Solitaire – A Game of Dance Gala Performance & Benefit
The Chicago Dancing Festival celebrates seven years with its annual Gala, an evening celebrating solo artists from the world of classical, contemporary, Bharata Natyam and Flamenco dance. This fundraising event includes a performance and benefit with an opportunity to mingle with many of this year’s participating artists. Tickets are $250 per person and can be purchased by emailing [email protected]. Space is limited.
In/Side (2008)
by Robert Battle
Samuel Lee Roberts
Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater
Set to Nina Simone’s haunting rendition of “Wild is the Wind,” Robert Battle’s In/Side offers audiences an intimate look at a man’s most private struggles. The work was created on Samuel Lee Roberts, who described it as “one of the most exhilarating, exhausting, and frightening things I have ever done. I had never had to be so completely vulnerable in such a public space.”
I’m Going to Explode (2007)
by Brian Brooks
Brian Brooks
Brian Brooks Moving Company
“…a marvelous solo, all stiff, whipping arms and shuddering body.”
-The New York Times, Roslyn Sulcas
The Real Cool (a solo excerpt from Mr. TOL E. RAncE) (2012)
by Camille A. Brown
Camille A. Brown
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Inspired by Spike Lee’s controversial movie, “Bamboozeled”, and Mel Watkins’ book, “On The Real Side: From Slavery to Chris Rock”, Mr. TOL E. RAncE celebrates the humor and perseverance of the black performer and examines stereotypical roles dominating current popular Black culture.
Ensueños de mi Caribe (presented with live music) (2012)
by Julia Hinojosa
Julia Hinojosa
Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater
with Paco Fonta, Flamenco singer and guitarist
Javier Saume Mazzei, Percussionist
The Flamenco Guajiras, in the compás (rhythm) of twelve, originated in Cuba from the Cuban folk traditions in the first half of the twentieth century. The song, coplas, poetic compositions, refer to Havana and its people, with themes of love and nostalgia.
PACOPEPEPLUTO (2011)
by Alejandro Cerrudo
Johnny McMillan, David Schultz and Jonathan Fredrickson
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Seven minutes of solo dancing for three men set to songs popularized by “the king of cool,” Dean Martin, in the ’50s and ’60s, PACOPEPEPLUTO shows Cerrudo’s skill at balancing aesthetic austerity and sharp wit.
The Dying Swan (1905)
by Mikhail Fokine
Victoria Jaiani
The Joffrey Ballet
Inspired by swans that she had seen in public parks and reading Alfred,Lord Tennyson's poem "The Dying Swan," Anna Pavlova (who had just become a ballerina at the Mariinsky Theater) asked Mikhail Fokine, who had also read the poem, to create a solo for her for a concert in 1905. The Dying Swan means something different to each Ballerina who performs and interprets the choreography for this solo. However, it is generally based on the struggle with death and / or the acceptance of dying.
Sthithihi (2013)
by Krithika Rajagopalan
Krithika Rajagopalan
Natya Dance Theatre
Program subject to change