All stories by Irene Hsiao on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

‘Afong Moy was a real person’ by Irene Hsiao

The year was 1834. Indigenous communities were being displaced from their ancestral homelands on the forced march known as the Trail of Tears. Over two million people of African descent were…

SOURCE: chicagoreader.com at 10:38AM
Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Contretemps beats against the time by Irene Hsiao

Contretemps Contemporary Ballet challenges the stereotypes of the form in Heat Lightning. Ethereal visions of swans, sylphs, shades, and sugarplums? A way of mov…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 10:00AM
Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Teatro ZinZanni brings back glitz, kitsch, and the joy of living by Irene Hsiao

Teatro ZinZanni,the dinner circus spectacle, reopens at the Cambria Hotel. The show begins before you enter the theater lobby on the 14th floor of the Cambria Ho…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:40PM
Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Mitsu Salmon considers the orchid by Irene Hsiao

A new interdisciplinary work digs into the roots of one of the most mythologized of flowers. In Japan, nobility and samurai cultivated orchids as symbols of brav…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:45PM
Thursday, July 8, 2021

Joel Hall Dancers tap the spirit of the phoenix again by Irene Hsiao

In LEGACY: Phoenix^5, Joel Hall Dancers celebrate the past and look to the future. In March 2020, the Joel Hall Dancers were preparing for a concert celebrating …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 10:00AM
Tuesday, June 22, 2021

The Map of Now provides an interactive guide to collaboration with a retro look by Irene Hsiao

"The potential and the sadness and beauty of big empty spaces" inspires Lucky Plush's The Map of Now. For over a year, the Harris Theater has loomed like an abys…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 03:30PM
Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Dee Alaba celebrates her authentic self by Irene Hsiao

Dee Alaba seeks collaborators who celebrate and respect identity. Born in Davao in the Philippines and raised in Des Plaines, Dee Alaba began dancing at the age…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 10:00AM
Monday, May 24, 2021

Chicago Dance Month makes waves for June—and beyond by Irene Hsiao

See Chicago Dance's annual celebration sustains and supports artists and audiences. Chicago Dance Month returns for a ninth time this June with in-person events …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:30PM
Monday, May 3, 2021

Hubbard Street and 10,000 Dreams challenge stereotypes while centering AAPI choreographers by Irene Hsiao

Hubbard Street's Unboxed spills Nutcracker tea; Final Bow for Yellowface builds a dance incubator. Act two: a flute trill hurries over a plodding bassoon, chased…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:45PM
Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Chicago Inclusive Dance Festival offers a base of support for dance and life by Irene Hsiao

This year's CIDF offers three days of workshops and film screenings celebrating everyday movement. "I don't think there's much difference between dance and every…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:45PM
Monday, April 19, 2021

Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre launches a new partnership and a new season—in person and online by Irene Hsiao

CRDT's Wilfredo Rivera finds the past year has "magnified, amplified, and vindicated the work and the focus I've had for the past six seasons." Cerqua Rivera Dan…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:30PM
Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Rika Lin's 'ingenuity of necessity' bridges centuries of tradition by Irene Hsiao

Influences from kabuki and karate inform choreographer Rika Lin's boundary-crossing body of dance work. Black hair. A jilted woman.…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:15PM
Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Still Inspired (?) bridges visual art and dance by Irene Hsiao

Four choreographers use images by Chicago artist Sergio Gomez to create a series of dance films in Still Inspired (?). A figure in black caresses a length of pap…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 03:45PM
Monday, February 22, 2021

The Joffrey unveils a new Boléro by Irene Hsiao

Yoshihisa Arai choreographs a world premiere for Maurice Ravel's hugely popular composition. Winter in a pandemic. The roads obstructed with snow.…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 02:00PM
Thursday, February 11, 2021

Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell takes charge at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago by Irene Hsiao

She's the first company alum to head the 43-year-old ensemble. On February 4, after a yearlong search, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announced the appointment of …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:30PM
Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Old Ways New Tools explores performance "beyond the rectangle" by Irene Hsiao

SAIC's grad students control (and explode) the frame in an online performance festival. The performance department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 01:05PM
Monday, January 25, 2021

Chicago Dance History Project's Interview Marathon talks up a storm by Irene Hsiao

Local and international luminaries provide a "microcosm" of CDHP's archival mission. Chicago Dance History Project commemorates five years of collecting oral his…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:20PM
Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Examining the white spaces in Chicago dance by Irene Hsiao

A community townhall reaffirms the need for communication and representation. On January 7, one day after Georgia’s runoff election resulted in its first Black…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:45PM
Friday, December 18, 2020

Dance in 2020 explored boundaries away from the stage by Irene Hsiao

In a year of loss, artists found momentum and took care. The view is divided by screens and mirrors in Jane Jerardi's delicate hold. Fragmentation by the frame c…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:00PM
Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Ruth Page Center reimagines The Nutcracker for an online audience by Irene Hsiao

A new recorded site-specific production meets the challenges of this COVID year. Every winter it comes: the tunes, the tinsel, the toys—and the tale of Clara, …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:50PM
Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Hubbard Street creates under a changing artistic sky by Irene Hsiao

The company's new dance film project captures the "sea change" of precarious times. Jacqueline Burnett, statuesque, iconic. She stands, as if chiseled into the a…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:40PM
Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Fragmented lives up to its title—for better or worse by Irene Hsiao

The trials of being hapa in America get the callout treatment in this new digital play. “You and I both know that if you leave here and talk shit about this pl…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:00PM
Monday, November 16, 2020

Tamara Cubas honors women who cross borders alone by Irene Hsiao

The Uruguayan-born choreographer and visual artist connects with undocumented women in Pilsen and Little Village for a new work. In a year of minimal mobility, …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 05:15PM
Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Visceral Dance Chicago moves ahead with plans for a new space by Irene Hsiao

Community, inclusion, and diversity form the connective tissue for Nick Pupillo's vision. “My dream was to have a company. My dream was to create a space that …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:00PM
Monday, November 9, 2020

Token Theatre makes its debut with Zac Efron by Irene Hsiao

The 'tragic Asian' love story disappears in this new gay rom-com. Zac Efron: two-time winner of the MTV Movie Award for “best shirtless performance,” four-ti…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 06:20PM
Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Deeply Rooted turns 25 by Irene Hsiao

The company celebrates "possibilities for renewal" in an anniversary concert. Deeply Rooted Dance Theater (DRDT), founded in 1995, has been transitioning for ove…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:50PM
Wednesday, September 30, 2020

CounterBalance brings accessibility to dance by Irene Hsiao

Going online opens more opportunities in this year's festival. “I’ve been a dancer all my life,” says CounterBalance founder Ginger Lane. Trained primarily…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:00PM
Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Moving through KAOS by Irene Hsiao

Rigoberto Saura's new piece for Hedwig Dances documents our current disorientation. “I woke up—I took my costume, I took a bath. That day we were ready.…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:30PM
Tuesday, September 15, 2020

We're Gonna Die offers a poignant portrait of mortality by Irene Hsiao

Theatre Y turns Young Jean Lee's play into an elliptical but moving film project. There’s a video of Young Jean Lee performing her 2011 play We’re Gonna Die …

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 07:10PM
Wednesday, September 9, 2020

96 Hours is popping in lockdown at Links by Irene Hsiao

A livestreamed multidisciplinary festival crosses a wishlist with a treasure hunt. Along with every other performance venue in town, Links Hall went dark in Marc…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 04:00PM
Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Torchy Brown lights way for Litany by Irene Hsiao

Jenn Freeman (aka Po'Chop) probes femininity, gender, rage, and history in a five-part dance film. Small-town girl finds adventure, fame, and love in the big cit…

SOURCE: www.chicagoreader.com at 12:30PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards