All stories by Lauren Warnecke on BroadwayStars

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Joffrey Ballet's 'Across the Pond' is a mixed bag with magic, difficult moments by Lauren Warnecke

If you’ve ever watched the sun rise from the seat of a red-eye flight, then you have an idea of what Andrew McNicol’s “Yonder Blue” looks and feels like. “Yonder Blue” opens the …

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:00PM
Friday, April 12, 2019

'Whipped Cream' at the Auditorium: This is ballet as sugar rush, with daffy furbies and dancing vodka — I fell for it by Lauren Warnecke

Once upon a time, a boy and his cronies go to celebrate their first holy communion at a candy shop in town. The boy gets a belly ache and falls ill, while the candy shop comes alive with mag…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:00AM
Tuesday, April 9, 2019

American Ballet Theatre returns to Chicago with 'Whipped Cream’: Expect candy, bobbleheads and 'imagination gone wild' by Lauren Warnecke

As word traveled that American Ballet Theatre (ABT) was making a new ballet based on Richard Strauss’ “Whipped Cream,” I think my reaction was similar to most everyone else: Wait, Stra…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:00AM
Saturday, April 6, 2019

'That was mega': A trio of dances from Israel in Gauthier's Chicago debut at the Harris by Lauren Warnecke

A timeline of Western dance history usually starts in France, with the royal courts of Louis XIV, the Sun King. Russia is a key stakeholder, credited with the classical aesthetic which broug…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:30PM
Saturday, March 30, 2019

Chicago Repertory Ballet's 'Macbeth' has only deepened — this is clearly no longer the 'undanceable Shakespeare' by Lauren Warnecke

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t call William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” particularly timeless — important, obviously, but a bit of a relic. Modern adaptations of the 400-year-old play contextu…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:50PM
Tuesday, March 12, 2019

La Femme Dance is (just) for women with work about their African-diasporic heritage. And the stronger for it. by Lauren Warnecke

Dancer, choreographer and vocalist Jasmin Williams is moving. The 23-year-old Chicago native has lived in Los Angeles, New York and various places in Europe. Hyde Park is home, but she’s f…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AM
Thursday, March 7, 2019

Street dance, a mock lynching, a rousing curtain call: 'Lazarus' is Alvin Ailey Dance's way of looking back by Lauren Warnecke

The cornerstone of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 60th anniversary season is “Lazarus,” the company’s first two-act work in its history, created by choreographer-in-residence R…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:15PM
Friday, March 1, 2019

An absolutely stunning 'Giselle' at the Harris: Plenty of dance companies remake the classics — none quite like this by Lauren Warnecke

When “Giselle” premiered in Paris in 1841, it was an immediate success, part of a trend revitalizing ballet for everyday socialites by abandoning the Greek legends preferred by the Frenc…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:45AM
Thursday, February 28, 2019

A forward-looking hip-hop ballet — just the thing to celebrate Alvin Ailey Dance's 50th in Chicago by Lauren Warnecke

The first time Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performed at the Auditorium Theatre was Feb. 11, 1969. “Mr. Ailey is right up with the times,” wrote Tribune critic Thomas Willis of the…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AM
Tuesday, February 19, 2019

English National Ballet’s transformed 'Giselle' is crossing the pond for a timely U.S. exclusive at the Harris by Lauren Warnecke

Few productions at the Harris Theater have been more highly anticipated than the North American premiere of English National Ballet’s “Giselle.” Running Feb. 28-Mar. 2, the tour of thi…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 10:40AM
Friday, February 15, 2019

Girl power message comes in more loud than clear with Ananya at the Dance Center by Lauren Warnecke

Sometimes, a dance can be greater than the sum of its parts. I came away from “Shyamali: Sprouting Words” – through Saturday at the Dance Center by Minneapolis-based Ananya Dance Theat…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 09:30AM
Thursday, February 14, 2019

With ‘Anna Karenina,’ Joffrey unveils a modern classic at the Auditorium by Lauren Warnecke

As the overture to composer Ilya Demutsky’s glorious score swelled under the baton of Maestro Scott Speck on Wednesday, haze filled the house of the Auditorium Theatre and billowed across …

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 10:15AM
Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Dame Libby Komaiko, fearless founder of Ensemble Espanol in Chicago, dies at 69 by Lauren Warnecke

Dame Libby Komaiko, the founding artistic director of Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater, died Saturday at Chicago’s Illinois Masonic Hospital of pneumonia, according to Ensemble Espan…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:00PM
Sunday, February 3, 2019

Move over, Michael Flatley: Trinity Irish Dance packs the house at the Auditorium in Chicago by Lauren Warnecke

For the company’s first full evening at home in a decade, the Trinity Irish Dance Company commanded the Auditorium Theatre’s big, beautiful stage on Saturday. The engagement is the secon…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:00PM
Friday, January 25, 2019

Joffrey has created a rare, new story ballet 'Anna Karenina,' a 'dream come true' for dancer Victoria Jaiani by Lauren Warnecke

It was in 2013, with the addition of Stanton Welch’s “La Bayadere” and Lar Lubovitch’s “Othello” to the repertoire of the Joffrey Ballet, that I began to notice a concerted effor…

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Saturday, January 12, 2019

In Harris Theater debut, Ragamala Dance shows the metaphor and mythology in a board game — and is pure fun to watch by Lauren Warnecke

Founded in 1992, the Twin Cities-based Ragamala Dance Company made its Harris Theater debut Friday with the company’s 25th anniversary performance “Written in Water.” The hour-long wor…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:30PM
Friday, January 11, 2019

RE | Dance at Hamlin Park: There's puffy white clouds but also a wall as 10th anniversary show goes political by Lauren Warnecke

When going to a RE | Dance Group show, there are a couple things you can usually count on: 1) unapologetically long passages of pretty dancing; 2) poetry woven into the fabric of the dance w…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:00AM
Thursday, January 3, 2019

Dance in Chicago in 2019: Must-sees this winter include Akram Khan’s ‘Giselle’ and something brand new at Joffrey by Lauren Warnecke

Winter used to be a rather dormant time for dance, but in 2019 the colder months bring some of the most exciting dance events of the year. Winter is typically a time when touring companies r…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AM
Monday, December 31, 2018

Claire Bataille, founding member of Hubbard Street Dance, dies at 66 by Lauren Warnecke

Claire Anne Bataille, founding member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and director of the Lou Conte Dance Studio, died Sunday morning with her two sons at her side, according to son Isaac So…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:00PM
Thursday, December 27, 2018

Chicagoan of the Year: Nan Giordano stays behind the scenes in her all-out dance company by Lauren Warnecke

Nan Giordano doesn’t like the spotlight. She’d rather not give curtain speeches, preferring to greet her guests from Row R at the Harris Theater, across the aisle from R1, a seat adorned…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 06:00AM
Sunday, December 16, 2018

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater: New 'Parallel Lives' and others are added to older works like 'Heaven' by Lauren Warnecke

Since Deeply Rooted Dance Theater kicked off its “Generations” program in 2013, the company has been consciously digging into its archives, pairing new works with old ones to create prog…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:15AM
Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Best in Chicago Dance in 2018: Bold moves, Baryshnikov and old moves made new by Lauren Warnecke

This year, Chicago’s dance stages were filled with bold, ambitious programming, stunning revivals and work which responded to the present by reflecting on the past. It goes without saying …

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AM
Monday, December 10, 2018

It's the dancing that saves 'Tidings of Tap' at the North Shore Center for the Arts by Lauren Warnecke

Returning to the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Sunday, Chicago Tap Theatre (CTT) once again delighted Skokie’s dance audiences with the company’s annual holiday special, “…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:30PM
Thursday, December 6, 2018

It's not a poetry reading or a typical dance, and 'What Remains' wasn't made for Chicago — but it feels like it was by Lauren Warnecke

The MCA Warehouse is off the beaten path, in a nondescript industrial area of the city that, unlike the now-swanky West Loop, is still rather industrial. Watching a performance on the second…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:00PM
Wednesday, November 28, 2018

How the Joffrey's new 'Nutcracker' chose the Chicago's World's Fair for its setting by Lauren Warnecke

It was a nearly impossible feat, a glorious White City, the size and scale of which is almost unimaginable, glistening at the heart of a city that, 20 years earlier, burned almost entirely t…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 08:00AM
Saturday, November 17, 2018

Combine dance companies Ate9, Visceral, Deeply Rooted with the dummer from Wilco — and it mostly works by Lauren Warnecke

They’re calling it “3-1-2,” this season, a revamp of the Auditorium Theatre’s “Made in Chicago” series, which for several years has provided a platform for local dance companies …

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 01:30PM
Saturday, November 10, 2018

Childish Gambino song tells you what Red Clay’s ‘Eliki Munda’ is about — but it’s also more complicated by Lauren Warnecke

Through Saturday at the Dance Center, “Eliki Munda | What Lies Within” has been a decade in the making. Shortly before Vershawn Sanders-Ward formed her Red Clay Dance Company on Chicago�…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:15PM
Friday, November 9, 2018

Miami City Ballet at the Harris review: Two-thirds nostalgia, one-third choreographer Brian Brooks by Lauren Warnecke

“It’s our birthday!” said Patricia Barretto, president and CEO of the Harris Theater, in her Thursday night curtain speech. It was 15 years to the day since the underground marvel open…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 10:40AM
Monday, November 5, 2018

Ballet Folklorico de Mexico is traditional — it has to be — but it's also changing for the times by Lauren Warnecke

The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a majestic art nouveau gem in the heart of Mexico City, standing on the edge of the oldest urban green space in the Americas, the Alameda Central. Considered o…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 05:00PM
Saturday, October 27, 2018

Here's how Giordano fills the Harris Theater better than any other dance company by Lauren Warnecke

The Harris Theater can be a tough space for dance companies, swallowing up the subtleties of fine-tuned gestures, text or facial expressions. It’s got a chilly subterranean atmosphere that…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 12:30PM
Friday, October 19, 2018

At the Dance Center, Tere O’Connor’s ‘Long Run’ asks what it means to be present by Lauren Warnecke

Choreographer Tere O’Connor splits his time between New York and Champaign, where he is a professor in the dance department at the University of Illinois. As the occasional U. of I. alum h…

SOURCE: Chicago Tribune Subscription at 11:45AM

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