Karole Armitage has had a very busy career as a dancer and a dancemaker. She has danced to works by George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham. She has choreographed and directed work in Europe for over 15 years. She has even rubbed elbows with legendary dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev; fashion designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix; and even the Queen of Pop, Madonna. Now, she's focused on her own New York-based company, Armitage Gone! Dance, which makes its Chicago debut Thurs.-Sat., April 17-19, at the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan.
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Armitage Gone! Dance. Photo by Julieta Cervantes
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The program for Armitage Gone! Dance's Chicago engagement offers two pieces created by Karole Armitage, 'Ligeti Essays' and 'Time is the echo of an axe within a wood.' The first is named after György Ligeti, the late Hungarian composer who Armitage regards as 'one of the great renegades of 21st-century contemporary composing.' The piece uses 15 short songs by Ligeti, each one working like a haiku—short, simple, but full of meaning—to express a different state of mind. They range from dreamlike to sarcastic, and humorous to poignant, and are danced by a different combination of dancers—solos, duets, trios and so forth. For Armitage, the work is a metaphor for the different ways people come together. 'What does it mean to be human today?' is one of the questions Armitage asked herself for inspiration, she explained. 'The piece explores the philosophy of embracing the whole range of human existence. ... It's both violent and beautiful.' The movement for each piece is very much rooted in Ligeti's evocative music. Armitage said, 'The dance makes love to the music. Much like the physical act of making love, it's about two independent people coming together and making something happen.' The dance plays out on a gray-floored stage, ringed by fluorescent lights and accompanied by an enigmatic silver tree, a set designed by internationally acclaimed visual artist David Salle.
The second work Armitage presents, 'Time is the echo of an axe within a wood,' set to music by Bela Bartok, is not so much about different states of mind as about how time works in the mind. 'It's more about psychological time,' she explained. 'Memory, dream, fantasy, nightmare.' For this work, the set uses a beaded curtain that distorts light and darkness. Shadows of the dancers who have just gone off stage or are about to come on linger in the periphery, creating surreal phantoms, a fitting metaphor for the different conscious and subconscious parts of the mind.
In both works Armitage showcases her unqiue movement aesthetic, which she describes as having 'the refinement of ballet but the freedom and personality of modern dance.' The choreography is an organic combination of fluid sculptures, showing off the dancers' flexibility, versatility and profound relationship with gravity. Armitage, who says she is very inspired by the grace and fluidity of Japanese calligraphy, explores the entire space around the moving body, warping and curving space with a sense of sensuality that becomes primal and almost even erotic. For Armitage, that's the point. 'It's all about the sensuality of being human,' she said. But through the graceful forms she creates, there is a clear eye for detail and an emphasis on prescise technique. While exploring themes of humanity and connectivity, Armitage does nothing short of create works of startling beauty.
Don't miss this rare opportunity to see one of contemporary dance's most influential voices. 312-344-6600; $24-$28.
Also look forward to these coming performances:
American Ballet Theatre ( ABT ) gets audiences in the mood for spring with the Chicago premiere of The Sleeping Beauty, with staging by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie, former ABT ballerina Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov. ABT brings this classic fairy tale about the beautiful Princess Aurora and the evil sorceress Carabosse to life in a lavish all-new production. Seven performances only, Wed.-Sun., April 9-13, at the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker. 312-902-1500; $30-$110.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, presents the latest creation from the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Chapel/Chapter, Wed.-Sat., April 9-12. Through a seamless blend of dance, music, text and video, Chapel/Chapter addresses the news media, the judicial process and the prison system in an evocative tale of violence, morality and humanity. 312-397-4010; $28-$40.
Circle in the Square: New Works in Dance Theatre will present six world-premiere dances Fri-Sun., April 11-13, at the Elizabeth F. Cheney Mansion, 220 N. Euclid, Oak Park. Each dance is made especially for a different room in the house and features choreography by Winifred Haun, Andrew Adams, Erika Gilfether, Christopher Ellis and Dawn Marie Galtieri. 773-782-9471; $20-$25.
Inaside Chicago Dance presents its third annual spring concert Fri.-Sat., May 2-3, at Ruth Page Theatre, 1016 N. Dearborn. The program this season is inspired by American abstract artist Jackson Pollock. Drawing from his 'drip period,' each dance becomes a multimedia experience that unfolds different aspects of Pollock's life and art. 312-337-6543; $15-$20.
If you're feeling especially inspired by these wonderful dance performances and you want to learn some fancy moves of your own then there is a brand new Web site that will be an invaluable tool. TakeChicagoDance.com, sister site to SeeChicagoDance.com, is a comprehensive catalog of all the various classes, teachers and studios in the Chicagoland area. Users can search by class style, schedule, location or level, and can even search for social-dancing venues where to show off new moves. Bookmark it and get dancing!
