324 stories by "Laura Molzahn"
Remembering the dancer, choreographer, cofounder of Links Hall, and former Reader critic
Dancer, choreographer, Reader writer, and real estate salesman Charlie V…
Cathy Marston's staging features brilliant duets, but her take on Charlotte Brontë's classic has some limitations.
Among the great pleasures of 19th-century n…
In the coming months Chicago will host all kinds of dance artists, from international companies to little jewels of the local scene. Among the more unusual offerings: Batsheva Dance Company,…
Over the years, grass-roots warrior Bril Barrett has spread the gospel of tap every chance he gets, making his own way but also paving the way for others. The organization he founded in 2001…
Molly Shanahan has a way of making you question the fundamentals of dance. Is movement conscious or unconscious, voluntary or involuntary? A matter of muscles or mind? Why do different peopl…
"We're looking to make sure we deliver on the promise of a new venue," says Mark Yonally. This weekend, for the first time, he brings Chicago Tap Theatre's "Tidings of Tap!" " an upbeat, fam…
An unusual quantity and quality of vintage dance graced Chicago this year. To name just a few items: the Joffrey's reprises of Sir Frederick Ashton's "Cinderella" and Jiri Kylian's "Forgotte…
It's obvious, in a way, that there's a relationship between sex and dance. But what is it? Certainly some choreographers exploit it, often with a wink. Almost all, even when they seem to ign…
Chicago Dance Crash excels at having fun, at playing. Which isn't as easy as it might sound: To let go and yet venture beyond the silly requires a bit of bite here, a bit of pathos there. It…
"The Nutcracker" is always a big production, literally. But on Election Day, Joffrey Tower was buzzing as never before. And not about the election, despite the artists' campaign T-shirts and…
There's a lot of history bound up in Dance Theatre of Harlem, and not just because it was founded 47 years ago. When the company performed here in 2014, for the first time in many years, it …
With its fall series, Hubbard Street " Chicago's repository of contemporary dance, old and new, American and European " burgeons yet again. And though it sometimes seems all contemporary dan…
Unlike many of us, Brian Brooks looks back to his teen years not only fondly but eagerly. The reason? "I found dance, or dance found me," he says. Choreographing at age 14, three years befor…
If you double down, you're putting yourself out there, throwing down the gauntlet. It's a step beyond the ordinary " exactly what Dorrance Dance has done in "ETM: Double Down," an evening-le…
For years I've been hearing about Tere O'Connor: a choreographer's choreographer, an exemplar of craft and integrity as well as a generous mentor to young artists. He's had a New York compan…
Though restrictions on travel from the United States to Cuba have eased a lot in the past year, trips for the sole purpose of tourism are still prohibited. So why not make things easy on you…
A man lying belly down, arms extended overhead, pulls himself onstage with painful slowness, inching forward as if crawling out of or into something. Gradually we see that there's another ma…
For Chicago artist Barak ade Soleil, the term "disability" describes a "social model," he says, "the construct of oppression brought on by society " not referring to my body per se, but to t…
Maybe it's the season, but Zephyr Dance's "Valise 13" made me think of the ghostly chemistry between buildings and their inhabitants, whose histories threaten to combine and combust. Maybe i…
Nora Chipaumire's "Portrait of Myself as My Father," running at the Dance Center through Saturday, was in full swing when we walked in Thursday, everyone armed with earplugs supplied by the …
Silver confetti raining down like volcanic ash; a guardian in a "Matrix"-style long coat; masked dancers and a (briefly) nude dancer: All appear against a towering diamond-faceted backdrop w…
What a difference a year and a half makes. A bitter presidential race has divided our country " or exposed its divisions " along clear lines in the starkest of terms. And clearly, even once …
During the recent presidential debate, candidates were asked specifically about cyberattacks. Because when it comes to national security, the battlefield is no longer just about troops and b…
Chances are, when you picture two cultures coming together, nothing good springs to mind. Maybe Trump supporters and protesters at the same rally. Maybe Packers and Bears fans at the same ga…
More than most theater companies or music ensembles, dance troupes " especially those focused on contemporary dance or one of its many permutations " are dedicated to the new. From start to …
