This Weekend In Dance
By Michelle Meywes Kopeny in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 1, 2013 7:00PM
Jessica Miller Tomlinson and Alissa Tollefson in "A Light in the Dark". Photo by Cheryl Mann.
ALL AT ONCE
Mordine & Co. with Clinard Dance Theatre and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater
Chicago’s longest running contemporary dance company, Mordine & Co. Dance Theater, shares the stage this weekend with Clinard Dance Theatre and Deeply Rooted Dance Theater to celebrate diversity in dance. The evening features a new work by Shirley Mordine called All At Once/Acts of Renewal which demonstrates the complicated nature of processing information in this fast-paced digital age.
Tonight they are joined by contemporary flamenco ensemble Clinard with a piece called From the Arctic to the Middle East (Broken Narratives by an American Flamenco Dancer), and tomorrow through Sunday, Deeply Rooted brings their African American based dance to the stage with Naeemah’s Room, a piece that explores depression and it’s stigma. Stick around after the performance for a discussion with the artists about the state of diversity in dance today.
Runs through Sunday at Stage773 (1225 W. Belmont). Tickets are $24 ($20 for students/seniors).
A LIGHT IN THE DARK: the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan
Thodos Dance Chicago
Thodos Dance tells tells the story of blind and deaf activist Helen Keller through ballet this weekend at Harris Theater. Melissa Thodos and choreographer Ann Reinking have come together again after creating their first ballet, The White City: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, which the Sun-Times called “Best Dance of 2011.” This new contemporary ballet features an original score by Bruce Wolosof and has also reunited the rest of White City’s creative team.
For the winter concert, A Light in the Dark will be followed by a second act with two other pieces from Thodos, including a company premiere, and a new work from KT Nelson, co-artistic director of ODC Dance Company in San Francisco.
Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph). Tickets range from $30 to $60.
Laboratory Dancers Fundraiser
with special guests The Compatriots, Swimsuit Addition, The Fox & the Hounds, Les Soubrettes
Saturday night, artist collective Laboratory Dancers hosts a fundraiser for their first summer west coast tour. The collective’s primary aim is to “bring dance and education to those who might not otherwise encounter it.” The fundraiser will have live bands, raffle prizes, and performances from burlesque dancers the Les Soubrettes, as well as the Laboratory Dancers themselves previewing works from the upcoming tour. Beverages provided by The Berghoff Brewery and snacks from Skinny Pop.
Saturday at 8 p.m. at Fulton Street Collective (2000 W. Fulton). Suggested donation is $5.