Mordine & Company Dance Theater Announces Upcoming Events

Mordine & Company Dance Theater, the Midwest's longest running contemporary dance company, presents All at Once, a shared weekend of vibrant programming celebrating the diversity of Chicago's dance community, in four performances only at Stage773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Thursday, February 28 - Saturday, March 2 at 8 pm and Sunday, March 3 at 3 pm. All at Once features a World Premiere by Founder and Artistic Director Shirley Mordine, plus performances by guest artists, contemporary Flamenco ensemble Clinard Dance Theatre (February 28 and March 1) and contemporary African-American dance-based ensemble Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre (March 2 and 3). A discussion with the artists follows each performance.

"Following the Dance/USA Conference in San Francisco this past summer, a group of fellow choreographers and I initiated the idea of conversations with the Chicago dance community on the subject of diversity," said Mordine. "In addition to these conversations, I felt it was important to design performances that include a diverse representation of cultural dance styles on the program. We feel there is a need to ask the question, 'what would make you come to the table?'"

For its share of the program, Mordine & Co. presents the World Premiere of All at Once/Acts of Renewal, a new work for eight dancers exploring simultaneity in an over-stimulated world. Inspired by the ability - and need - to process a deluge of information in the digital age, Mordine's new work navigates through surprising, contrasting and sometimes comical simultaneous realities to discover where we find the true sense of self in the modern age. The company also presents the reprise of Mordine's 2011 work LifeSpeak, a work about stories, in particular life stories that illuminate one's individual past and our collective history, that are composed, decomposed, and re-composed again based on the times, the teller and the audience. Both works are set to original music by Shawn Decker.

Clinard Dance Theater performs From the Arctic to the Middle East (Broken Narratives by an American Flamenco Dancer), choreographed by Wendy Clinard with music by Steve Gibons, which uses the timeless tools of story, song, music and dance to create an odyssey between the ancient and the modern.

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater performs Naeemah's Room, a work by five dancers choreographed by Artistic Director Kevin Iega Jeff, an intimate and stirring look at depression, a subject that affects millions and is seldom discussed.

Tickets
All at Once is presented Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 28 - March 2 at 8 pm and Sunday, March 3 at 3 pm. Tickets are $24, $20 for students/seniors, and available online at www.stage773.com/Show?id=63 or by phone at the Stage773 Box Office, 773-327-5252.