Last summer’s inaugural Chicago dancing Festival went off with the sort of easy success usually associated with perennials that have had decades to work out their kinks. But, as anyone with a modicum of event-planning experience will tell you, such things are born only through sheer force of will and fanatic dedication. Former dancer Jay Franke and choreographer Lar Lubovitch created the festival with an eye on the enormous potential of the just-completed Jay Pritzker Pavilion as a venue for a major dance happening, ideally courting new audiences and inspiring a new generation of performers. Invitations to Dance Chicago, the month-long behemoth held in Lakeview’s Athenaeum Theater since 1995, have, in recent years, been declined by Chicago’s namesake companies, and that festival’s evolution into a populist mega-recital created a vacancy for a more concentrated, starstudded affair that Franke and Lubovitch seized with enviable timing. More than 8,500 attended the free performance last August at Frank Gehry’s amphitheater; thousands were left outside the stage’s sightlines but, nonetheless, were glued to giant monitors broadcasting well-edited live footage to the lawn. As Gregory Russell, the festival’s executive director, explained, ‘We really wanted to create the sort of thing where someone could be walking down the street and see something that could change their life.’
Its sophomore outing is already off to a solid start, with two of three programs ‘sold out.’ (All tickets are free but Monday and Tuesday, at the Harris Theater and MCA, require reservations.) Wednesday’s reprise of last year’s outdoor extravaganza is a first-come, first-served affair—1,000 seats have been added to ensure clear views for those who plan ahead. As with last year, Russell notes that ‘many of the companies appearing in the festival have engagements in Chicago over the coming dance season,’ including Lubovitch’s own ensemble (appearing at the Harris in November). An example of the organization’s aim of symbiosis with the Chicago dance community is the involvement of Battleworks Dance Company, based in New York: They will perform Takademe by founder Robert Battle, also in the current repertoire of DanceWorks Chicago, with whom Battle will host an open workshop for members of the local dance scene.
The Chicago dancing Festival is aug. 18-20 at various locations, and is free. See www.chicagodancingfestival. com.
On the horizon:
—The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs’ established danceBridge program has incubated dozens of significant pieces. The latest works it’s sponsoring are Darrell Jones’ Whiff of Anarchy (for The Seldoms) and Carleen Healy’s The Plotting, The Preserving. Link’s Hall Executive Director CJ Mitchell moderates a short discussion following. DanceBridge: Works in Progress with Darrell Jones & Carleen Healy, Aug. 12, Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph at Michigan, 6 p.m.; free.
—atalee Judy and her Breakbone dance Co. present their latest work, DE-Evolution of MUDWOMAN at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western, Aug. 21-23 and 28-30, and Sept. 4-6, 9 p.m.; 773-296-6024 or at www.viaducttheatre.com; $15-18.
—The International Chicago Tango Fest presents a concert by the American Tango Institute followed by a milonga (open dance). Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph at Michigan, Fri, Aug.
22, 6 p.m., www.chicagotangofest.com, free.
—dance for Life, a consistently impressive artistic and social event benefitting numerous AIDS funds, offers its annual invitation to the community at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance with performances by top Chicago companies and other peripheral events. 205 E. Randolph, Sat Aug. 23, gala reception at 5. curtain at 7:30 p.m.; $75-$500.
—natya dance Theatre, dedicated to education in and performance of India’s traditional Bharata Natyam dance form, presents its senior dance disciples in concert at Bolingbrook High School Auditorium, at 365 Raider, Highwood. Sat., Aug. 23, 2 p.m., $15-$25.
—The Jenkins Farm Project is a performance and media installation by Annie Arnoult Beserra, exploring her grandmother Annie Lee Jenkins’ life and times in the midst of both mental illness and the Great Depression in North Carolina. Original music by Matt Reed and Colby Beserra complements sculptural, video, and live dance elements. Theater Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont, Sept. 4-6 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 7 at 2 p.m.; 773-398-9532 or at beserradancetheater.
org; $30.
—The atlas agenda is another new festival in town, its two programs focusing on male choreographers and co-presented by Chris McCray and Ken Gasch. Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, Sept. 5-6 and 12-13, 8 p.m.; $25 at the door, $20 presale.
Pictured: Evidence Dance Company, part of the Chicago dancing Festival. Photo by Basil Childers