Displaying items by tag: modern dance

Identity Performing Arts celebrates five years as a dance company embracing artistic innovation, collaboration and community at their Fifth Anniversary Gala at MCA Chicago's Edlis Neeson Theater, 220 E. Chicago Ave., 3-7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18. The event will begin with a performance at 3 p.m. followed by an onsite reception from 5-7:30 p.m. featuring delicious savories, sweets, and libations and the opportunity to meet the choreographer and dancers for a champagne toast. Proceeds from the gala will benefit the company and their programs.

"This gala is both a reflection on how far Identity Performing Arts has come and a celebration of what lies ahead for us," says Ginny Ching-Yin Lo, Identity's founder and director. "I'm especially honored to share the world premiere of our newest full company work, featuring our remarkable dancers, with the many creative partners, friends and supporters who have helped the company to achieve this milestone year. They have been and will continue to be an important source of inspiration and support as we move forward into an exciting new chapter."

A highlight of the evening will be the world premiere of "Untitled Identity" choreographed by company founder and artistic director Ginny Ching-Yin Lo to music by German musician Pyrolator. "Untitled Identity" looks at how identity shifts over time—how it expands, contracts, and reveals unexpected layers. Through movement, the piece explores the tension between outside perceptions and inner understanding, offering a fresh perspective on what identity can mean.

The program also features two works from the company's repertoire, choreographed by Lo:
• "Enliven" (2023). This vibrant blend of East and West influences celebrates the individuality, shared energy and dynamic spirit of Identity Performing Arts' ensemble. Buzz News calls it, "a unique and uplifting multi-media experience."  
• "Muted" (2024). This full company work features a thoughtful look at silence, boundaries, and connection reflects on communication—what we say, what we don't and what we express without speaking. See Chicago Dance describes it as "an intriguing shadowy world of silence."

Performing will be ensemble members Vanessa Bonilla, Josephine Castillo, Lorelai Delano, Mark Gonzalez, Amelia Harris, Audrey Hartnett, Wilson Hicken, Mollyanne Nunn, Emma Raney, Hanley Simpson and Tiana Thompson. They will be joined by Kaleigh Dent, a Chicago-based dance artist, choreographer and dance educator; and Kaelen Gouveia of Hedwig Dances.

Gala tickets are $100. For tickets or additional information visit IdentiyPerformingArts.org.

Lead Sponsors for Identity Performing Arts' Fifth Anniversary Gala are Dr. Philip Wong and Martina Keller & Don McLellan.

About Ginny Ching-Yin Lo:

Lo choreographs dance that represents her lived experiences as a Chinese-American artist and woman of faith; her works are a testament to the beauty that comes from staying true to all of the pieces of her personal history and identity. Lo has performed her original works in the U.S., China, France, and Germany and has been creating dance works for Identity Performing Arts since starting the company. Her co-choreographed work "Identically Dissimilar" was nominated for the Chicago Dance Achievement Awards in 2004. In 2024 Lo led the Identity Performing Arts to the opening night of the Seattle International Dance Festival and, in 2022 and 2026, to Hanover, Germany. Lo holds a BA in Dance from Columbia College and an MA in communication & culture from Trinity International University. She has also served as a panelist speaker for "Culture and The City" for the Northwestern University undergraduate department.

About Identity Performing Arts:

Established in 2016 by founder and artistic director, Ginny Ching-Yin Lo, Identity is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dance organization dedicated to dance education. The commitment is to sharing identity through dance so that members of the Chicago community who share those experiences feel acknowledged, valued, and represented. 

In 2021, the organization transited into a full-season contemporary dance company, presenting its inaugural live concert that fall. Identity is one of the resident companies of Visceral Dance Center. The company began with three dancers and has since grown to 10. In 2022 Identity hosted its first Elpis Dance Festival in Chicago and has continued to do so for the past three years. All works created for and performed by Identity dancers express the beauty of our individual identities, interconnected in unity. For more information about Identity Performing Arts visit IdentiyPerformingArts.org .

Identity Performing Arts acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.

I’ve seen quite a lot of wonderful, entertaining dance productions in Chicago lately - creations that include music and modern dance set to the compositions of great artists like David Bowie, Sting and also beautifully staged to outstanding selections by lesser-known musicians that undoubtedly deserve more recognition. This past weekend I was able to catch a very impressive dance spectacle by MOMIX, the Washington, Connecticut based company known for their dancer-illusionists. With incredibly spot on music by a host of talented artists, MOMIX brought their interpretation of Alice in Wonderland to life for a one night only performance at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. ALICE, by Artistic Director Moses Pendleton, really stood out as being a tremendously alluring and engaging piece of dancing, mixed media and an ingenious presentation - a unique experience of both modern and classical music. 

MOMIX: ALICE utilizes ingenious props involving full-length mirrors held by the dancers while gazing into them, silken fabrics, which seem to breathe like they are alive and glow as the dancers writhe beneath them in stunning shapes and subtle movements, and a massive whimsical swing for Alice to glide on while set in a sunny field of wildflowers and green grass. There are twenty-foot high mechanical lifts and gowns, which propel Alice high up into other worlds set to the music of Grace Slick’s “Go Ask Alice-White Rabbit” and giant rubber balls, which are bounced in unison by the seven dancers and manipulated in such a way that is both graceful and comical. Massive blood red silken roses come to life like puppets with no visible puppeteer, ever so gently brushing back and forth against the heads and shoulders of two beautiful dancers in Act Two’s “Bed of Roses” . 

Although this production is not a child’s production of the play or film Alice in Wonderland, it is marvelously colorful for a vibrant visual experience and spectacularly graceful in its execution. I loved that the final message given during this open interpretation of Alice comes in the words “feed your head, feed your head,” which was applauded wildly by the audience.

MOMIX: ALICE is a true ensemble piece and when the faces of the dancers are covered it is difficult to tell them apart, because Pendleton has cast a very specific body type and height in order to keep all of the movements and stunts unique to MOMIX as uniform as possible, yet the quality of their dance still allows for the fierceness and sensuality of individual dancers to shine through. 

All of the dancers, regardless of their dance background or number of years dancing displayed the highest quality of dance movement, which, to me, happens when the expression of each gesture and movement extends all the way through to the fingertips - the very tips of the fingertips and toes in the most elegant and intelligent way. This type of extension and attention to detail and grace in the hands particularly gives the entire production a hypnotic and floating quality that is not often seen in modern dance.

ALICE has dark moments, humorous moments and sensual moments that take us through Alice’s personal discovery in growing as a little girl into a woman experiencing different planes of consciousness. All the while, the production never veers into the realm of clowning or erotica that might tarnish the incredible combinations of superb young dancers mixed with art worthy projections and very interesting and exciting musical choices. 

Artistic Director Moses Pendleton says it perfectly in the program, “We see Alice as an invitation to invent, to dream, to alter the way we perceive the world, to open it to new possibilities. The stage is our rabbit hole. We welcome you to drop in!”

During the after-show Q&A, which was very interesting, an audience member asked why MOMIX does not have a permanent home in Chicago like Blue Man Group. Their answer was two-fold – to bring the show to wider audiences around the world by touring, and to leave the audience begging for more. I agree that the comparison to Blue Man Group (as far as being a resident show) is right on the money. MOMIX: ALICE is full of such spectacular illusions, marvelous video projections of nature and other psychedelic artworks accompanied by the highest quality of dance, that it is worthy of having its own permanent stage and is entertaining enough to see over and over again.

I highly recommend MOMIX: ALICE when it (hopefully) returns to Chicago or any MOMIX production for that matter.