Author Archives: Dorothy Samachson

CINDERELLA Fort Worth Ballet Company at the Chicago Theatre November 22-26 Cinderella, Paul Mejia’s ballet, was Chicago City Ballet’s most inspired creation. Designed as an annual Thanksgiving attraction for the entire family, Cinderella was CCB’s outstanding artistic and box-office success. The beautiful, witty costumes by Ben Benson, the sumptuous sets by Steven Rubin, and the […]

MUNTU DANCE THEATRE at the Dance Center of Columbia College November 24-25, December 1-2 I was rather surprised that Muntu Dance Theatre’s concert–called “Living Legends”–was not part of the Dance Center’s series, “Present Vision/Past Voice: The African-American Tradition in Modern Dance.” But strictly speaking, Muntu is not a modern-dance troupe. Although it presents some contemporary […]

GERMAN DANCE: LIVING MEMORIES WITH A FUTURE at MoMing Dance & Arts Center October 31-November 5 In an extraordinary week of extraordinary dance, with the extraordinary title “German Dance: Living Memories With a Future,” MoMing was filled to the rafters with curious and enthusiastic multigenerational audiences–including many local dancers–for the first time within my own […]

BALLET CHICAGO at the Chicago Theatre October 25 and 28 and November 1 and 4 With its sprightly performance of Ruth Page’s Die Fledermaus at the Chicago Theatre, Ballet Chicago gave proof positive that it’s not only alive and well but getting better all the time. It hasn’t overcome all its problems, but BC is […]

DORIS HUMPHREY: LATE WORKS Momenta at the Academy of Movement and Music October 21, 22, 28, and 29 Momenta is continuing its mission of restoring to life in the theater the lost dances of Doris Humphrey–along with Martha Graham, a founding mother of American modern dance. Last spring, Momenta reintroduced several of her lost early […]

A DANCE TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL JORDAN Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago at First Chicago Center October 3-6 Gus Giordano, the doyen of Chicago jazz dance, has always been fascinated by the social phenomena that stir the public. Several years ago, for example, at the height of our curiosity about motorcycles and bikers, he choreographed a […]

STEPHANIE SKURA AND COMPANY at MoMing Dance & Arts Center October 12-15 Stephanie Skura is not the first or the only dancer to create a piece to a Beethoven symphony. Though never intended to be danced, his nine symphonies have inspired several choreographers in our century. Ballets have been made to the Fourth, Seventh, and […]

HOLDING UP THE HOUSE at the Dance Center of Columbia College June 9-10 Nana Shineflug has been a pivotal force in the Chicago modern-dance community for many years–as performer, choreographer, artistic director of the Chicago Moving Company, and outstanding teacher. Many of our most accomplished dancers were her students. So it was depressing that the […]

STARS OF THE BOLSHOI BALLET at the Civic Center for Performing Arts May 25-27 There was a strong sense of deja vu about the program that the Stars of the Bolshoi Ballet presented last week. It reminded me of Geraldine Freund’s international dance festivals, which offered one dazzling star turn after another by one glittering […]

DANCE THEATRE OF HARLEM at the Civic Center for Performing Arts May 11-13 When Arthur Mitchell and his Dance Theatre of Harlem returned from the Soviet Union last spring, they trailed clouds of glory from their triumphs in the birthplace of classical ballet. Mitchell said proudly, “There’s nothing left for us to prove.” Of course […]

REACHING OUT: DIMENSIONS IN SACRED DANCE at Piper Hall, Mundelein College April 7 Dance has always played an important role in worship, from Miriam’s dances in the desert to the atleti dei of the Middle Ages. To many the glory of beautiful movement was proof of God’s beneficence (although others attacked dance as profane because […]

DORIS HUMPHREY–LOST WORKS Momenta at the Academy of Movement and Music March 11, 12, 18, and 19 The reconstruction of dances by past masters is vitally important to our understanding of how those masters shaped and influenced the dance we see today–whether classic ballet or modern dance. The recovery of that ephemeral past is also […]

BASEL BALLET at the Auditorium Theatre January 26-28 The Basel Ballet, the only Swiss ballet troupe making a considerable splash on the international theatrical circuit, introduced itself to Chicago with three charming performances of La fille mal gardee (“The Poorly Guarded Girl”), the oldest ballet still in the active dance repertory. La fille, created by […]

MOSCOW CLASSICAL BALLET at the Auditorium Theatre October 31-November 2 The Moscow Classical Ballet, on its first American tour, introduced itself to Chicago with four attractive, if not stellar, performances of Swan Lake, Russia’s greatest and best-loved contribution to classic ballet. Although the company has a permanent theater in Moscow, it was established primarily to […]