Dance | 2011 in review

Year in review 2011 | Dance | Slideshow

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  Joe Goode Performance Group in Wonderboy

  Photo: Austin Forbord355.da_.da_.op_.joegoodewonderboy.jpg150537191
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  Betontanc & Umka.lv: Show Your Face!

  Photo: Bunker355.da.da.op.ShowYourFace.jpg150530152
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  Meredith Miller in Shipwreck, from “Madness in Miniature”

  Photo: Greg Inda355.da_.da_.op_.madnessinminiature.jpg150536913
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  Philip Elson in the Seldoms’ Stupormarket

  Photo: William Frederking312.da_.Stupormarket_1.jpg2253274
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  Les Enfants Terribles

  Photo: James Palmer355.da.da.op.LesEnfantsTerribles.jpg150530115
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  Theater Un-Speak-Able director Marc Frost in Superman 2050

  Photo: Barbara Hirschfeld318.da_.Superman2050.jpg134296396
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  Faustin Linyekula/Studios Kabako: more more more…future

  Photo: Agathe Poupeney347.da.da.cp.FaustinLinyekula1.jpg149869417
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  Robert Moses' Kin in The Cinderella Principle: try these on, see if they fit

  Photo: Toni Gauthier313.da.da.ex.RobertMoses.jpg2400758
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  Fist & Heel Performance Group in Andréya Ouamba and Reggie Wilson’s The Good Dance – dakar/brooklyn

  Photo: Antoine Tempé355.da_.da_.op_.fistheelperformancegroup.jpg150537879
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  MaryAnn McGovern and Dancers in Peter Carpenter’s Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #3: Delicate Extraction

  Photo: Sarah Ebling355.da_.da_.op_.ritualsofabundance.jpg1505372910
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  Mariya Dashkina Maddux, left, and Tadej Brdnik of the Martha Graham Dance Company in Graham’s Embattled Garden

  Photo: Cheryl Mann339.da.ChicagoDancingFestivalMasters5.jpg1491426911
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  Rashaun Mitchell of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Cunningham’s Antic Meet

  Photo: Yi-Chun Wu351.da.da.op.MerceCunningham1.jpg1502156312
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  Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago in Jon Lehrer’s A Ritual Dynamic

  Photo: Cheryl Mann355.da_.da_.op_.giordanojazzdancechicago.jpg1505376713
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  Elko & Koma perform Naked at the Museum of Contemporary Art

  Photo: Simon Brubaker330.wk.EikoKomaNaked06.jpg1483000514
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  Paul Matteson, left, and Jennifer Nugent of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in Blauvelt Mountain (A Fiction)

  Photo: Paul B. Goode344.da_.bodyagainstbody2.jpg1496584715
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  Choreographer Trisha Brown

  Photo: Lourdes Delgado355.da.da.op.TrishaBrown1.jpg1505302116
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  Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Sharon Eyal’s Too Beaucoup

  Photo: Todd Rosenberg355.da.da.op.HubbardDance3.jpg1505300917
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  Thodos Dance Chicago in The White City: Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893

  Photo: Cheryl Mann355.da.da.op.ThodosDanceChicago1.jpg1505301718
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  Amanda Timm in Striding Lion Performance Group's Remember the…(Alamo)

  Photo: Matthew Gregory Hollis328.da.da.cp.RememberTheAlamo.jpg1479477919
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  Michelle L’amour

  Photo: PEZphoto342.da.MichelleLamour1.jpg1493986520
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  Jonathan Meyer and Julia Rae Antonick in Commissura

  Photo: Dan Merlo321.da.Commissura5x476_0.jpg1472459121

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Joe Goode Performance Group in Wonderboy

Photo: Austin Forbord

12/12/2011

While some shows for which we had high hopes fell flat—that barely even qualified as a Swan Lake, State Ballet Theatre of Russia—the year in dance was full of pleasant surprises. We saw superb work for puppets and about social issues, and we enjoyed seeing classic works taken out of storage. Many local artists and organizations had breakthrough moments; here’s hoping 2012 brings even more members to that club.

In praise of puppets—no strings attached
For every knockout example of dance for inanimate objects, there’s a bumper crop of misfit toys that never come alive. And yet, two weeks into 2011, we were riveted by the adventures of a child’s empty onesie, which meets a handkerchief wearing glasses, in Show Your Face! at the MCA Stage. (The humans involved in this Latvian-Slovenian collaboration were hugely talented, too. Our review.) Puppeteer Basil Twist and choreographer Joe Goode made magic with Wonderboy in February, and a late-night cabaret downstairs at the Chopin Theatre, “Madness in Miniature” (our review), kept the momentum going well into the spring.

Message received
Whisper “politically charged choreography,” and just watch people run for the hills. But we couldn’t get away from—or enough of—performances hell-bent on raising issues. The Seldoms lanced the housing bubble and financial crisis with a sharp new work, Stupormarket. Les Enfants Terribles (our review) and Theater Un-Speak-Able (our preview) laid smack down on consumerism and car culture, respectively. Faustin Linyekula (our interview), Robert Moses, Andréya Ouamba and Reggie Wilson (our preview) recalibrated our understanding of domestic and international relations. And Peter Carpenter’s Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times (our review) proposed that creativity and compassion are the most stable (and most valuable) global currencies.

Oldies but goodies
Dance’s obsessive pursuit of the next big world premiere leads to a lot of forgettable evenings. For a variety of reasons, important works came out of the archives this year, offering rewards to both artists and audiences. The Chicago Dancing Festival reminded us of Martha Graham’s genius, and we saw 25 years of Merce Cunningham’s during his company’s farewell tour. Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago revived a gem by its founder, and Eiko & Koma (our interview) opened their catalog for a summerlong retrospective (our review). The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s roots wowed us (our review), and Trisha Brown’s mastery of composition and form (our preview) felt fresher and more timeless than ever before.

Keep it up
Five local organizations brought their games to the next level, and we hope that, this time next year, we’re saying the same thing about them again. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s two commissions from Israeli choreographers triumphed at home and abroad. Thodos Dance Chicago rebuilt the White City in style. Striding Lion Performance Group emerged as a new center of gravity for indie dance, while Michelle L’amour continued Chicago’s rise as a home for top-notch burlesque. And on Thursday 15 and Friday 16, catch The Clinking, new from Julia Rae Antonick and Jonathan Meyer—we have a feeling that their 2011 winning streak ain’t over yet.