Before the holiday dance perennial of The Nutcracker starts sugaring up Chicago-area stages next month, Windy City dance fans can feast on a variety of new modern dance creations and classics this month. This main-course nourishment of modern dance comes in both home-grown and imported varieties.
Visiting troupes
The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is going, going and soon to be gone. That's because the late choreographer and founder of his self-named dance company dictated that it should disband after his death. ( Cunningham, the legendary and ground-breaking gay choreographer passed away at the age of 90 in 2009. )
For its Chicago engagement, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company is set to perform two programs in a presentation co-sponsored by the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance at 205 E. Randolph Dr. The repertory trio of Squaregame ( 1976 ) , Quartet ( 1982 ) and Antic Meet ( 1958 ) make up Program A at 8 p.m. Nov. 18. Program B at 8 p.m. Nov. 19, is the evening-length Roaratorio ( 1983 ) which features music from John Cage's 1979 piece Roratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegans Wake including text from James Joyce's iconic novel. Tickets are $25-$65. Call 312-334-7777 or visit http://www.colum.edu/dancecenter.
If you want more pop music infused into presentations of modern dance, then be sure not to miss Rasta Thomas' BAD BOYS of DANCE. Founded in 2007 at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, BAD BOYS of DANCE features hypergymnastic choreography mixed with animated projections while its dancers groove to the likes of Coldplay, U2 and Queen. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and 2 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Pkwy. Tickets are $30-$72; call 800-982-2787 or visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org .
The AXIS Dance Company was founded in California's Bay Area three years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land in 1990. This innovative dance troupe is known for defying preconceptions about disabled performers and also shows that dance is truly available to everyone.
Mark Brew's 2011 piece Full of Words and Light Shelter from 2009 are on the Chicago bill for AXIS, as is the 2008 work Vessel, by Alex Ketley in collaboration with poet Carol Snow. AXIS Dance Company performs at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19 and 2 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Auditorium Theatre or Roosevelt University, 50 E. Congress Pkwy. Tickets are $30-$72. Call 800-982-2787 or visit www.auditoriumtheatre.org .
The universe in relation to science, poetry and faith is explored in visiting choreographer Liz Lerman's new multimedia piece The Matter of Origins, which plays at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10-13 at the Museum of Contemporary Art's MCA Stage, 220 E. Chicago. Tickets are $28. Call 312-397-4010 or visit www.mcachicago.org .
Hometown hitters
River North Dance Chicago's hometown fall engagement features company premieres and returning favorites. New to the company is Daniel Ezralow's acclaimed urban drama SUPER STRAIGHT is coming down, while Charles Moulton's classic piece of synchronized and precise movement titled Nine Person Precision Ball Passing makes its debut at Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr. River North Dance Chicago performs 8 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5. Tickets are $30-$75 and available by calling 312-334-7777 or by visiting www.rivernorthchicago.com .
Dance fans will get a chance to see how the recently renovated Stage 773 works as a major dance venue when the Dance Chicago festival of new works plays this November. A variety of dance styles included in the mix of Dance Chicago programming include tap, modern, urban, Irish, ballet and more.
Dance Chicago plays Nov. 2-20 at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets are $27 and $23 for students and seniors. Visit www.dancechicago.com for a full roster and schedule of participating companies. For tickets, call 773-327-5252 or visit www.stage773.org .
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago isn't the only dance company collaborating with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ( CSO ) . DanceWorks Chicago teams up with the CSO for the one-hour children's concerts "Magical Movements" featuring choreography by Christian Spuck to music by the likes of Gary Fry, Mozart, Nielsen and more. The program culminates with The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra by gay composer Benjamin Britten.
Magical Movements plays 11 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Nov. 5 at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave. Tickets are $6-$33. Call 312-294-3000 or visit ww.cso.org or www.danceworkschicago.org .
Narrative notions
Thodos Dance Chicago offers DuPage County audiences a chance to see its 2010 evening-length dance piece co-choreographed by Tony Award-winner Ann Reinking and company founder Melissa Thodos called The White City: Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893 at College of DuPage's McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. Tickets are $40. Call 630-942-4000 or visit www.atthemac.org .
More narrative dance can be found in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's revival of its children's dance piece Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure inspired by Crockett Johnson's classic children's book. It offers parents an alternative to the standby of The Nutcraker. Performances are at 2 p.m. Dec. 3 and 4 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr. Call 312-334-7777.
A positive and negative meditation on what it means to be part of a couple is explored in The Better Half via dance troupe Lucky Plush Productions' collaboration with physical theater troupe 500 Clown. Inspired in part by the 1944 film drama Gaslight, The Better Half continues at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3, 5 and 6 at the Museum of Contemporary Art's MCA Stage, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $28. Call 312-397-4010 or visit www.mcachicago.org .
