In a city filled with creatives fighting for a chance to make an impact, Loud Bodies— a Chicago-based dance company founded by co-directors Maria Blanco and Yariana Baralt Torres—has taken immense strides to combat social injustice. Since their company’s inception in 2018, the duo has tackled everything from women’s rights to LGBTQ+ advocacy, and they are nothing if not loud and proud about who they are as both artists and people. “Legalize Menstruation,” Loud Bodies’ most recent performance Saturday and Sunday at Preston Bradley Center, does not deviate from Loud Bodies’ standard of excellence in terms of activism. The project was backed by the Chicago Period Project, and a community of people filled this open-concept theater space to cheer them on with a contagious level of enthusiasm…

Some things are meant to go together: peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, popcorn and movies. And every once and a while, a new pairing comes into existence and it becomes nearly impossible to ignore the cohesive connection between the two things. That feeling is the byproduct of Emma Draves and Project Bound’s latest collaboration, “The Nearest Place.” Performed in the open concept space known as Links Hall, the two companies offer an evening of dance that blends remarkably seamless styles and individualized artistic visions…

Peanuts and elephants and acrobats, oh my! Most people associate those things with the circus, but how often do we get to experience the circus from the comfort of theater seats? Yes, Cirque Du Soleil delves into the crossover of dance theater and circus arts, but Flip Fabrique, a Quebecois company of seven acrobatic dancers, plays with the concept of circus act meets proscenium stage in a refreshingly comical way. Through real-time musical performances, death-defying stunts and laughter-inducing personality pops, the Canadian company quite literally brings the circus to town for two days only at the Harris Theater with their touring production of “Blizzard…”

Everyone knows the feeling that comes about when teachers and bosses alike say those dreaded words: group project. There’s the person who does everything and the person who does nothing, and there’s probably a chance someone drops the ball on some aspect come final presentations, so what good can actually come from a group project? Well, “However,” the debut performance of Concept Dances, is the epitome of the good that comes from group projects. Five local, emerging choreographic minds have pieced together their first evening length work that’s undoubtedly worth the time, money and thought…

Today’s artistic community has a plethora of political turmoil and social injustices to use as inspiration for all art mediums and platforms. Some choose to explore the plight of women through literary prowess while others delve into the deportation dangers many immigrants fear, but Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble is attempting to tackle several sociopolitical topics in their four-part performance series, “Art + Activism.” The second installment, “Stories of Chicago,” hits close to home as three incredibly different Windy City dance companies take a swing at addressing the systemic racism that plagues and shapes the city of Chicago…

The Chicago dance community lost an integral influencer just shy of a year ago when Claire Bataille, a founding member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, passed away due to pancreatic cancer. Her enthusiastic performance quality, innovative choreographic ideas, and inspirational teaching methods all embody what Bataille contributed to our lives as artists. The loss is still felt throughout the city; however, Robyn Mineko William’s one-night-only premiere of “Echo Mine” at the Harris Theater is a tribute that reminds us all about the beautiful, creative, and complex life Bataille lived…

Whether one’s had the pleasure of meeting Molly Shanahan in person or simply enjoying her work as a spectator, it’s impossible to deny the brilliance of her artistic mind. With a BA, MA, and PhD to boot, Shanahan navigates choreography and performance with an inherently academic and somatic bent. Even by listening to the audience Mad Shak draws in, one can hear the echo of Shanahan’s intelligence as the Dovetail theater, a converted studio space, is filled with musings on the benefits of experiential anatomy and imagery. The soft premier of “Ex/Body: wake, dam, steel,” continues to promote the insightful, ambiguous and amorphic style Shanahan has worked so tirelessly to develop…

On Sunday evening, Almanac Dance Circus Theater presented Nicole Burgio’s xoxo moongirl for the last time in Philadelphia. The work weaves a complicated web as Burgio so innovatively tells the story of her tumultuous family dynamics, both as an all-seeing child and as an all-knowing adult. With an extensive focus on carefully crafted props and a beautiful highlighting of the power of live accompaniment, xoxo moongirl explores the concept of dissociation and escape through breathtaking imagery. After a week and a half long run, paired with the exceedingly positive feedback from the arts community in Philly, the solo act finished with a practically sold out and decidedly anticipatory audience…

On Sunday, April 28th, The African American Museum of Philadelphia held a free afternoon screening of the film Gurumbe: Afro-Andalusian Memories. The provocative work poked holes in Spanish history as it addressed the true roots of slavery in Spain and Portugal. The screening was followed by a live musical performance paired with a captivating Flamenco dance to further teach the crowd any lingering curiosities about the content of the film. It was a much-needed educational experience about an under-acknowledged injustice that the arts community, and every community for that matter, should discuss more openly…

An audience of young and old gathered this past Saturday night in celebration of the art known as Flamenco. Pasión y Arte’s Elba Hevia y Vaca presented her latest work-in-progress, La Bolivianita, at Vox Populi, a curious space filled to the brim with intriguing artwork and colorful characters. As the crowd filed slowly into the theater space, the palpable level of excitement for the magic to come contagiously flowed throughout the room…

Brian Sanders has done it again. His ingenious imagination and clearly articulated visions are brought to life in his most recent creation Adventures In The Arctic Elf Trade and Other Tales From The Pole. This holiday spoof filled with acrobatics, aerial and audience participation takes viewers through the history and evolution of elves around the world. Audiences can expect the standard level of jaw-dropping, gravity-defying antics that so often fill Sanders performances, as well as the addition of a “cheeky” fashion show, candy cane pole dancing, and a fake blizzard to boot…

They say good things come in small packages, and Mascher Space Cooperative’s presentation of Ten Tiny Dances embodied this sentiment through captivatingly stylized movement in the most unorthodox of stage spaces. All of the performers tackled the 4×4 stage space challenge with intense creative energy, which made this fundraiser performance a melding of great choreographic minds. All pieces were a donation to the performance as a means of helping Mascher revamp the studio space’s well-loved dance floor…