Initiative celebrates new realities for dance
By MYRNA PETLICKI Contributor February 7, 2012 8:32PM
"Flabbergast" by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano of Luna Negra Dance Theater | Photo by Cheryl Mann
New Stages for Dance Initiative
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd.
$30-$46, with packages available for seeing multiple shows; $10 for May 11 lunchtime show
(847) 673-6300 or northshorecenter.org
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Updated: February 12, 2012 10:49AM
Dance fans have the chance to see three rare collaborations at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie. Six acclaimed Chicago dance companies, with distinctly different styles, have paired up as part of the New Stages for Dance Initiative.
The North Shore Center is one of five venues hosting eight collaborations. The others are the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Museum of Contemporary Art and Ruth Page Center for the Arts.
“I love the idea of collaborating with Chicago arts companies,” said North Shore Center General Manager Michael Pauken. “We’ve been working hard for a long time to build a dance audience here. We have a great space for it. Our stage is among the very best in the Chicago area for dance performance.”
The program launches at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11 and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12 with Thodos Dance Chicago, led by Artistic Director Melissa Thodos, matched with Luna Negra Dance Theater, under Artistic Director Gustavo Ramirez Sansano.
Rich collaboration
Thodos said she initiated the collaboration with Luna Negra because, “We really appreciate the mission of that organization and their cultural focus on the Hispanic voice in dance. Because they’re also a contemporary company, we found some wonderful parallels — and we also found some wonderful differences that we thought would create a rich evening for an audience.”
Thodos said that she and Sansano are creating a combined work on each other’s companies called “4 + 4.” For that selection, Thodos is working with the Luna Negra dancers and Sansano with the Thodos dancers. “The focus is on the artistic voice of each of us as directors on each other’s company,” Thodos explained.
“It’s a win-win project,” Thodos enthusiastically reported. “Gustavo and I are happy because we love creating. Our dancers are happy because they are continuing to learn.”
Natya Dance Theatre and Mordine & Company Dance Theater join forces at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. This performance is the fourth collaboration of the two companies, led by Artistic Directors Hema Rajagopalan and Shirley Mordine. They first worked together in 2007 on a piece called “Two Rivers,” which explored the interface between classical Indian and Western contemporary dance.
“Shirley Mordine has been watching my way of movement, my vocabulary and the art form that we do and I have interacted with their dancers,” Rajagopalan said. The two artistic directors have been conducting workshops with each other’s companies. “We both have been inspired by each other’s work,” Natya’s artistic director said.
Inspiring push
The upcoming collaboration, “Pushed to the Edge,” will intermingle dancers from the two companies. “This particular work is about immigrants who come from far off bringing their knowledge to the table,” Rajagopalan said. “It’s more about who’s invited to the table. Who really is accepted and what do we have to do to be accepted. What are our differences and what are our similarities? How can we learn from each other? It’s about how you’re inspired by being pushed to the limit.”
At 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, audiences will see a combined program by DanceWorks Chicago and Muntu Dance Theatre, the largest African dance company in the United States. Evanston native Julie Nakagawa is artistic director of DanceWorks Chicago; Amaniyea Payne is artistic director of Muntu.
Nakagawa is also a board member of Dance/USA which, along with MetLife Foundation, supports the New Stages for Dance Initiative. She wanted to pair her company with Muntu for several reasons, including the fact that both companies are celebrating anniversaries this year — the 40th for Muntu, the 5th for DanceWorks.
A second reason for the collaboration, Nakagawa said, is for the two companies “to venture into new territory, logistically, geographically, as well as artistically. We knew it would be an opportunity to push each other a little bit.”
DanceWorks and Muntu are jointly engaging a young Chicago choreographer, Monique Haley, to create a piece for them to perform. Nakagawa noted that the companies will also work together on other selections for the performance.
In addition to the evening performance, Muntu and DanceWorks will perform a 45-minute lunchtime dance concert at noon on Friday, May 11 and an hour-long family matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 12.
Melissa Thodos concluded that the new Stages for Dance Initiative “really lends to trying some new, unique things and creating some new realities in dance.”
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