All at the annual Dance for Life (DFL) benefit had a night of great dancing, love and community on Aug. 17. Special guests and benefactors had cocktails and litght fare at a pre-show gala at the enormous Hilton Chicago International Ballroom. Guests traveled by trolley and by foot a few blocks north for the all-star performance at the iconic Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.
The DFL performances are always a highlight of the summer, with the best of the best of Chicago's dance scene sharing the stage for a one-night-only, one-of-a-kind show. Five local companies and two independent artists shared the program that concluded each act with world premiere finales danced by artists from around the city. Proceeds from this year's celebration benefit the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, The Dancer's Fund and Chicago House.
The performance began with a high-energy Cuban number from Giordano Dance Chicagoan upbeat, perfect way to start the show. Ald. Tom Tunney served as emcee this year. He was charming, but not as vibrant as WGN's Dean Richards, who has hosted in previous years.
Thodos Dance Chicago performed a signature work by director Melissa Thodos and independent artists Abigail Simon and Mauro Villanueva wowed the crowd with a lively classical pas de deux from Le Corsaire. A new premiere by Harrison McEldowney and Jeremy Plummer incorporated dancers performing mid-air on rigging ropes. This collaboration gets better every year.
Act two was stellar, with an all-male piece by River North Dance Chicago, a stunning excerpt by master choreographer Mats Ek by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and a fluid excerpt from DanceWorks Chicago, seamlessly showing why Chicago is one of the best cities for dance in the world. The evening closed with a feel-good, intensely danced world premiere from Randy Duncan.
Dance for Life producer Anthony Guerrero said that approximately 2,000 people attended the event, which grossed about $350,000.