Choreographer Erin Kilmurray's Femme-powered Dance Work Returns To Chicago

Chicago-based dance artist Erin Kilmurray has announced a month-long engagement for her femme-powered dance work, the Function. Staged in a runway environment in the Land and Sea Dept. warehouse, the Function gives audiences front row access to this playground of choreography and objects created by dancers, DJs, and designers. Performances take place on Friday nights May 24 through June 14.

Made within Chicago's fringe performance scenes, the Function premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2022 with a single day of performances. This engagement marks the work's first month-long Chicago engagement, produced by Kilmurray.

"I can't wait to share the Function with our Chicago community in this new environment. This performance excites me because it is so electric and so messy; impulse, desire, and chaos happen just like real life," shares Erin Kilmurray. "The dancers have rehearsed not just the choreography, but they are also trained in the 'DIY materials' of the world like lighting, colored gels, extension cords, playback software, speaker systems - because in addition to dancing, they will run tech for their own show. This practice has given them the tools they need to act with total agency to both create from and respond to the inevitable happenings of live performance. In this way, every performance will be different and will live within its own reality."

Erin Kilmurray (she/they) is known for her genre-straddling performance work that explores the celebrations and liberations of women, queer folks, and the underdog. Their choreography has been presented in contemporary performance spaces, music venues, public parks, at bars, nightclubs, and beyond. In addition to her independent choreographic work, Kilmurray is creator / director / choreographer of the fiercely empowering, queer punk performance project The Fly Honey Show.

Sharon Hoyer wrote of Kilmurray's work, "you don't so much watch her choreography with your eyes as feel it pulsate through flesh, tendon and bone" (Newcity Stage).

the Function is created and performed by some of Chicago's boldest independent artists. Along with Kilmurray, the collaborative team includes DJ / sound designer, VITIGRRL aka Hannah Viti (self described 'radical, queer, dyke' of Slo Mo Party and Good Girls Collective), technical director Bran Moorhead (production manager of Chicago rock venue, Thalia Hall), and celebrated performers Keyierra Collins, Kierah KIKI King, Hannah Santistevan, and Maggie Vannucci. The creative team also includes Dani Weider (dramaturgy), Sarah Ellen Miller (assistant director), and Sal Yvat (costumes).

Photo Credit: Jeremy Lawson, courtesy of MCA Chicago

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