Posts Tagged ‘Hubbard Street’

Chicago Dancing Festival 2012: Chicago Now

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

What was opening night at the 2012 Chicago Dancing Festival? It was…

… a packed house of excited, anxious fans that ranged from veteran patrons to children who were seeing their first professional dance.

… Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel showing his passion for the arts in a wonderful pre-show tribute to Maggie Daley, co-founder of After School Matters. In fact, one of the Chicago Dancing Festival Partner Bloggers, Rogue Ballerina, quoted our board chair David Herro stating that Mayor Emanuel is “probably the only Mayor in the United States that can do a proper plié”. Read the rest of her post here.

… an exciting and spirited performance by that same group which brought loud and enthusiastic cheers from the huge crowd. One of our other Partner Bloggers, D Underbelly, was able to speak with the After School Matters renowned choreographer, Nicholas Leichter, and some participating dancers before the performance. Read the write-up here!

After School Matters Photo: Cheryl Mann

… Hubbard Street, Joffrey Ballet and Giordano Dance representing Chicago with grace, power, and humor.

… an informal group of Chicagoans from all over the city coming together in a beautiful and moving dance called Bolero Chicago, which one of our other Partner Bloggers, Chicago Now, stated was the highlight of her evening. Read her thoughts here.

Bolero Chicago Photo: Cheryl Mann

… an amazing opening night Prima Parti featuring food, music and dance on the Harris rooftop with dancers, staff and supporters who celebrated a night well spent.

… a special appearance by Benny the Bull to showcase true Chicago culture beyond just dance. Partner Blogger Contrapuntist shared his thoughts on this subject here.

Bolero Chicago Photo: Cheryl Mann

Many of our festival bloggers have pointed out that this night was about Chicago. It was. While the festival is about presenting the highest quality dance to the city, this year, our attempt to bring the city to the dance is what makes this year very special year.  Not only for the staff and patrons, but for the community who spun, glided or jumped onto the Harris stage, or any stage, for the first time. Partner Blogger, Scott Silberstein, stated that “Dance is of the people, by the people, for the people.“ Read the rest of his blog here.

Want to see more? Our Partner Photo Blogger, Chicago Photo Blog, created a Flickr album of some shots opening night, including some of the bloggers themselves! See more on our Pinterest page. Want to share your own photos and thoughts? Tweet using the #CDF12 hashtag (or mention our Twitter handle, @chida_fe!) and share via our Facebook and Foursquare pages.

If you missed out on the fun last night, don’t worry, we still have plenty of dance left - which is great - because in the words of a nearby patron after the show, “We need more free around here.”

It’s a small world after all… Part 2

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Photo by Lois Greenfield

Let’s take a look at Craig Hall who, like Jonathan Alsberry, studied at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. Originally from Maywood, IL, he’s now a soloist with New York City Ballet and will be performing with NYCB principal dancer Wendy Whelan at the Festival this year. Look for them at the Modern Masters program on August 20 at the Harris Theater where they will be performing a pas deux from Christopher Wheeldon‘s “Liturgy”. Chicago audiences might be familiar with Wheeldon’s work as his “Carousel (A Dance)” was performed by the Joffrey Ballet for their Spring season earlier this year.

Check out this awesome article about Craig Hall to learn a little more about his start as a dancer – as well as interesting tidbit involving “Age of Innocence” choreographer Edwaard Liang‘s hairdryer The Joffrey will perform Liang’s work, first premiered by the company last Fall, at the New Voices program on August 18.

Jessica Lang, whose “To Familiar Spaces in Dream” will be performed at New Voices by Richmond Ballet, follows suit with her homonym contemporary Ed Liang (and Ed’s NCYB compatriot Chris Wheeldon) — Lang is set to create a work on the Joffrey Ballet for their upcoming season.

Did you get all that?
Here’s the Cliff Notes version (don’t worry, you won’t be tested on any of this):

Craig Hall and Jonathan Alsberry – Chicago Academy for the Arts
Craig and Ed Liang, Wendy Whelan and Christopher Wheeldon – New York City Ballet
Ed Liang, Chris Wheeldon and Jessica Lang – Joffrey Ballet
Jonathan Alsberry – Luna Negra, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and Aszure Barton & Artists
Aszure Barton – Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

And that’s just a quick look! To find out more about the dancers and the ties that bind them, meet them in person following each performance. Our hotel sponsor, the Palmer House Hilton, is helping us put together a series of fantastic parties to celebrate the festival events. We’ll see you there after the shows!

It’s a small world after all… Part 1

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Ever stopped to think about about how small the dance world really is?  You might be surprised to learn just how tightly knit the dance web is sewn.  Here’s the first of two blogs that look simply (or not so simply, as you’ll discover) at the artists performing in this year’s Chicago Dancing Festival. (more…)