spectacular original musical composition by Mr. Harris and Darrin Ross, HSDC laid bare the how and why of House culture’s magnetism, influence and value.
Winifred Haun founded her eponymous dance company in the 1990s to present innovative and accessible contemporary dance to local communities as well as further fulfill dance aficionados. In her dance for two in Absent Moon, Vernon Gooden and Crystal Gurrola provided a taste of the full work’s contemplative nature as they tested the boundaries of trust.
Like Praize Productions and Winifred Haun and Dancers, Ballet 5:8 was also making its first Dance for Life appearance. A female and minority-led company, their presentation of Wind marked the presence of a promising ballet addition to the city’s dance culture.
Opening in silhouette, Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater can always be counted on for their innovation, energy and liberal display of flair. In Viejos Aires, a deft blending of flamenco and tango, they utilized all three to highlight the distinctiveness of Spanish dance.
Following custom, representatives from all of the dance companies participating in the night’s performance take part in the closing finale. Traditionally composed by noted choreographer, dancer and educator Randy Duncan, the vision of other eyes was tapped to create this year’s final dance.
A graduate of Chicago Academy of the Arts and Juilliard, Jonathan (Jojo) Alsberry wears the hats of creator, performer and educator, too. He also serves as the Sr. Rehearsal Director and Director of Summer Intensives at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Using what’s often referred to as the Black National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, as his North Star; he remolds the song’s essence to further encompass universal aspirations, hopes and dreams. James Weldon Johnson’s words remain intact. But here in Lift, they’re propelled by the ecstatic 21st century arrangements of Ira Antelis’s music. The impact is seismic. Throngs of dancers all dressed in white, sometimes moving in fast paced unison, other times dividing to showcase unique perspectives of dance acumen, fill the stage with affirming life. Spectacle, celebration, and virtuosity all coming together to form a tableau of joy and promise.
You could feel a lot of that residual jubilation in the party held after the show in the swank surroundings of Venue SIX10, just steps down Michigan Avenue. A study in cosmopolitan glamour and all-embracing welcome, the benefit affair brought dancers and dance lovers together in mutual appreciation and recognition. All delightful, the crowd, atmosphere, food, and music made for a memorable and enchanting evening that grace’s every Chicago summer like none other.
Dance for Life 2025 is scheduled for August 16th of next year.
Dance for Life 2024
August 10, 2024
The Auditorium Theatre
50 Ida B. Wells Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
For more information: https://www.cdhf.org/
