Mordine & Company Dance Theatre
Shirley Mordine is a woman who knows what she wants, though it isn’t always easy to explain to others. Rehearsing the five dancers in her untitled work in progress, she tries to get them to give a phrase more syncopation, more…something (“Edge it, anticipate it more”). She tells them not to “perform.” She asks them to let an image be seen before it’s interrupted. She begs them to stay connected with one another when they’re dancing different steps in separate spaces. But then, Mordine has been doing this for about 30 years, and if she doesn’t know what she wants by now, she never will. And fortunately she has five superb dancers to do her bidding: Margi Cole, Dardi McGinley-Gallivan, Pam McNeil, Tatiana Sanchez, and Tracee Westmoreland. In fact the impulse behind the dance was Mordine’s wish to use “these five handsome women” in an exploration of what it means to be female, what women know and learn because of the biological facts that bind them. Mordine has also reworked the 1997 Animare for this program, adding puppets designed and constructed by Michael Montenegro and revising the piece to take advantage of the setting for her spring performances, Evanston’s oldest church. Friday and Saturday at 8 (the performance Thursday, March 5, has been canceled), with a special family matinee that includes a preperformance hands-on exploration of puppetry and omits the work in progress Saturday at 3, at Lake Street Church, 607 Lake in Evanston; $15 (discounts for children). Call 773-989-3310 for tickets and information. –Laura Molzahn