Dance Union

Sunday, May 5, DANCE UNION: Sound and Body

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 09:37:00 -0500

How does the body internalize sounds? Curator Ayako Kato with Guest Curators Lauren Warnecke and Russell Weiss, bring together performers for an evening of dance and sound.

DANCE UNION aims to provide time and space for both audience and performers to renew their perspectives on contemporary dance and hopes to connect a path to post-contemporary dance. On Sunday, May 5, DANCE UNION presents Sound and Body. Curated by Russell Weiss and Lauren Warnecke of PRODUCE, and Ayako Kato of DANCE UNION, this event features dance and music from many different approaches and forms, including: a collaboration by The Dance Team, Cara Newman, and HARD R; a quintet choreographed by Kristina Isabelle; and an improvised duet performed by Suzy Grant and Lisa Gonzales.

Artistic collaborators Christopher Knowlton / The Dance Team, Cara Newman, and HARD R will create together to explore themes that arose through improvisation during PRODUCE 2012, a summer music and movement series presented by Art Intercepts. In a score led by Christopher Knowlton and Cara Newman, the semi-structured piece continues to explore the ideas of “group versus individual” that originated in PRODUCE. The dance looks, most importantly, at what happens when the group has to follow one person. What if someone completely doesn’t know any of the movement at that point in the dance? The element of the unknown leads to in-the-moment reactions and decisions that shape not only the movement, but the interactions between the movers and the space they are moving in. HARD R will improvise along with the dancers to create sound for the piece. Costume design by Sara Perez. Performers include: Anna Clarke, Jessica Cornish, Christopher Knowlton, Amanda Pesch, Cara Newman, Samantha Spriggs, Vienna Willems, and Mike Junokas of HARD R

Kristina Isabelle brings Soundscapes #6, a movement and sound exploration that will lead into the development of an evening length work The Floating City, set to premiere in the fall of 2013. Performers for this dynamic quintet include Diana Deaver, Kristina Isabelle, Kalin Morrow, Angela Patmon, and Jessie Young.

Improvisers Suzy Grant and Lisa Gonzales join forces into the unknown in, I’m A Draft!, an improvisation of body and voice.

Lighting Design by Julie Ballard

*Following the performance, the artists and curators will take part in a brief discussion with the audience.

Tickets: $12 or $10 students/seniors in advance or at the door
$20 Tickets for two available online
http://www.fanfueled.com/Event/Details/5486-dance-union-sound-and-body

SUNDAY, MAY 5 at 7:00 pm

Free parking available in lot.

Sunday, 3/3, In the Name of Lunge

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:19:00 -0500

On Sunday, March 3, DANCE UNION presents In the Name of Lunge. Hosted and Curated by Chicago sensation Jyldo, this evening will be a cavalcade of dance from many different approaches and forms.

GRUFF & TUMBLE will perform an all-new Acro duet. Jim Priz and C. Byrne have been Acro partners for almost 2 years. C. performed around the world as a drag king for over 7 years before she became involved in circus. Jim just enjoys throwing people around, which he also does as a member of Asylum stunts, a Chicago-based film and television stunt team.

JOE VARISCO’s storytelling will address his transition of being diagnosed with HIV in Chicago’s queer community. It will be funny. Joe is a documentarian and producer utilizing creative collaborations as a means of building community relationships and deconstructing boundaries. He has spent the last several years in Chicago integrating with queer innovators as the founder of JRV MAJESTY Productions, Creative Director of Chicago IRL, Artistic Assistant to the Youth Empowerment Performance Project (YEPP) and host and curator of monthly performance event LEX·IC·A part of the Salonathon series. His work is informed by social justice educational frameworks via the Broadway Youth Center and Night Ministry. Currently he is conducting an oral history interview series with artists, social activists and leaders throughout the country.

KASEY FOSTER is a mover about town. Her DANCE UNION piece is titled “Dear Rubber Sled, What do we do when there’s no snow?” Check her out in one of these bands: Old Timey, This Must Be the Band, Grood, Dangerous Strangers. Check her out in this upcoming show: The Elephant and the Whale at Chicago Children’s Theater. Check out the talk show she helps produce: The Monthly Visit with Kevin O’Donnell. Check out her choreography at Redmoon’s Lunatique, or at Edgewood Middle School’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, or heck, just check it out right here tonight.

THE RACKETEERS are an all female bike collective experimenting with dance and BMX bikes.

BLAKE RUSSELL will perform On The Origin of Painting is a contemporary adaptation of the Greek myth. Omnes umbra hominis lineis circumducta. This collaboration includes Jessie Winslow (mixed-media visuals), Blake Russell (performance score), and URiEL (sound score) The work premiered at the Salonathon series, and it continues to grow as opportunities arise.

MATTHEW HOLLIS is an excellent jumper known for delighting audiences with his charm.

Dance Union: In the Name of Lunge will be performed in the Fasseas White Box Theater at The Drucker Center, Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls, 1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642 on Sunday, March 3rd at 7 pm.

Admission at the door is $12 for general, $10 for students and seniors and $20 for Tickets for Two (throughFanFueled.com & 7 pairs only). Free Parking right in front of the venue is available.

SUNDAY, 11/4, Dance of Decay: Compositions of Decomposition

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 06:31:00 -0500

On Sunday, November 4th, DANCE UNION presents Dance of Decay: Compositions of Decomposition curated by award winning performance artist & creative practitioner Baraka de Soleil. 3 artists, Onye Ozuzu, Baraka de Soleil with Carolyn Alvarado Castillo, and Anthony Romero, craft physical response works to the theme of decay. Inside these evolving compositions, these contemporary artists experiment with the ephemeral dimensions of life through multimedia, text and ‘undone’ movement explorations. Audience will be invited to migrate, stand, participate and converse with the works, the artists and each other throughout the evening. A witnessing of process & performance illuminated by space, bodies and thoughtful exchange. Baraka writes:

returning to the organic body

three artists explore

dance as decaying

metabolic matter moving from the interiors of muscle memory

impermanence intuited

exuding its beauty within formlessness

a temporal space undoing habitual desires as

flesh

weight

bones

give way

yielding an evolving composition of decomposition.

[please note these are not considered dances but physical response works to the theme of decay]

Performance begins from West Studio and move to the Fasseas White Box Theater at The Drucker Center, Menomonee Club for Boys and GIrls, 1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642 map

Free Parking Available

Admission: $12 general, $10 students/Seniors, and $20 for Tickets for Two (available only 7 pairs through FanFuelded). Tickets are available at the door or: FanFueled.com

Contact: danceunion1 (at) gmail.com, 312-330-4171

on Onye Ozuzu - some of her thoughts:

“A question for us in terms of our bodies right now is about pace. The paradigms have shifted so quickly—I’m no biology or evolutionary expert but the chances that our chromosomal structures are keeping a pace with the impact of digital reality is questionable. I wonder about atrophy. I wonder about us walking around with bodies that are still downloading their chromosomes from genes that are telling them that they’re going to be outside running and engaging with a physical reality but living lives primarily engaged with a digital reality. I wonder about the effect that will have on brain function, on the optimum functioning of the person within the body. Does the body need to move in order to function optimally and, if we’re replacing movement and actual energetic engagement with interaction with electronic objects, then what stimulations are we missing and what price are we paying for missing them?”

a video excerpt of Onye at Ted Talks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCxadUZwMo0

on Baraka de Soleil:

“What I’ve always found most intriguing about the nature of Baraka’s work is the element of questioning & dialogue… hits a visceral thread that evokes discussion from various points of entry - emotional, cultural & political…a vehicle for communal investigation, reflection & healing.” Pene McCourty, arts educator

A creative practitioner, choreographing, directing, performing & crafting works that speak to the expanse of the African diaspora & post-modern tradition for the past two decades. Teaching artist for 18 years at major organizations & institutions across the USA. Consultant to independent artists, arts organizations and neighborhoods for the past 15 years. Curator of multidisciplined exhibits that honor various cultural communities and legacies for the past 12 years. Facilitator of workshop processes that inspire creative flow & collaborative art-making nationally & internationally for the past 10 years. Newly named practitioner of the ‘theatrical jazz aesthetic’. Founder of D UNDERBELLY circa 1997; a network of independent artists of color committed to communal exchange & crafting spaces where the hard & complex conversations on race, body and culture can occur. Through D UNDERBELLY and his practice of performance & process, Baraka seeks to continually develop experimental projects that allow for enlightening discovery and vibrant consciousness.

Carolyn Alvarado Castillo:

Carolyn aka Bgirl The Natural 1, a graduate of Roosevelt University with a B.A. in Sociology, was born in Panama City, Panama. Originally a folkloric ballerina, she was introduced to b-girling in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and quickly fell in love with the hip hop art-form. In pursuit of this love affair, Carolyn moved to Chicago, where she now studies dance full-time. She also supports herself through freelance modeling, performance and seeks to infuse hip hop dance with social justice initiatives in pursuit of socially relevant creative projects.Carolyn currently teaches dance to children and adults throughout the Chicago area and is thrilled to be a member of the hip hop crew Awesome Style Konnection.

Anthony Romero is a writer and performer living and working in Chicago, IL. He graduated with a BA in Art History from Texas State University in 2009 and completed his MFA at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 2011. He has performed and exhibited throughout the United States, most notably at Links Halls and The Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, and OK Mountain in Austin Texas. Most recently he was awarded a DanceBridge residency through The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. His poetry and criticism has been published in ArtWrit Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Poetry Quarterly among others.

Saturday, 7/7 Salon Solarium - dancing to lighting

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:04:00 -0500

Thank you for the artists and members of audience!

Read SeeChicagoDance Review

Read Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice

On Saturday, July 7, Dance Union presents Salon Solarium - dancing to lighting. In celebration of today’s traditional East Asian Star festival, watch as choreographers “meet” lighting in the milky way of murky creation. Francesca Bourgalt’s lighting plot serves as a starting point and crucial informant for each of works this evening by Kate Corby and Dancers, Heather Hartley, RE|Dance Group and The Space / Movement Project. In much the same way as an artist might create movement for music, a story, or a costume, these dancemakers will be creating and performing for or in parallel with light.

Kate Corby & Dancers will present an excerpt from their current project, Passing, an evening-length work exploring mortality, aging, life cycles and death. Collaborating with lighting designer Francesca Bourgault for the entire project, KC& D will use Salon Solarium as a springboard for experimentation with the metaphor of light in relationship to death and dying. http://katecorby.com

Inside & Under by RE|Dance Group (Lucy Riner & Michael Estanich) is inspired by “Music for Egon Schiele” composed by the American chamber music group Rachels. Already rich with a narrative journey about the life of the painter Egon Schiele, the music inspired Estanich to delve into the psychology of Schiele and examine the essence of his canvases by juxtaposing divergent images, energy, and phrasing. Watch past work at: www.redancegroup.com

GLOW by Heather Hartley is a new interdisciplinary and an exploration of the reach for something glorious within ourselves, even in the most mundane of moments. Among the tension and the timeless relationship of the moon and the sun, the piece is about the cycle that keeps us going and trying, and believing in the possibility of brighter days, and mysterious nights. Perseverance furthers. http://www.heatherhartleyweb.com

Great Duet Moments from Heather Hartley on Vimeo.

The Space / Movement Project will present improvisation inspired by Francesca Bourgault’s lighting. thespacemovementproject.org

“Kiss Kiss Missiles” - Dance Center premiere (excerpts) from The Space Movement Project on Vimeo.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault. A discussion will follow.

Saturday May 12, 8PM at the Fasseas White Box Theater at The Drucker Center, Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls MAP　Free Parking available

1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL, 60642

Admission: $12 general, $10 students/seniors, and $20 for Tickets for Two (available only 7 pairs through FunFueled). Tickets are available at the door or: FanFueled.com

Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls is located near the intersection of North Avenue, Clybourn and Halsted. CTA: Red Line North/Clybourn Station (2 min. walk); Halsted #8 Bus to Blackhawk St; or North Ave #72 Bus to Halsted St.

This project is supported in part by the Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls.

Photos: Kate Corby & Dancers by Shomari Montsho, RE|Dance Group by Jessie Young, Heather Hartley by Steve Archer, The Space / Movement Project by William Frederking.

Saturday, 5/12 Dance-in-a-Box

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:43:00 -0500

On Saturday May 12, 8PM, The Dance Union presents a wild and ingenious experiment - Dance-in-a-Box! Months ago, 4 brave and talented Chicago dancemakers were each presented with a box of carefully assembled source-material by May curator Liz Joynt Sandberg to use in the creation of a new work, or to transform an existing work. Join us for an evening of investigation and discovery as we get the first glimpse at what they have created!

Angelica Palomo and Emily Haines along with musicians Gabriel Palomo and Ron Ciesla offer Riding the Zuvuya Wave - improvisational movement inspired by the desire to dance, live music and objects from a box - two bodies riding the Zuvuya wave. Zuvuya is an aztec word which means the connection between the past present and future.

Kimbery Schomburg presents City on the Make - a three-part piece that was developed and inspired by her Dance-In-a-Box contents. There are three related themes: gender identity, Chicago history and environment, and public art. Although there are elements of each theme in each part of the piece, each part has a stronger pull toward one of the themes. During the process of creating choreography, Schomburg visited Chicago landmarks to create movement on location and used historical events to inspire movement.

Ni’Ja Whitson brings held. hold. harvest. Hands that do magic, record trauma, nurture and work act as disembodied griots, tracing legacies of black identities. This experimental performance work explores the simultaneous fear and fascination of the black body by traversing criminalization and romanticism through queered gender and time. The hands function as storytellers, object, and undoer in the telling of dehumanization. Work-in-progress showing. For more on Ni’Ja, like her on facebook and follow her on twitter: http://www.facebook.com/NiJa.Whitson / @NiJaWhitson.

Lindsay Reich and Sarah Gottlieb offer The Oyster, a work in progress that challenges, indulges, and reflects upon the subject of spectacle and feminity. For more on Lindsay’s work, visit www.lareichdance@weebly.com

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault. A discussion will follow.

Saturday May 12, 8PM at the Fasseas White Box Theater at The Drucker Center, Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls MAP

1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL, 60642 (Parking available)

Admission: $12 general, $10 students/seniors, and $20 for Tickets for Two (available only 7 pairs through FunFueled). Tickets are available at the door or: FunFueled.com

This project is supported in part by the Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls.

Photos: Kimbery Schomburg by Andy Schomburg and Ni’Ja Whitson by flybird photography

Saturday, March 3, 2012: Simply Showing

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:34:04 -0600

On Saturday, March 3, Dance Union presents Simply Showing. The evening will feature dance by four divergent choreographers/groups: Amy Lynne Barr, Marie Casimir, Double DJ, and Liz Joynt Sandberg. The only criterion for the artists is to bring a dance of their choice to share (new, reprised, experimental, in-progress, etc…). The evening concludes with a discussion. DANCE UNION creator and curator Ayako Kato is joined by guest curators Liz Joynt Sandberg and Suzy Grant for the Spring/Summer series

Lighting design by Garvin Jellison. A discussion will follow.

Fasseas White Box Theater at The Drucker Center, Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls, 1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL, 60642 (Parking available)

Saturday, March 3rd at 8pm.

Admission: $12 general, $10 students/seniors, and $20 for Tickets for Two. Tickets are available at the door or: http://fanfueled.com/Event/Details/1996-dance-union-simply-showing

Marie Casimir offers dawn / avanjou, a text-based movement piece exploring the rituals and hybridizations between Catholicism and Haitian Vodou as a cultural mark of colonization.

Amy Lynne Barr’s solo work mixes humor, poignancy, and extreme physicality; engaging the audience viscerally, Amy creates work that is intellectual in conception and creation.

Liz Joynt Sandberg uses improvisational dance to address burning questions about secret ingredients, how to grow a lush and vibrant garden, and offers tips for navigating the recipes of Martha Stewart in Best Wishes.

Darlings of the queer performance circuit, Double DJ will share their love and fascination of all-girl musical groups, simultaneously entertaining and calling into question the perception of gender.

This project is supported by a grant from the Puffin Foundation and in part by the Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls.

photos by Lee Klawans, Cheryl Mann

Sat, 12/3 Dance & Theme/Non-Theme II

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:32:00 -0600

Read Review by Sid Smith on SeeChicagoDance

Featuring almost two opposite characteristic results through Jonathan Meyer and Jyl Fehrenkamp, the evening focuses on exhibiting sincere and intelligent approaches to construct dance works and how the dance artists, as a creator and performer, establish the manners to fulfill the goal of their choreography.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault. Dialogue will follow with choreographers and dancers.

8 pm (door opens at 7:45 pm)

North Studio @ The Drucker Center,
Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls map
1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642
(2 min. walk from CTA Red Line North/Clybourn Sta.)

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two (through Brownpapertickets & 7 pairs only!)

Tickets available at the door or FunFueled.com

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Featured works:

Spim by Jonathan Meyer

photo by Jason Page

This work is a study in somatic response to pre-cognitive awareness, an attempt simultaneously to attend to and play with the sensory-perceptual response cycle.

a boating incident (group) andCorey (solo) by Jyl Fehrenkamp

photo by Andrew Nawrocki

a boating incident isset to the yacht rock of Christopher Cross, 5 performers create a playful dance fantasy. Corey is Fehrenkamp’s brief eulogy for once-teen-heart-throb Corey Haim, who died in 2010.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls and Puffin Foundation.

ALive Installation Project at Defibilliator from Fri,10/14-Sat, 10/29

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:09:00 -0500

Please click HERE for details about the project and Defillibiator.

a WALL runs down the middle of DEFIBRILLATOR.

Paired and paralleled side-by-side with a wall between them, two artists present a three-hour performance installation in order to explore the boundaries between dance and performance art.

> October 14 & 15 @ 7PM (Week 1)
dancer: MICHELLE KRANICKE <> performance artist: GIM GWANG CHOEL (Korea)
> October 21 & 22 @ 7PM (Week 2)
dancer: AYAKO KATO collaboration with Edyta Stepien <> performance artist: SANDRINE SCHAEFER (BOSTON)
> October 28 & 29 @ 7PM (Week 3)
dancer: RACHEL BUNTING <> performance artist: LEE BLALOCK

Produced by DANCE UNION and DEFIBRILLATOR

Artist Talk on Sat, 10/15, 2pm at Defibilliator.

Sat, 11/5 Dance & Costume

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:33:00 -0500

Viewing works in different creative stages, artists and audience will have opportunity to wonder about the function and effect of the costume and how it interplay with the dance/movements themselves to begin with and/or finalize the piece. Post-show dialogue will follow.

Lighting by Davin Carroll

8 pm (door opens at 7:45 pm)

Fasseas White Box Theater @ The Drucker Center,
Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls map
1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642
(2 min. walk from CTA Red Line North/Clybourn Sta.)

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two (through Brownpapertickets & 7 pairs only!)

Tickets available at the door or http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/206775

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Featured works:

Hoo-Ha by Darrell Jones

Photo by Dan Merlo

Since 2007, Darrell Jones have worked with collaborators, JSun Howard and Damon Greene, to codify, deconstruct and experiment with recognized voguing vocabularies. This process includes studying traditional voguing techniques and the influential disciplines that contribute to the widening voguing aesthetic. In this excerpt of Hoo-Ha (twister pumps breakdown) you will get a glimpse into their new explorations around Ritual Feminized Performance, a term Jones has coined todescribe the broad canon of movement forms they are presently engaged in.

Pier by enidsmithdance

Photo by Matt Glavin

Pier is an abstract movement interpretation of artist Andrew Rauhauser’s icescape oil paintings. To view these paintings, visit:

www.arauhauser.com.

Incidents II (work in progress) by Ayako Kato/Art Union Humanscape

Interweaving improvisational and compositional approaches, the piece explores to represent microcosmic reality through physical experience to testify the identical essence in dual notions from east and west: “absence of absolute” and “absolute.”

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls and Puffin Foundation.

Sat, 10/8 Dance & Video

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:29:00 -0500

By paralleling “video in dance” and “dance in video,” the evening will focus on how both forms can expand their artistic potential of one another. In the post-show dialogue, the members of the audience will be able to hear the inner story of video artist Petra Bachmaier, Luftwerk working with Hedwig Dances and Carl Wiedemann working with BONEdanse about the collaboration process and decision making: namely artistic chemical aspects of working together with dance. Lighting by Francesca Bourgault.

8 pm (door opens at 7:45 pm)
Fasseas White Box Theater @ The Drucker Center,
Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls map
1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642
(2 min. walk from CTA Red Line North/Clybourn Sta.)

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two (through FanFueled & 7 pairs only!)

Tickets available at the door or

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Featured Works:

Space Within (work in progress) by Hedwig Dances

The creative team of sculptor Barbara Cooper, choreographer Jan Bartoszek and video artist Petra Bachmaier give their second public showing of a work-in-progress entitled Space Within. Based on the concept of sanctuary, Space Within builds on a primal need in human beings for transcendent space. Developing upon this idea of inner space, the work explores the dichotomies between folding/unfolding and concealing/revealing.

Danse Skitz by BONEdanse + A Poetic Improvisation live solo by Atalee Judy

Practicing random acts of dance, BONEdanse created their weekly Summer series of short online videos called Danse Skitz all filmed at site specific locations around Chicago. Committing to a regimen of weekly site specific shoots, the 12 Danse Skitz range from dirty gravel full of bird droppings, to sandy beaches. BONEdanse scoured the city of Chicago for inspiring locations to perform, improvise, and make a tiny little mark that “art was here”. BONEdanse Artistic Director, Atalee Judy reflects, ” I really scaled down the preparation & set-up for each Skitz to give into the fact that when you’re shooting guerrilla style, you just have to make it happen on the fly. I intentionally set myself time limits and kept my expectations low to let those happy accidents, and the stuff out of my control, abound.”

BONEdanse features Danse Skitz performances by Janna Barta, Anita Fillmore, Atalee Judy & Mindy Meyers.

To view all the 12 Danse Skitz go to www.bonedanse.com or our YouTube Video Channel at: youtube.com/ataleebreakbone

Company/Artist Bios:

HEDWIG DANCES is a contemporary dance theater ensemble celebrating its 27th year under the artistic direction of its founder, award-winning choreographer Jan Bartoszek. Named after Ms. Bartoszek’s paternal grandmother, Hedwig Dances’ bold, interdisciplinary collaborations combine poetic choreography with sculptural artifacts, projected images and haunting original music. The resulting dances resonate with complexity and depth and provoke emotion, connection and wonder. As the dance company-in-residence at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hedwig Dances reaches out into the community through public performances, collaborations and dance education. www.HedwigDances.Org

Jan Bartoszek is the founder and artistic director of Hedwig Dances. Her artistic credentials include eight choreography fellowships from the Illinis Arts Council and one from the NEA, decades of creating high quality dance, mentoring of numerous artists and a leadership role in making dance a vital force at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Barbara Cooper works fluidly between sculpture and drawing. She received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and her MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Cooper recently completed public art commissions for the Avalon Library in Chicago and the Chicago Transit Administration, and the Rhode Island Airport in Providence. A Chicago resident, Cooper has received three Illinois Arts Council Fellowships.

Petra Poul Bachmaier and her husband Sean Gallero formed their company luftwerk to envision and create multi-sensory video and projection experiences. They engage in designing environments that allow for video imagery to become sculptural, and in transforming a space into a moving canvas of fleeting images, where internal realities and external fields playfully overlap. Ms. Bachmaier graduated with a BFA in performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg, Germany.

BONEdanse is an experimental dance company based in Chicago who creates challenging and stimulating dance theater that excavates the tropes found within the human experience. Founded in 1997, BONEdanse (AKA Breakbone DanceCo) is celebrating 14 years of their highly theatrical multimedia works that make strong statements which challenge those who perceive dance as an aesthetic reprieve to one of a powerful reactionary movement rebellion. With a BA in Dance Performance & Choreography with Honors in Outstanding Achievement from Columbia College Chicago, founder/artistic director Atalee Judy is recognized for bold, unconventional works charged with a punk rock intensity and an honest use of gravity. She is the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Fellowships, a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Grant, the Chicago Dance Music Alliance’s Elizabeth F. Cheney Dance Achievement Award, and since 2003, she has served as an Artist-in-Residence with The Chicago Moving Company at Hamlin Park. She has toured extensively in the US as well as internationally to Europe, Russia, Canada & Mexico.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls and Puffin Foundation.

Photo: Hedwig Dances by Jan Bartoszek, BONEdanse by Chrystyne

Sat, 9/10 Why Improvise & Why not?

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:36:00 -0500

The evening will feature two music & dance improvisation duos: Jennifer Monson, dance & Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello, as advocators and highly-respected practitioners of improvisation over decades and Frank Rosaly, drums & Ayako Kato, dance, as the followers of the genre for the past decade. Through performance and post-show dialogue, the event releases questions to reaffirm unlimited potential of improvisation by revealing the complexity and simplicity of their approaches. They will present quartet in the end.

Lighting by Francesca Bourgault.

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two

Available at the door or Brown Paper Tickets

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Artists:

Jennifer Monson has been pursuing an original approach to experimental dance forms in NYC since 1983 when she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. In that time she has created a wide body of work that incorporates well-developed collaborative relationships with many artists including Zeena Parkins, DD Dorvillier, Yvonne Meier and David Zambrano. Her solo work has been presented at many venues in the US, Australia, Europe, Latin America and Tanzania. Major works years include The Pigeon Project (2000); The Glint (1998); Sender (1997); La Mer (1995); Tackle Rock (1993); and Ursa’s Door (1990). Her project BIRD BRAIN (2000-2006) includes the theatrical work Flight of Mind (2005) and four migratory tours: Gray Whales (Spring 2001); Ospreys (Fall 2002); Ducks and Geese (Spring 2004); and Northern Wheatears (Fall 2009). She recently completed iMAP/Ridgewood Reservoir, a year-long research and performance practice in an abandoned reservoir in NYC.? ?Monson has received several awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003), a Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art Fellowship (1998), National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowships (1989, 1992, 1993-95, 1995-97), and the New York Foundation for the Arts Artists Fellowship (1989,1998). She has been awarded two New York Dance and Performance Awards (“BESSIE’s”) for Sender and for sustained achievement in the dance field in 1997 and for BIRD BRAIN in 2006. Monson is founder and artistic director of iLAND-interdisciplinary Laboratory of Art Nature and Dance. www.ilandart.org

Fred Lonberg-Holm is an improvisor and composer living in Chicago. Principle projects include his Valentine trio, Seval, Stirrup, and the Lightbox Orchestra. He is also a member of The Peter Broetzmann Chicago 10tet, Joe McPhee’s Survival Unit III, Friction Brothers and Fast Citizens. Improvisors he has worked with include Clare Cooper, Charlotte Hug, Andrea Neumann, Shelly Hirsch, Carrie Shull,Jaimie Branch, Carrie Biolo, Birgitte Uhler, Rachel Wadham, Mary Halverson, Joelle Leandre, Joanne Powers, Zeena Parkins, Judy Dunaway, Lotte Anker as well as a number of guys. He has recorded solo records for the Emanem and FlyingAspidistra labels. Over the years he has been credited for work on dozens of jazz, rock, pop, contemporary classical and country records, including those by The Boxhead Ensemble, Wilco, Freakwater, Vandermark 5, US Maple, Guillermo Gregorio, God Is My Co-Pilot, Anthony Coleman, Kaki King, Jim O’Rourke, Bobby Conn, The Flying Luttenbachers, ZU…http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fred-Lonberg-Holm/33236290444?ref=ts

Frank Rosaly, a drummer and composer currently living in Chicago, is a staple of the Free Music and Free Jazz scenes. Currently active in many projects throughout Chicago, as well as New York and in Europe, Rosaly has been navigating a fine line between the vibrant improvised music, indie-rock, experimental and jazz communities for the past decade. He contributes much of his time to performing with groups too numerous to mention in full, but have included Matana Robert’s Chicago Project, Rob Mazurek’s Mandarin Movie, The Rempis Percussion Quartet, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten Quintet, Jeff Parker/Nels Cline Quartet, Josh Abrams Remindring, Fred Lonberg-Holm’s Valentine Trio, and performances with the likes of Ken Vandermark, Michael Zerang, Von Freeman, Peter Brotzmann, Anthony Coleman, and many, many others. While not attending to his national and international touring demands, Rosaly organizes the Ratchet Series, a weekly showcase of creative music at the Skylark in Chicago, and dedicates himself to his own compositions. www.frankrosaly.com

Ayako Kato is a dancer and choreographer who hails from Yokohama, Japan. Kato’s experimental dance aims at realizing the absence of absolute/the mare absolute moment of being through human anatomy, energy and image. She established Art Union Humanscape (AUH) with double bassist Jason Roebke in 1998 and has been collaborating with musicians and artists extensively in the U.S., Japan and Europe. In December 2011, she was selected as one of 14 indispensable female artists, The Dynamic Women of Chicago Dance in 2010 in Time Out Chicago. Fall 2010, AUH++, an expanded version of the group, performed in the opening program of Chicago Jazz Festival at Jay Pritzker Pavilion of Millennium Park. Summer 2010, Kato also premiered fifty-one minute dance-piano duo Dear BACH - Goldberg Variations with pianist Ayako Yoshioka in Tokyo, Japan. In 2009, her recent video collaboration, Maria’s List, was featured at WTTW Image Union and she was also selected for “People to Watch” in dance in Chicago Reader. She has been studying anatomy and Ideokinesis with Irene Dowd since winter 2007, largely supported by CAAP grant (2009 - 2011). Since fall 2010, she is an artist in residence at Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Theater as part of Chicago Moving Company’s Dance Shelter Program. She is an organizer of the dance series Dance Union, formally Epiphany Dance Experiment, since November 2008. www.artunionhumanscape.net

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls and Puffin Foundation.

Photo: Jennifer Monson by Alex Escalante, Fred Lonberg-Holm by Vanita Joe Monk, Frank Rosaly by Josh Tillinghast, Ayako Kato by Yuriko Ohkubo

Sat, 7/9 Simply Showing

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:26:00 -0500

On Saturday, July 9th, Dance Union presents Simply Showing. The evening will feature freshly emerging choreographers and introduce their new approaches to dance works.

Featured Artists:

Quiet Groove by Karla Beltchenko

Quiet Groove is inspired by the silent barrier and protective shield winter brings to the soul. The women and music of Motown inspired the movement aesthetic of the work.

Does Anybody Recognize Me? by Liz Joynt Sandberg

A little boy is at the movies with his parents. He leaves the theater while the movie is playing to go to the bathroom and when he returns, he realizes that he has no idea where his family is sitting in the crowded space. He can’t find them. It occurs to him all of a sudden - a terrific and bold idea - that he could walk down the aisle and yell “Does Anybody Recognize Me?” This monumental shift - instantaneous - brilliant - flexible - is the start of something radical. A new way that starts with being exactly where we are and conferring boundless trust to each other that we will be seen - recognized and made in a place.

Lips of Their Fingers (excerpt) by Lizzie Leopold

Lips of Their Fingers grows out of the historic tradition of pantomime in dance. With a musical score that includes the Beastie Boys, Lips brings new meaning to the phrase “body language.”

Untitled by Jennifer Lorraine

Former RTG Dance member Jennifer Lorraine exhibits a collaboration piece with local designer Anne Novotany.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

A discussion will follow.

8 pm (door opens at 7:45 pm)
Fasseas White Box Theater @ The Drucker Center,
Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls
1535 N. Dayton St. Chicago, IL 60642
(2 min. walk from CTA Red Line North/Clybourn Sta.)

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two

Available at the door or Brown Paper Tickets

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photo (from the top): Karla Beltchenko by Eddie Eng, Think Dance Collective by Matthew Joynt, Leopold Group by Arn Klein

Sat, 6/4 Dance & Theme/Non-Theme

Wed, 04 May 2011 01:14:00 -0500

On Saturday, June 4th, Dance Union presents Dance & Theme/Non-Theme. The evening will offer viewers to ponder how having theme/non-theme interrelated with the creative processes and how each dance work out-come looks different. And we question: what theme means to dance.

Featured Works:

Lunch (a work-in-progress) by Winifred Haun

Lunch uses images and movements of people standing in line at a lunch counter/cafeteria to explore (in an abstract way) how and why we all get our lunch. The work is for 7 dancers and features miniature furniture that the dancers manipulate and toss around.

This is A Damage Manual (an excerpt) by BONEdanse Excavation

BONEdanse performs This is a Damage Manual a trove of lessons culled from instruction manuals and old vinyl Self Help records. Dancers Janna Barta, Anita Fillmore, Atalee Judy & Mindy Meyers offer bits of wisdom, questionable advice, and anecdotes to create moving dichotomies. Dance Critic Laura Molzahn remarks “clever, entertaining dance theater has always been Judy’s métier, and here she lets fly her dark sense of humor. Judy uses audio selections from what sound like 50s-era self-improvement records to underscore the humor and heartbreak of human striving. The movement transforms them from super-serious to silly and bizarrely upbeat.”

Meandering at Dusk by Carleen Healy

After different improvised and choreographed projects for the past 8 years, Carleen Healy and Julieann Graham who have been occasionally working together will perform improvisation.

A discussion moderated by Julia Mayer follows.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

Tickets: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors, $20 Tickets for Two

Available at the door or Brown Paper Tickets

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photo (from the top): Winifred & Dancers by Cheryl Mann, BONEdanse by Carl Wiedemann, Carleen Healy by Nick Grutz

Sat, 3/5 Words/Text & Movement

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:15:00 -0600

On Saturday, March 5th, Dance Union presents Words/Text & Movement. The evening exhibits what types of relationships between movements and words/text exist.

Featured Works:

See What You Believe (excerpt) by Molly Jaeger

See What You Believe is the feedback loop between imagination, text & movement: the presence of the body in motion inspires voice and spoken text cuts through movement in an exploration of the role of language in shaping perspective. The full length piece will debut at Links Hall in April as part of the Link Up residency.

What can I say by ology dance/Melissa Mallinson

The piece was created by choreographer Melissa Mallinson in collaboration with a local poet. Developed through an exchange of text and videos of choreography over the course of several months, this work explores identity, self-consciousness, struggle and support.

Every Handshake, Every Kiss, Every Birth, Every Word (excerpt) by Szewai Lee

The piece is a dance theater project that is inspired by Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams, a collage of fictional stories about worlds with differing experiences and interpretations of time. The work depicts facing the inevitable changes in life and recalls how we deal with loss, accept the unexpected and capture drifting moments in time.

The Power of Cheese by David Lakein

Over the last decade, the phrase “the power of cheese” has frequently popped up in his improvised performances. There seems to be an ardent drawn-to-each-other attraction; the words appear to have some as-of-yet unknown importance in his life. The piece is the inaugural installment of Les Études Profondes, his new solo performance series.

A discussion moderated by Lisa Gonzales will follow.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photo (from the top): Molly Jaegar by Molly Jaeger, ology dance by Kristie Kahns, Szewai Lee by Amanda McAlister, David Lakein by Geoffray Bourdais

Sat, 2/5 On Movement

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:49:00 -0600

On Saturday, February 5th, Dance Union presents On Movement. The evening exhibits different philosophies on what and how different types of movement are experimented, generated and determined by choreographers.

Featured Works

The Fat Lady Sings: An Opera in Three Acts by Lauren Warnecke

Three women voyage on journeys of self-discovery that inadvertently intersect and mirror one another in an exploration of self-image, envy, imitation and the drive to perfection.

Recurrence Plot by The Space Movement Project (“TSMP”)

The newest development in TS/MP’s signature collaborative process disperses the role of artistic director into equal shares between all seven members. In mapping out a collective compulsion to control, calculate and drive the formulation of a dance, dancer/choreographers learn that predictability is illusive.

Take It! by 3 card molly (Ania Greiner and Liz Winfield)

An investigation of the relationship between authorship and objectivity, a familiar story and the residue of a moment.

Bonsai #5 by Emily Stein

Bonsai #5 is part of a series of dances based in Emily Stein’s interest in the science of emergence. This trio, specifically engages the dancers’ abilities as interpreters of set movement, improvisers and ensemble members. As in nature, the form of thedance develops complexity from a set of simple rules, which involve both improvised and set movements, so that each time it is performed it is a unique iteration and yet has a clear and recognizeable identity.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

A discussion will follow.

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photo (from the top): The Fat Lady Sings: An Opera in Three Acts by Eddie Eng, TSMP by Trever Johnson, Take It! by Liz Winfield, Bonsai #5 by Nadia Oussenko

Sat, 1/8 Politics & Dance

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:28:00 -0600

Chicago Tribune Review by Sid Smith

SeeChicagoDance Review by Laura Molzahn

Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice by Laura Molzahn

On Saturday, January 8th, Dance Union presents Politics & Dance as its forth event. The evening focuses on how choreographers address political issues through the art of movement and explore the potential to deal with them.

Featured Works

IAR 93 Vultur by Antibody Dance (Adam Rose)

The IAR 93 Vultur was a Romanian military aircraft developed in the 1970’s, and is now retired. The choice of its name for the title of this dance was made for numerological and symbolic impact. The dance is an investigation of the military-occult complex.

Abbot & Viv: The Prelude by RE|Dance (Lucy Riner and Michael Estanich)

Abbot & Viv conjures the outline of a story—a man and woman trapped, blinded, and invigorated by their love for each other. But how does the world around them influence their bond?

The Ladies Ring Shout (excerpt) by The Ladies Ring Shout (F. Holman, A. Johnson & M. McNeal)

The Ladies Ring Shout is a sounding ground and witness space acknowledging the roadblocks and pressures experienced by females of color. Tackling topics such as gender representation, trauma, ways of nurturing, achieving work-life balance and finding contemporary spirituality, the Ladies Ring Shout invites today’s women to shift and heal their own perceptions of personal power through creativity. Using a combination of spoken word, movement, and an original soundtrack the work meditates on four frames we integrate into our lived realities - the statistics and sociological condition of women of color, our mundane everyday acts, the codes and rules we are disciplined into, and the myths we conjure to imagine our future possibilities.

z by Ayako Kato

z examines the contradictory characters of the personnel who seeks salvation.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

A discussion will follow.

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photo: Antibody Dance by Ketherine Harvath, RE|Dance by John Morser, The Ladies Ring Shout by Kahli Nommo, Ayako Kato by Yuriko Ohkubo

Sat, 12/4 Simply Showing

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 13:36:00 -0600

Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice by Laura Molzahn

SeeChicagoDance Review by Laura Molzahn

On Saturday, December 4th, Dance Union presents Simply Showing as its third event. The evening features a range of performers from freshly emerging to award winning choreographers exhibiting what they are currently working on in the same field of “dance”.

Featured Works

OosImaginary by Lisa Frank

OosImaginary is an interdisciplinary performance ensemble which focuses primarily on the interplay between improvisational music and movement. Their collaborative process places equal emphasis on rigorous physical training, hybridizing forms, & engaging with the present. Tonight’s performance will explore the possibilities of narrative and storytelling within an improvisational structure.

even sometimes when i can’t see you by Suzy Grant & Rocco Granite

Suzy moves in relation to identity led to the creation of Rocco Granite. Rocco emerged in October of 2009 as an exploration of gender, sex, racial identity, celebrity, and appearance. This piece explores celebrity, memory, and perception.

March of the Oys by The Moving Architects

Choreographer Erin Carlisle Nortonpresents the piece with music by Frank Rosaly.

Paper Shoes by The Humans

Choreographer Rachel Bunting presents an excerpt of an evening-length dance/performance work to be performed next year as a culmination of The Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Grant.

Lighting design by Francesca Bourgault.

A discussion will follow.

Chicago Reader Critic’s Choice

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

Photos (from top): Lisa Frank by Sean Dorgan, Suzy Grant by Ryan Bourque, The Moving Architects by Peter McCullough, The Humans by Rachel Bunting

Sat, 11/6 Noise & Movement

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:51:00 -0500

Read Review by Zac Whittenburg of Time Out Chicago

Selected for Five Things to do Saturday on Time Out Chicago

Dance Union presents Noise & Movement as its second event. In the evening, the show exhibits the different physical interpretation of noise in the spectrum of contemporary social and mental condition by different performers. The event questions about establishing a genre.

Dancers: Justin Deschamps, Kristina Fluty, Carleen Healy, Szewai Lee, Carole McCurdy, Michel Rodriguez, Adam Rose

Noise music by Green Pasture Happiness: Daniel Fandiño, Brian Labycz, Aaron Zarzutzki. Lighting design by Chris Wooten.

sound sample from WNUR: http://airplay.wnur.org/?p=1548

A discussion will follow.

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

*Parking is available. Ask Menomonee front desk in case it’s full. Other location will be assigned.

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

photo (from top):

Carleen Healy by Nadia Oussenko

Adam Rose by Katherine Harvath

Aaron Zarzutzki by Tom Deater

Sat, 10/9 Improvisation & Score/Scenario

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:22:00 -0500

Selected for Five Things to do Saturday on Time Out Chicago

There are many ways of incorporating a “score” or a “scenario” into a dance work. Sometimes called structured improvisation, dancers use their connection to sound, space, and structure in varying ways and to differing degrees to create a unique dance work on the spot. In this performance, three dancers and four musicians listen deeply and step into physical and sound experiments as they explore ways of being in the moment. A discussion will follow. This is Dance Union’s kick-off event as series.

Dance: Lisa Gonzales, Julia Mayer, Ayako Kato
Music: Josh Berman, cornet; Jason Stein, bass clarinet; Brian Labycz, electronics, Jason Roebke, double bass

+ post or in-show talk

Lighting Design: Francesca Bourgault

Tickets available at the door: $12 General, $10 Students/Seniors

Dance Union is supported in part by Menomonee Club for Boys and Girls. www.menomoneeclub.org

photo by Karen D. Mayer