606 stories by "Sharon Hoyer"
The invitation to contribute to this year’s “Artist Takeover” of the Fall Arts Preview got me thinking about what stimulates me to go see what I see. After a good twenty-fi…
RECOMMENDED Experimental music venue Constellation and experimental dance venue Links Hall have shared the same roof for several years, but their most captivating entente may well be in the …
RECOMMENDED The Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s annual summer summit of tap and percussive dance classes, workshops and performances culminates this weekend when the masters strut their…
By Sharon Hoyer Ahmad Simmons and Kacie Smith are the recipients of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Grant. Their project, "THEM" is a dance theater exploration of fear, love and the barrie…
RECOMMENDED It's been nearly forty years since England's Royal Ballet visited Chicago, and its production of principal dancer (and budding author) Carlos Acosta's "Don Quixote" is being met …
RECOMMENDED While appropriate, the term “layered” is a bit of an understatement when applied to the dance theater creations of Erica Mott. Meanings, ideas and historical referenc…
RECOMMENDED To create a concert celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of Hedwig Dances, founder and artistic director Jan Bartoszek turned to her earliest works. "I think I've grown as a cho…
The Chicago Human Rhythm Project is a cultural magnet; the organization pulls percussive and folkloric dancers"along with a good number of drummers"from around the world to collaborate, teac…
RECOMMENDED If one had to select the work of a single twentieth-century playwright for translation from spoken language to dance, Tennessee Williams would likely top the list. Brooding, s…
RECOMMENDED Independent choreographer Peter Carpenter teams with Margi Cole and her company The Dance COLEctive to write the fourteenth chapter in his ongoing dance serial that puts a critic…
Soft-spoken and self-effacing, Nicolas Blanc sits in a folding chair in a sunny studio room of the Joffrey tower, gently cueing the entrances and changes for five dancers in his short ballet…
RECOMMENDED We usually have to wait till June and bus, bike or train down to the Loop to see great free performances but, thanks to the Chicago Human Rhythm Project"that mighty advocate o…
Hanna Brictson grew up in River North Dance Chicago, first as a student, starting at the age of twelve, then as a company member straight out of high school, eventually working her way up…
RECOMMENDED Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, inspired by her upbringing in an African-American neighborhood of Kansas City, founded her all-female company to give voice to the disenfranchised, partic…
By Sharon Hoyer Whether addressing climate crisis, as in the 2012 "Exit Disclaimer: Science and Fiction Ahead," the economic meltdown and Keynesian theory, as in the 2011 "Stupormarket," or …
RECOMMENDED The name Gustavo Ramirez Sansano can bring pangs to those who were busy developing an addiction to his work at the helm of Luna Negra Dance Theater, both as artistic director"int…
RECOMMENDED Thodos Dance's winter concert at the Harris gathers short rep pieces from a half dozen Chicago-based choreographers, including a new work by founder Melissa Thodos. The program i…
RECOMMENDED Michael Estanich's newest creation for RE|Dance glides on gentle waves of sweet nostalgia and romance, ruffled at points by eddies of humor and the chop of desire. Dancers c…
RECOMMENDED The power, reedy elegance and remarkable precision of LINES Ballet returns to the Harris in two weeknight programs. On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based company participates in …
RECOMMENDED Brazil's Grupo Corpo visits Chicago for the first time, adding some welcome fire to our cold winter months. The brothers Rodrigo and Paulo Pederneiras have created a muscular mov…
RECOMMENDED “Unique Voices,” at the Auditorium Theatre, adds three strong contemporary pieces to the Joffrey rep in a program that strikes a gratifying balance between classicism…
RECOMMENDED In David Roussève's tender new work, the fragmented, abbreviated language of texting becomes the building material of a story that is at once funny, sad and deeply humane. The h…
RECOMMENDED The Auditorium Theatre's "Made in Chicago" series"part of the programing for the 125th anniversary season"has opened the historic, gold-rimmed stage to a couple hometown companie…
RECOMMENDED As a dance form based on the most subtle, understated, imperceptibly small communication between lead and follow, Argentine tango doesn’t necessarily lend itself to perf…
Erica Mott's love for performance blossomed from her work in international development and foreign diplomacy. "I was working on microeconomics and microlending in Latin America," she says. "…
