All stories by Sharon Hoyer on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Breaking Bounds: River North Dance Chicago’s Hanna Brictson Pushes the Limits by Sharon Hoyer

Hanna Brictson grew up in River North Dance Chicago, first as a student, starting at the age of twelve, then as a company member straight out of high school, eventually working her way up t…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:43AM
Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Preview: Urban Bush Women/Dance Center of Columbia College by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, inspired by her upbringing in an African-American neighborhood of Kansas City, founded her all-female company to give voice to the disenfranchised, partic…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:45AM
Monday, March 16, 2015

Mapping Power: Carrie Hanson and The Seldoms Unpack Postures of Dominance in “Power Goes” by Sharon Hoyer

By Sharon Hoyer Whether addressing climate crisis, as in the 2012 “Exit Disclaimer: Science and Fiction Ahead,” the economic meltdown and Keynesian theory, as in the 2011 “Stupormarket…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Monday, March 9, 2015

Preview: Hubbard Street Dance/Harris Theater by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The name Gustavo Ramirez Sansano can bring pangs to those who were busy developing an addiction to his work at the helm of Luna Negra Dance Theater, both as artistic director—i…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:17AM
Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Preview: Chicago Inspired/Thodos Dance Chicago by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Thodos Dance’s winter concert at the Harris gathers short rep pieces from a half dozen Chicago-based choreographers, including a new work by founder Melissa Thodos. The program…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:11AM
Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Preview: It’s About Love Again This Year/RE|Dance Group by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Michael Estanich’s newest creation for RE|Dance glides on gentle waves of sweet nostalgia and romance, ruffled at points by eddies of humor and the chop of desire. Dancers…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:07AM
Monday, March 2, 2015

Preview: Alonzo King LINES Ballet/Harris Theater by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The power, reedy elegance and remarkable precision of LINES Ballet returns to the Harris in two weeknight programs. On Wednesday, the San Francisco-based company participates in …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:03AM
Monday, February 23, 2015

Preview: Grupo Corpo/Auditorium Theatre by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Brazil’s Grupo Corpo visits Chicago for the first time, adding some welcome fire to our cold winter months. The brothers Rodrigo and Paulo Pederneiras have created a muscular m…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Friday, February 13, 2015

Review: Unique Voices/Joffrey Ballet by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED “Unique Voices,” at the Auditorium Theatre, adds three strong contemporary pieces to the Joffrey rep in a program that strikes a gratifying balance between classicism…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:27PM
Monday, February 2, 2015

Preview: Stardust/David Roussève/REALITY by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED In David Roussève’s tender new work, the fragmented, abbreviated language of texting becomes the building material of a story that is at once funny, sad and deeply humane. The…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:35AM
Monday, January 26, 2015

Preview: Giordano Dance Chicago/Auditorium Theatre by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The Auditorium Theatre’s “Made in Chicago” series—part of the programing for the 125th anniversary season—has opened the historic, gold-rimmed stage to a couple hometow…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:21AM
Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Preview: Song of Eva Peron/Tango Buenos Aires by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED As a dance form based on the most subtle, understated, imperceptibly small communication between lead and follow, Argentine tango doesn’t necessarily lend itself to perfor…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Monday, January 19, 2015

Voices Through Time: Erica Mott Gives a Multimedia History Lesson on Female Worker Rights by Sharon Hoyer

Erica Mott’s love for performance blossomed from her work in international development and foreign diplomacy. “I was working on microeconomics and microlending in Latin America,” she s…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:54AM
Friday, January 16, 2015

Preview: Nexus Project with Ben and Michel/Dovetail Studios by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED When asked how Nexus Project performances are structured, Ben Wardell pulls a stack of little, hand-torn slips of paper from his pocket. On the floor of the rehearsal studio, he …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 12:00PM

Preview: Restless Creature/Wendy Whelan by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Two years ago, in an extended interview with Alejandro Cerrudo about the premiere of his first evening-length work, the conversation momentarily turned to a side project he had b…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:16AM
Monday, December 15, 2014

Muscle Memory: Mad Shak Investigates How We Forget by Sharon Hoyer

Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak’s ongoing “Stamina of Curiosity” project dives deep into the underwater caves that form when one person performs for another, and her curiosity uncovers phenome…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:31AM
Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Preview: Dances for the Underground/The Seldoms, Peter Carpenter, Kate Corby & Dancers by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The Seldoms share the bill for two weekends at Links Hall, presenting the first chapter of a new work by the company’s intellectually driven artistic director Carrie Hanson. �…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Friday, December 5, 2014

Preview: Nutcracker/Joffrey Ballet by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The Joffrey presents five programs throughout their season, showing works by about a dozen leading choreographers of past and present, but there’s one show that keeps the l…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 04:00PM
Monday, December 1, 2014

Preview: Princess Grace Awards: New Works/Hubbard Street Dance by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Princess Grace Awards are distributed each year to emerging artists of formidable talent in the fields of dance, film and theater (one measure of Chicago’s strong and growing d…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:00AM
Monday, November 24, 2014

Preview: Made in Chicago/Thodos Dance Chicago by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Adler and Sullivan’s dazzling landmark Auditorium Theatre turns 125 this year, and part of the celebratory programming is a welcome “Made in Chicago” music and dance serie…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:19AM
Monday, November 17, 2014

Preview: Bread & Butter/Cristina Tadeo and Nicholas Davio by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The collaboration between dancer Cristina Tadeo and sound designer Nicholas Davio openly discusses the invisible hand in the arts that dictates whose work is seen, where and by …

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 11:58AM
Friday, November 14, 2014

Americans on the Stage: Dance Theatre of Harlem Returns to Chicago by Sharon Hoyer

By Sharon Hoyer The Dance Theatre of Harlem was established in 1969, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. Arthur Mitchell, the first black principal dancer with the New Yor…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:18AM
Monday, November 3, 2014

Beauty in Difference: Heidi Latsky Dance Returns to Chicago by Sharon Hoyer

By Sharon Hoyer Heidi Latsky is a New York-based modern choreographer who works with mixed-ability dancers to create pieces that investigate and celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of the in…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:00AM
Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Preview: 25th Anniversary Season/Jump Rhythm Jazz Project by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Movement is personal. Our bodies and the way we inhabit them is integral to our identity, our sense of self. And for Billy Siegenfeld, founder of the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, pe…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:57AM
Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Preview: Giordano Dance Chicago/Harris Theater by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED The headlining piece in Giordano’s fall program is a commission from Broadway and television choreographer Ray Leeper. Leeper makes commercial dances for music videos and TV da…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:51AM
Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A Bigger Sandbox: Hubbard Street Dance and The Second City Play Together by Sharon Hoyer

Two tremendously gifted groups of craftspeople working in different mediums have joined their toolboxes and been set loose in one of the biggest workshop playgrounds in the city. A massive a…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:37AM
Friday, October 10, 2014

Review: River North Dance Chicago/Harris Theater by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED “I was surprised,” choreographer Ivan Perez said when I asked how it was to work with the dancers of River North Dance Chicago. “They’re very jazz-based and I was surpris…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:45AM
Monday, October 6, 2014

Preview: Trade Winds & Aires de Cambio/Hedwig Dances and DanzAbierta by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED A long-growing partnership between Jan Bartoszek, founder and director of Hedwig Dances, and Susana Pous, resident choreographer of the Havana-based DanzAbierta, comes to fruitio…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:42AM
Friday, October 3, 2014

Preview: Rosas danst Rosas/MCA Stage by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED “Rosas danst Rosas” is a dance out of time. Even though Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker created it thirty years ago at the tender age of twenty-four, the quietly captivating piec…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:59AM
Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Preview: All-American Celebration/American Ballet Theatre by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED Our country’s highest-profile ballet company returns to the Auditorium Theatre with a performance of works by American choreographers from the American century. Two pieces by T…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 10:56AM
Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Preview: Stories in Motion/Joffrey Ballet by Sharon Hoyer

RECOMMENDED To whet audience appetites for the fall season, the Joffrey presents a special one-weekend amuse of short narrative ballets. Two pieces are from the Joffrey rep: Antony Tudor’s…

SOURCE: Newcity Stage at 09:20AM