Chicago Dancers United Announces Dance for Life 2022
Chicago Dancers United (CDU), which supports the health and wellness of Chicago’s professional dance community, announces the program for its 31st annual fundraiser, Dance for Life 2022, which takes place Saturday, August 13 at 6 pm at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, Chicago, followed by an after-party at Venue SIX10, 610 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
The complete lineup of companies includes Chicago Dance Crash, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, Giordano Dance Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet, NAJWA Dance Corps, and Trinity Irish Dance Company. Randy Duncan will choreograph a world premiere finale.
Dance for Life 2022 Co-Chairs are Jennifer Edgcomb, Ted Grady, and Ross Slotten.
Dance for Life raises money for The Dancers’ Fund, which provides Chicago dance industry professionals with financial support for preventative health care and critical medical needs. The event showcases the city’s unique variety of dance traditions and styles by bringing together professional dance companies and dancers from throughout Chicago, who unite to support their peers by generously donating their time, energy, and artistry.
Throughout its history, Dance for Life has presented more than 40 Chicago-based professional dance companies representing a variety of genres, sizes, and histories and numerous choreographers, artists, and designers. Additional beneficiaries of Dance for Life are AIDS Foundation Chicago and American Cancer Society.
Some of the highlights from this year’s program include:
Chicago Dance Crash will perform the Chicago premiere of “Us vs. Them,” a section of its 20th anniversary work Booms Day! choreographed by Annie Franklin to music by Man From Sol, Jonah k, and Overlook.
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater will perform Parallel Lives, choreographed by Co-Founder and Associate Artistic Director Gary Abbott to original music by Evangelos Spanos, based on La Folía. This modern work is inspired by poor working women who’ve shared life-changing events, both beautiful and tragic.
Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater will perform Baile de Luis Alonso, choreographed by Irma Suárez Ruiz to music by Gerónimo Giménez, based on a one-act lyrical play by Javier de Burgos that premiered in 1889 at the Teatro Español.
Giordano Dance Chicago will perform Shirt Off My Back, a jazz work choreographed by Ray Mercer to music by Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and Bongi Duma. Beginning with indistinct whispers, fluid lines, and undulating torsos, Mercer modulates the go-for-broke energy with interludes of liquid partnering and solos.
The Joffrey Ballet will perform Élégie by Yoshihisa Arai set to Morceaux de Fantasie by Sergei Rachmaninoff, performed live on piano by Jorge Ivars. Élégie is about a love gone by—not just the loss of it, but the passion and beauty that comes from time spent with another.
Trinity Irish Dance Company performs American Traffic, a progressive Irish dance work choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Melinda Sullivan, set to drums and hand percussion by Steven Rutledge. The work offers a hybrid of Irish step and American tap that plays at the intersection of rhythmic sensibilities and rebellious histories.
Tickets for Chicago Dancers United Dance for Life are $500 for the performance and after party, or $25–125 for the performance only. They are on sale now at auditoriumtheatre.org