Top 10 dance in Chicago of 2024

Lauren Warnecke, Chicago Tribune

With the Joffrey Ballet having their best year in recent memory, several midsize companies are meeting the moment, taking risks and betting on themselves by indulging in larger-than-ever venues and productions. It may seem like the pandemic is in the rearview, but many arts organizations are still scrambling to keep their heads above water. At the risk of making a trite “from adversity comes strength” metaphor, Chicago dance delivered, seeming to possess a renewed commitment to audiences by delivering on some of their best performances this decade.

Joffrey Ballet’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” in April: I liked Alexander Ekman’s wild “Midsummer Night’s Dream” when the Joffrey Ballet first mounted it in 2018. But I loved last spring’s revival in the cavernous Lyric Opera House. On the surface, this “Midsummer” is a sarcastically silly ode to hedonism, with the pagan holiday honoring summer’s longest day as its backdrop. Look closer; repeat viewings reveal Ekman’s penchant for detail, with eye candy scattered literally everywhere. This season closer also celebrated four meaningful departures from the company’s ranks: Princess Reid, Brooke Linford, Graham Maverick and Christine Rocas, the latter retiring after almost 20 years on stage and now serving as one of Joffrey’s rehearsal directors. It wasn’t the most conventional send-off — final bows were taken in “Midsummer’s” signature trench coats with no pants — but in leaving a company of self-proclaimed “mavericks of dance,” it was pretty darn perfect.

Joffrey Ballet’s “Atonement” in September: It’s not that Cathy Marston’s latest literary ballet surprised me, exactly. But I didn’t expect it to stay with me this long. Ian McEwan’s marvelous novel “Atonement” inspired the ballet about how a single mistake can have a ripple effect over decades. Yumi Kanazawa shined as the main character, Briony Tallis, a role which asks a single dancer to evolve from a naïve, entitled young girl to a despairing, guilt-ridden grown-up — without losing her creativity and imagination along the way. Kanazawa does not carry the ballet alone. Impassioned performances by Amanda Assucena and Alberto Velazquez as ill-fated lovers Cecilia Tallis and Robbie Turner, plus a fully-invested ensemble bringing this sweeping, cinematic tale to life in one of Joffrey’s most beautiful productions — yeah, that sticks with you.

Read the full article on the Chicago Tribune.