Displaying items by tag: Edlis Neeson Theater

This summer the 9th annual Chicago Dancing Festival returns with four days of free dance performances throughout the city. On Wednesday evening, the MCA hosted a production entitled Modern Women in the Edlis Neeson Theater for two back-to-back shows. 

As the audience filed into the theater, a video of Loie Fuller’s “Serpentine Dance” was projected onto the back wall of the stage.  The film is from 1896 and each frame of the film was tinted by hand to give an already beautiful and fluid dance piece the additional magic of what appears to be a color changing costume. The show continued to incorporate projected video and photos at the start of each piece taking us back in time to see the founding women of modern dance. This was a great addition to the show, however each clip lasted for close to a minute and the lack of background music made for a somewhat uncomfortable silence in the theater – interrupted more than once by someone’s cell phone ringing!

The show was 1 hour with 5 pieces. The first piece was “Valse Brillante”, originally choreographed by Isadora Duncan in 1915, performed by Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Company. As the introduction video clip showed, many of Isadora Duncan’s works were performed outside in nature. This piece transported us to a summer garden with the light and airy movements flowing together perfectly to the buoyant music of a solo piano. The graceful silk costumes floated behind the dancers who beautifully executed a classic piece of modern dance. 

Martha Graham is one of the most well known names in modern dance with a long legacy. “Deep Song” is a solo work, originally performed by Martha Graham herself in 1937, recreated on the stage by Blakeley White McGuire of the Martha Graham Dance Company. It was performed in the same costume designed for the original piece, a lovely full-length black and white dress which is as much a part of the performance as the dancer and the bench incorporated into the choreography. The piece is powerful, full of fear and distress, and it had the audience entranced.

The final 3 pieces were newer works paying homage to other masters of modern dance including Doris Humphrey, Ruth St. Denis and Ruth Page. My favorite of these pieces was “A Picture of You Falling” by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. This solo piece was a short piece brilliantly performed by Jason Hortin in the show I attended.  Choreographed by Crystal Pite and set to a composition of voice-overs and sound effects, it was an amazingly athletic and noteworthy piece. With a flavor of bone breaking dance style characterized by rhythmic contorting movements of the body, it had me completely absorbed and as a short piece it left me wanting more! The level of applause for this piece in the curtain call has me thinking the rest of the audience agreed with me on this being a standout of the show!

Overall the show was a great tribute to the women whose creativity, inspiration and courage brought us a new form of dance that broke from the traditions of ballet and paved the way for so many dancers and choreographers after them. It was a great show even for those not versed in modern dance, with accessible pieces that stirred your emotions. The Chicago Dancing Festival runs from August 25th to the 29th and is a great opportunity for those passionate about dance as well as those who are just interested in a night out. If you missed it this summer, keep your eyes out for shows next summer!