Ahmad Simmons premieres work in Chicago

Pursuit Productions, with support from the Chicago Dancemakers Forum, will present the premiere of THEM, a dance-theater work made in collaboration by choreographer Ahmad Simmons and director Kacie Smith, on July 10–26 at the Preston Bradley Center in Chicago’s Uptown. Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m.

THEM is an exploration in dance-theater of fear, discrimination and violence that result from self-categorization and “othering” within communities. Running 75 minutes in length and featuring seven accomplished Chicago performers, THEM explores external stereotypes and self-segregation by class, race, religion, political affiliation, gender and sexual orientation.

The devising process led by Simmons and Smith to create THEM sought to answer the question of how to see a community as one body, despite the different and sometimes oppositional experiences and perspectives of its members.

The premiere cast of THEM by Pursuit Productions includes Marco Clemente, Caitlin Cucchiara, David Ingram, Rebecca McLindon, Alexis Staley and Malachi Squires. Visual artist Ennis Martin, a lifelong resident of Chicago, created a series of paintings for THEM, animated by Radek Michalik to be projected as the work’s scenic design.

The Preston Bradley Center is located at 941 West Lawrence Avenue in Chicago. For further information, visit www.chicagodancemakers.org.

Photo courtesy of the Chicago Dancemakers Forum.