In music, like any other creative medium, imagination can obliterate pre-conceived notions of the possible. Through its series of live streamed concerts that were created as a response to Covid, Eighth Blackbird’s Creative Artist Workshop (CAW) has been reminding us of the many forms excellent music can take. Since CAW began its entertainment offerings, showcasing …
Eighth Blackbird Concert Threads Nature into Music Read More »
June 2021 has the world, at least the western world, sitting on a cusp as we move from isolation to reopening. Restaurants may be filling up but theatrical houses won’t start seeing people occupying their seats until the Fall. The transition is proving to be both surprisingly quick and agonizingly slow; which means a lot …
Celebrating Asian Pacific American heritage this May took on special significance in light of what’s been filling the headlines over the past year. Asian Americans like most minority immigrants to the United States paid and continue to pay a price for pursuing the American Dream. Considered a model minority because education and personal accomplishment are …
Dance and Theater Excellence During Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Read More »
Through its production arm Chicago Artists Workshop (CAW), Eighth Blackbird has been providing local artists a platform to showcase their work by hosting live performance events. Interrupted by the ongoing global pandemic, the ensemble adapted and resumed presenting performances in a live streaming format. Each of the streamed events featured since last Fall has highlighted …
Even with the light at the end of the tunnel growing brighter and larger, the world’s still grappling with the trauma of Covid. That may make this year’s Spring better than last year’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be as ordinary and normal as we would like. Ordinary or not, we are still …
Throughout Eugene Ashe’s subtly exceptional love story, you keep waiting for what never happens. That one scene where you’re reminded that a movie about Black people must depict at least one explicitly racist encounter. It never materialized in Sylvie’s Love because Ashe consciously chose to emphasize a fullness of Black life in America that transcends …
Depending on where you are in life can determine how well you understand the dilemma facing people so much in love they want to marry. The traditional progression has not completely disappeared. Two people meet, get married, rent until they can afford their first home and continue to build a life together from there. Netflix’s …
Exact numbers vary, but there are well over a billion people around the world who celebrate the Lunar New Year. China’s so identified with the festival that it’s often referred to as the Chinese New Year. But Indonesia, the Philippines, Viet Nam, South Korea and Malaysia are among the legion of countries who include it …
Despite being born and raised in the country’s second largest city, Lar Lubovitch, one of Chicago’s most esteemed dancer/choreographers, grew up in a desert. “Growing up in Chicago, there was no dance culture in the city at all,” he confided recently as he talked to Jenai Cutcher, Chicago Dance History Project’s (CDHP) Executive/Artistic Director. He …
The virtual universe keeps expanding as more and more entertainment forms continue to find refuge in the cloud. Fully appreciating dance and theater in such a flat dimension still takes some adapting. Virtual live performance can help because it reinforces the sense of immediacy and intimacy, making an event just a little more personal. But …
Omnium Circus: The World of Wonder that Welcomes All Read More »