The New 411
By Raymond Ward, Chicago Crusader
Thodos Dance Chicago’s 2015-16 season continues with Chicago Revealed, an innovative evening of new and diverse works by established artists from the city’s vibrant dance community, motivated by the rich, cultural landscape of the city of Chicago, and celebrating the American voice in contemporary dance.
Thodos Dance’s Chicago Revealed concerts are Saturday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard in Skokie. Tickets are $28-$50. For tickets and information, call (847) 673-6300 or visit NorthShoreCenter.org.
Chicago Revealed will also be presented Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St., Chicago.Tickets are $15-$65; 40 percent off for students and seniors. Purchase tickets at the Harris by calling (312) 334-7777 or visiting harristheaterchicago.org.
Guest choreographers are Kevin Iega Jeff, Artistic Director of Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, and Robyn Mineko Williams, former dancer at River North Dance Chicago, a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for twelve seasons, and one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2014.
Williams’ inspiration for her work, At the Apex, is music in Chicago. Iega’s creation, Red Lines/Blue Horizon, is an abstract reflection of conversations with Chicagoans about Chicago from diverse and contrasting communities, with a narrative base created after Iega travelled with TDC’s dancers to four Chicago neighborhoods to spend time with its residents.
The third new work is by company founder and artistic director Melissa Thodos titled “Thio Kosmos,” or “Two Worlds” in Greek. Thio Kosmos will shed light on the Greek American perspective of life in our city and will include text based on interviews with members of Chicago’s Greek community. Some of its choreographic and musical elements are drawn from an earlier Greek themed work by Thodos in 2007 titled “Anasa” and will contain facets that reflect the history of Greece and its cyclic rise and fall over and through time.
The Chicago Revealed program also will feature Sono’s Journey, the new work by Melissa Thodos inspired by the incredible life of Japanese-American dance icon Sono Osato. The Chicago Sun-Times called the world premiere of Sono’s Journey on January 9th at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre “a great moment in living dance history…deftly conceived and handsomely designed,” Chicago-Splash.com called it “almost unbearably moving…beautifully danced by this marvelous company” and BuzzNews.net hailed Sono’s Journey”a beautiful piece of work that everybody should experience.”
For more information, visit thodosdancechicago.org.
