Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season!
Making-It Monday: Holiday Video
Every year, devising our holiday video comes with unique challenges. Combining melodies from Rink Life with lyrics from popular traditional holiday tunes proved to be a game of mental gymnastics. Check out ensemble memebers Elizabeth Luse and A. Raheim White working through some of that material.
Flashback Friday: Rink Life
Lucky Plush’s Rink Life unfolds in a communal space that nods to 1970’s roller rink culture and brims with a script/score that is entirely spoken and sung live. During the creation process, storylines grew out of the passing conversations & miscommunications that can ensue within loud and kinetic social spaces. Overlapping dialogue, entangled bodies, and harmonized vocals are layered in ways that reveal how utterly dependent we are on one another. Julia Rhoads created Rink Life in collaboration with Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, Bethany Clearfield, and the Lucky Plush ensemble.
We-Support Wednesday: DanceWorks Chicago
Founded in May 2007, DanceWorks Chicago (DWC) is committed to building a foundation for early career artists by providing a laboratory from which dancers and choreographers propel themselves and the art form to a new level of artistry through training, collaboration, mentorship, and performance.
DanceWorks Chicago fills a niche in the dance ecosystem through its unique commitment to the advancement of early career artists. An incubator that focuses on the development of young people, DWC fosters a diverse next generation of movers and makers, empowering early career artists to cultivate their unique voices in the dance community through skill acquisition and development; collaborations and relationship-building with a global perspective; intense and intentional mentorship; and performances that shine a light on dancers and dance. DWC cultivates an inclusive culture relating to board and staff, artists, the works of art, and audience served. A cultural ambassador locally, nationally, and internationally, DWC inspires excellence in the studio, on stage, and behind-the-scenes.
For everyBODY, enJOY this episode of DWC's Alumni InterVIEW
Series featuring DanceWorks Chicago OG (and Lucky Plush alum)
Marc Macaranas. Edited by Team DWC member Elijah Richardson,
this series is a family affair! Proud to be part of Chicago's dance
commUNITY with Team Plush!
In SEASON 14, Team DWC is leaning into R & D mode.
While DanceWorks Chicago is always moving (and #StillMoving), DWC is intentionally changing its rhythm
to allow more space to be curious, to listen, and to reflect.
To inspire and empower a community of artists, audiences,
and good dance citizens in Chicago and beyond through the incubator of DanceWorks Chicago is one way to contribute
to the field.
For movers, check out ChoreoLab this Saturday, December 19, with Tommie-Waheed Evans.
For makers, SAVE the DATE for DanceChance (DWC's version
of open mic night for dance) on Friday, January 29, 2021.
If you'd like to help make dreams come true, please visit DanceWorks Chicago's SUPPORT page! Every dollar is a
vote of confidence in EARLY CAREER ARTISTS. And,
hey, if you're feelin' it, join our new Monthly Giving
Program and be a ChangeMaker!
www.danceworkschicago.org
Facebook: /danceworkschicago
Instagram: @danceworkschicago
Making-It Monday: Kitchen Choreography
While in-process for a new work, inspiration can strike anywhere at any time! This video features Artistic Director Julia Rhoads creating a bit of choreography in her kitchen. This phrase was then taken into a more traditional dance studio space to be worked for SuperStrip.
Flashback Friday: Art on theMART
Limelight Parade was commissioned for Art on theMART—the largest permanent digital art projection in the world—in alignment with Chicago’s Year of Chicago Theatre in 2019. Created in collaboration with theatermaker John Musial, Limelight Parade brings a surprising intimacy and humanity to the grand stage of theMART’s 2.5 acre river-façade and features Lucky Plush’s signature blend of dance, physical theater, humor, and storytelling. The project was enjoyed by an average of 30,000 people each day, and ran from June through September of 2019.
Making-It Monday: SuperStrip
This duet, made in the process of SuperStrip, features a pregnant Mindy Myers dancing alongside Cassandra Porter. These former ensemble members react and respond to one another movements, utilizing contrasting dynamics while still existing in the same world.
Flashback Friday: Rooming House (2017)
This week's feature is Rooming House (2017). The ensemble spent two years familiarizing themselves with the game Clue, diving deep into each other's personal stories and reciting Michel's recap of the Greek myth: Orpheus and Eurydice.
Fun facts about Rooming House:
A Raheim White was the last ensemble member to join this process
4 out of 6 ensemble members had never played Clue before this work
The ensemble met Michel's family for the first time when on an international exchange residency in Cuba with Rodolfo's former dance company, Retazos.
Kara Brody's dad is actually a real life professional hypnotist (mentioned breifly in the Rooming House script)
Playful and personal, Rooming House creates a dynamic blueprint for exploring the question: what makes a person do something that could have life changing consequences? Rooming House begins with an intimate conversation among friends, slipping easily between Spanish and English, as they recall stories of people who’ve taken actions with potentially devastating costs. When the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is mentioned, varied interpretations propel the group into a physically and psychologically complex game of whodunit, taking them down a rabbit hole into the lives of everyday people who do extraordinary things—from life endangering rescues, to defecting from Cuba, to letting go of someone you love.