The year 2022 was designated the “Year of Chicago Dance” by the city of Chicago, drawing a commitment from the mayor and several partner institutions to increase investment, collaboration, participation, and focus on dance in all its forms in Chicago. But if institutions are “humanly devised structures of rules and norms that shape and constrain […]
Tag: Chicago Dancemakers Forum
Posted inAgenda
Medieval healthcare, Black Hollywood, and Elevate Chicago Dance
Those of us of a certain age fondly remember Steve Martin’s appearance on Saturday Night Live as Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber. But women were also all up in the bloodletting and potion-making. Tonight at 6 PM the International Museum of Surgical Science (1524 N. DuSable Lake Shore Dr.) offers a presentation by historian Jennifer […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Venerable tobacco smoke
Any smoker can relate to the feeling of release they get from a cigarette, the satisfying blend of calm relief and buzzy energy. When artist Marcela Torres started smoking cigars about seven years ago, they were struck by the respite it offered. So began a relationship with tobacco, which has stretched to include its historical […]
Posted inDance
Moving beyond performance
Following years honoring public art, creative youth, theater, and music, the city of Chicago has designated 2022 the Year of Chicago Dance in recognition of an art form that is ubiquitous, burgeoning, diverse—and precarious. “The pandemic took a particularly devastating toll on our performing arts industry as shows were canceled, venues were closed, and artists […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Examining the white spaces in Chicago dance
A community townhall reaffirms the need for communication and representation.
Posted inMusic
Jumaane Taylor, tap dancer
“I’ve been on this journey to be able to present within the jazz community. . . . To be a union of creative beauty.”
Posted inMusic
Sirr TMo Sama gives footwork a strange peacefulness with On Dat
In June, the label arm of the Chicago-born Teklife footwork collective released its first flexi disc, “Juke Me Baby” by Reginald Cosper Jr., aka Sirr TMo Sama. Cosper builds the track on an ascending, bone-dry percussive pattern, weaving in a few different vocal samples and several drum loops; he never lets up on the gas, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Torchy Brown lights way for Litany
Jenn Freeman (aka Po’Chop) probes femininity, gender, rage, and history in a five-part dance film.
Posted inArts & Culture
When the lively arts go virtual
Two Reader critics talk about digital dance and theater—and other COVID-19 challenges.
Posted inArts & Culture
Music, movement, and politics take root at the MCA Dance Fest
Tamar-kali’s Demon Fruit Blues and Damon Locks’s Where Future Unfolds use the black musical heritage to explore contemporary problems.
Posted inBlogs
Introducing Body + Camera, a film festival that broadens the meaning of dance
Mana Contemporary Chicago, in collaboration with Chicago Dancemakers Forum and montom arts, is accepting entries for its first annual dance film festival.
Posted inMusic
The Era move footworking into the spotlight
Footwork crews often end up as sideshows to DJs or rappers—but Chicago dancers the Era hope to change that with their first stage production.
Posted inBlogs
Reader’s Agenda Sat 11/16: Mystery Science Theater 3000 25th Anniversary, Break Out!, and You’re Being Ridiculous
What’s on the Reader‘s Agenda for Saturday, November 16
Posted inArts & Culture
This Guy’s Penis Is a Work of Art
Full-frontal nudity got performance artist Joseph Ravens—and with him every other performance artist—booted from a Loop storefront gallery project.
Posted inBlogs
11/23 — Diego Piñón’s “Butoh Ritual Mexicano”
Tonight from 7 to 9 PM, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum and Silverspace Salons present Diego Pinon’s Butoh Ritual Mexicano.