March is a big dance month, beginning with performances by Thodos Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago that already are behind us, even as those of classical bent still are clucking or honking or trumpeting about the recent brief run of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. Those whom the Bourne piece offended may prefer the far more purist versions of Swan Lake, and other 19th Century romantic ballets, arriving here shortly. Indeed, traditional ballet quite literally will swamp area stages in the closing days of March and first days of April.
Top of the bill without question is the return visit by the American Ballet Theatre (ABT), March 29-April 2 at the Civic Opera House. Much-ballyhooed, and rightfully so, the ABT’s principal offering will be five performances of the full-length swashbuckling ballet, Le Corsaire (The Pirate), in which the bare-chested premier danseur tosses off some of the most dazzling male variations in the entire ballet repertory. The score by Adolph Adam is based on one of Lord Byron’s romantic narrative poems. The sets and costumes are lavish, and the 85 ABT dancers will be accompanied by a live 65-piece orchestra. The ABT also will offer an opening night potpourri (March 29 only) of selections from ballets of Debussy, Tchaikovsky and Aaron Copland. A benefit for the company, the opening gala has an early 7 p.m. curtain.
Exactly the same weekend, March 30-April 1, another noted classical ballet company will make its Chicago debut. The Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra of Perm, Russia will perform a full-length Swan Lake on March 30 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, and then move to the Chicago Theatre in The Loop for March 31-April 1 performances of the full-length Sleeping Beauty, featuring guest artists from the Bolshoi Ballet. Founded in 1870—when Tchaikovsky still was alive—the Perm Ballet remains a Russian bastion of the classical tradition. The company’s 52-piece orchestra will accompany all performances.
The other big dance event of March is not quite at the other end of the spectrum from classical ballet, but certainly stands at some distance from it, and that’s the March 22-April 9 spring season of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, at the Harris Music and Dance Theater. Hubbard Street (HSDC) will offer two programs in rotation, both offering world premiere dances. Program A features Float, a new dance from choreographer Julian Bennett set to a song by Orvar Smarson and Gunnar Tynes. Program B presents a new piece by former HSDC dancer Lauri Stallings, the Manifests, a work for five dancers set to music by Aphex Twin, Percussion Art Quartet, Yann Tiersen and Shigeru Umebayashi.
As usual, the Hubbard Street home stand offers several special events of particular appeal to our communities. On March 22, HSDC hosts Bold Moves for Bold Women 2006, a women’s networking reception at the Hotel Monaco, followed by the opening night dance performance. Reception (food and drink) is at 5 p.m. Tickets for reception and performance are $125 and $150. HSDC then hosts a Celebrity Cast Party for the gay community on April 2. The tickets—$100 and $125—include the 3 p.m. dance performance followed by a food-and-drink party at the Moulin Rouge in the Fairmont Hotel.
There are, of course, several other dance events of interest scattered through the month. The LatinoContempo (sic) Festival concludes March 16-18 at the Dance Center of Columbia College with Mexican dance company Antares Danza Contemporanea. In addition to its performances for adults, Antares Danza also will offer a family matinee on March 18, with a free all-ages movement workshop at 2:15 p.m. prior to the 3 p.m. performance.
Also, the Julliard Dance Ensemble, from the famed performing arts school in New York, appears March 17-19 at the Harris Theater, offering dances by William Forsythe, Adam Hougland and Mark Morris to music by, respectively, Thom Willams, Christopher Rouse and Johannes Brahms.
Up north a bit, Links Hall offers the final two weeks of its month-long series, The Body Breaks: Butoh, Breakdancing and Beyond. Lani Fand-Weissbach and Carol Genetti perform March 17-19, offering different pieces but both employing soundscapes and text along with dance and various theatrical elements. The last week, March 24-26, presents Vangeline Theater, a post-modern butoh dance troupe from New York, plus Nicole LeGette and B-Girl Stalls in a break-butoh battle.
And there you have a month of dance from too, too tutu classical to break battles and Latin rhythms. I’m tired just writing about it all.