300 stories by "Laura Molzahn"
"I want to steer my art form for myself and where I'm at in my life right now," says Wendy Whelan, the recently retired New York City Ballet dancer who's come to define the contemporary ball…
When performance approaches real life, does that make it better or worse? In life, storytelling is messy, often confusing, filled with digressions and interruptions, with points over-elabora…
Some top-notch talent slated for Chicago last winter never made it here " and not because of the weather. This winter promises familiar names, rescheduled, plus familiar faces returning and …
Some top-notch talent slated for Chicago last winter never made it here " and not because of the weather. This winter promises familiar names, rescheduled, plus familiar faces returning and …
Eric Eatherly, a much-loved and much-respected figure in Chicago's arts community, who served as dancer, dance journalist and arts publicist, died Monday in Tennessee. He was 35.
The distinguishing characteristic of Molly Shanahan's choreography is that it has no distinguishing characteristics. Or, more accurately, it's distinguished by its flow, its lack of demarcat…
The sheer number of bang-up performances in 2014, though wonderful in itself, makes the task of deciding on the best of them especially torturous. National and international artists brought …
The shutdown of Luna Negra Dance Theater in spring 2013, after nearly 15 years in operation, felt abrupt despite the rumblings that preceded its disappearance. Gustavo Ramirez Sansano had di…
"It's a pleasure to bring these new voices into the studio, get the right people in the room, then watch the magic happen," says Terence Marling, former Hubbard Street performer and rehearsa…
Proximity to the stage is an often-unacknowledged factor in performance. Those main stage seats cost more for a reason: The action is up close and personal.
Dancers move, right? They don't talk. Yet Chicago is home to a generous handful of choreographers whose funny, pointed text-laced works not only entertain but instruct, generally without any…
Let's face it: However lovely as holiday confectionery, "The Nutcracker" is sadly lacking in drama. The Act II divertissements are just the most obvious and official of the ballet's many, ma…
Let's face it: However lovely as holiday confectionery, "The Nutcracker" is sadly lacking in drama. The Act II divertissements are just the most obvious and official of the ballet's many, ma…
So, you want to take the family to "The Nutcracker." If you have little dancers of your own, your choice is probably made. But if not, or if you want to branch out, where to go? Timing, loca…
Dance Theatre of Harlem has risen from the dead with stunning aplomb and force. It's not a miracle, though, except perhaps of perseverance and hard work. When the company announced a yearlon…
If you build it, they will come: That's the hope of many dance artists. But choreographer/entrepreneur Nick Pupillo has proved especially adept at making his wish come true.
It's an ingenious idea: Create an evening-length ballet about the progenitor of ballet, Louis XIV, and his most frequent collaborator, composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
It's an ingenious idea: Create an evening-length ballet about the progenitor of ballet, Louis XIV, and his most frequent collaborator, composer Jean-Baptiste Lully.
Applause seemed a trivial response to an experience as profoundly disturbing as Khecari's "Oubliette," Jonathan Meyer's Beckettian exercise in the elemental and the empathic. Thoughtful, bea…
DANCE REVIEW: "Oubliette" by Khecari dance ★★★★
DANCE REVIEW: "Oubliette" by Khecari dance ★★★★
"Having people with disabilities is like having a new color as a painter to add to your palette," says choreographer Heidi Latsky. "How does that change the art, make it stronger? Incorporat…
Sometimes very good things come in small packages. The Dance COLEctive's unassuming but decidedly artful "Holding Ground" is a short program of three short, pared works. They lay it on the l…
If you've ever seen the New Zealand All Blacks' pre-game "haka," you'd probably call it a war dance.
Making its Chicago debut, Beijing Dance Theater offers proof positive that good dancing doesn't necessarily mean good dance.
DANCE REVIEW: 'come, been and gone' at MCA Chicago ★★★
DANCE REVIEW: 'come, been and gone' at MCA Chicago ★★★
