Reflection

Review: Nora Sharp's COSMIC DOCKS on Sixty Inches from Center

Review: Nora Sharp's COSMIC DOCKS on Sixty Inches from Center

Corey Smith and Rachel Lindsay reflect on the March 2025 premiere of Nora Sharp’s COSMIC DOCKS at the Chicago Solo Spotlight Festival for Sixty Inches from Center: “Cosmic Docks is one part standup special, one part loop-pedal-karaoke, one part dance-with-an-uppercase ‘D.’”

Review: Jenn Freeman | Po'Chop's THICK on Sixty Inches from Center

Review: Jenn Freeman | Po'Chop's THICK on Sixty Inches from Center

Corey Smith and Rachel Lindsay reflect on the March 2025 premiere of THICK: a crumbling freak show by Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop at the Chicago Solo Spotlight Festival for Sixty Inches from Center: “The [performance] is a tour de force of Freeman | Po’Chop’s chops.”

Environmental awakening: ETHOS IV connects community to the Earth

Environmental awakening: ETHOS IV connects community to the Earth

A canopy of pink blossoming trees showers petals on the audience as we sail down the path, pulled along by a current of wind and sound. Slow and easy, like swirling air, four figures float through the grove, reverently laying hands upon the bark and grass. They caress the breeze and mimic the shapes of the branches and trunks. Ayako Kato—kinetic philosopher, poet and choreographer—pauses to hang from one branch, arm hooked delicately and body unfolding toward the sky. The crowd is hushed. See Chicago Dance reviews Ayako Kato’s ETHOS IV: Degrowth/Cycle/Rebirth.

What happens when we take off our socks? The bittersweet power of introspection: a response by Aaliyah Christina

What happens when we take off our socks? The bittersweet power of introspection: a response by Aaliyah Christina

In January/February 2024, dance artist SJ Swilley held a production residency at the Dance Center of Columbia College supported by Chicago Dancemakers Forum. They invited collaborators Mawu Ama Ma'at Gora and Graciella Ye'Tsunami to help shape their work, Aaliyah Christina as an embedded writer, and Jovan Landry as the photographer to document some of the process. The resulting piece was part of the Chicago Artist Spotlight Festival in April 2024.

Dance Theatre Etiquette and How It Shapes Our Experience as Viewers by Gabriela Marks

Dance Theatre Etiquette and How It Shapes Our Experience as Viewers by Gabriela Marks

“It successfully showed the audience a variety of dances but it also showed us different environments and the possibility of these coexisting on one stage and theatre by highlighting their differences and similarities and embracing them in one space.”

A Community Unveiled by Elaina Fletcher

A Community Unveiled by Elaina Fletcher

“the Mo(ve)ment Performance Showcase as a whole, as it was a journey not just throughout different styles of dance, but an engagement unveiling the sundry ways of what a dance performance can look like and captivate those watching. And most notably, it unveiled a community in which I am avid in becoming a part of”