Chicago Represents In This Year's Dancing Festival

By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 20, 2012 6:00PM

Bolero Chicago Rehearsal. Photo by Araceli Arroyo.

Chicago Dancing Festival begins its sixth season tonight, and while we already gave you an overview of this year’s offerings, we’ve got a couple standout local acts to check out. Bolero Chicago and After School Matters both bookend the festival with appearances at tonight's opening gala at Harris Theater and at the grand finale at Pritzker Pavilion on Saturday. Both performances are uniquely Chicago and star local residents.

Bolero Chicago is the creation of New York-based choreographer Larry Keigwin. Two professional dancers are joined by about 50 local volunteers of all ages and levels of experience (including none at all) in an original piece set to Maurice Ravel’s iconic score. This is the seventh city that Keigwin has taken on for this community project, so he comes in with a basic template, but each city and their participants bring their own flavor to the piece. On day one of their two week residency, they sat down and discussed what makes our city special, and then incorporated those ideas into the performance. Chicago is of course known for pride in its sports teams and as a big drinking town, so expect to see these elements and more worked into the piece through props and other surprises. They also see what unique skills their dancers are bring to the table, from specific dance experience to balancing beer cans on their heads. Anything goes. We got to peek in on one of the rehearsals last week and the atmosphere was fun and laid back, with just the right amount of sass, just as we expect the live show to be.

After School Matters’ Hip Hop Culture Dance brings Touch of Soul to the festival for the first time, a Nicholas Leichter work commissioned especially for CDF. The group is dedicating their performance to the late Maggie Daley who helped develop the teen program along with Block 37 twenty years ago and served as Chair all the way up until her death last year. After School Matters provides opportunities for Chicago teens to make the most of their time outside of school with activities ranging from arts to sports to science. The Hip Hop Culture Dance Ensemble uses dance to explore cultural issues while honing their talent. Leichter’s piece itself fuses hip hop and contemporary dance set to music from Estelle and Manu Dibango.

All Chicago Dancing Festival events are free to the public, though some indoor events requires prior reservations. Check CDF’s Events site for more information including showtimes and how to get standby tickets.