There's dancin' going on out past O'Hare, and we don't mean the Footloose kinda stuff ( although we're certain that's going on, too ) . The Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in downtown Arlington Heights hosts its first-ever Dance Week, April 24-30, with a week-long schedule of master classes, dance workshops and public performances by youth dance troupes from the northwest burbs. Dance Week is presented in association with McDonald Dance Academy of Arlington Heights ( which, we like to guess, one can find under the sign of the fallen yellow arches ) .
The Dance Week public performances begin April 27 with a showcase of dance groups from seven area high schools, followed April 28-29 by the headliner company, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Dance Week concludes April 30 with a Dance Academy Showcase, featuring youth performers from five private dance schools in the area in styles ranging from classical ballet to tap. Tickets and more info from the Metropolis Centre box office, ( 847 ) 577-2121.
One of our town's favorite and enduring dance dames, Shirley Mordine, is back with her troupe for a spring concert stand concluding this week ( April 13-15 ) at Links Hall. Mordine herself has choreographed a new piece, Quest, about the intertwined lives of strangers forever changed by a spiritual and sexual voyage to an unknown destination, which sort of sounds like life itself if you do it right. Quest has choreography by Mordine with movement invention by the company, performed to an original score composed by Alison Chesley and performed by her and Davis Krieg. The evening also offers Passing Me By, choreographed by Jim Morrow, which explores the confusion, hostility, anger and pride of a white male growing up in a hip-hop culture. Tickets are $15; call ( 773 ) 281-0824.
Some say dance is poetry in motion. Najwa Dance Corps takes that old truism literally, celebrating National Poetry Month with its 8th Annual Poetry and Dance Festival, Tell It Like It Is, April 21 only at Malcolm X College. Poets who will perform include Triple Black, Underground Railroad and the Youth Poetry Cypher. While the wordsmiths read, Najwa Dance Corps will interpret their poetic voices through the language of dance in the African-American tradition. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door; call ( 312 ) 850-7224.
Chicago Tap Theatre extends its partnership with French percussive dance troupe Tapage, with April 22-23 performances of Liaison Deux at the Harold Washington Library Auditorium. Tapage, described as a conceptual tap dance company, is from Toulouse, France, and first appeared with Chicago Tap Theatre two years ago at the Harold Washington Library Auditorium and garnered enthusiastic reviews. Last year, Chicago Tap Theatre joined Tapage for a three-city tour of the south of France. Observes Chicago Tap Theatre artistic director Mark Yonally, 'With transatlantic relationships in a precarious place, it is vital that the artists of different countries continue the dialogue person to person, company to company. Both Valerie Lussac, artistic director of Tapage, and I feel that dance is a bridge that cannot be broken by policy or administrations.' Tickets are $25; call ( 773 ) 655-1175.
Kalapriya Dance offers three days of wild and sensual terpsichorean abandon in Along the Gypsy Trail, a May 5-7 series presented in association with The International House of the University of Chicago as part of the House's Global Voices Performing Arts Series. We just wrote a mouthful. Can't they just say, 'Kalapriya and International House go gypsy?' Whatever. Along the Gypsy Trail is a multi-cultural dance festival featuring traditional dance from India, Eastern Europe, Spain, Africa and the Middle East, most nations of which figure somewhere in the mysterious and darkly alluring history of the gypsies in their migration from Indian origins.
May 5 offers Indian folk music and dance by Rupayan. May 6 features Kalapriya Dance itself ( Banjara Gypsy dances of India ) ; Genesis at the Crossroads and the Jasmin Jahal dancers ( Arabic traditional dances ) ; and Khalidah's North African Experience ( dances of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt ) . The long and winding trail reaches its end May 7 with performances by Anila Sinha Foundation ( Indian dance ) ; Ensemble Balkanski Igri ( Eastern European dance ) ; and flamenco music and dance by Michelle Nascimento and Flamenco Triana.
But wait, there's more! Along the gypsy trail also is a culinary festival. Ticket holders will dine before each performance at the gypsy food bazaar on cuisines ( from local restaurants ) that trace their roots to the cultures of the gypsy trail: curries, couscous, fool madamas ( Egyptian-style beans ) , dolmades, etc. General admission tickets are $30 each and include food and performance. All of this takes place at the International House, 1414 E. 59th, at the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus. For details or tickets, call ( 773 ) 472-1105. So dance, gypsy, dance! And bring some bicarbonate of soda.
