Indie rock and improvised dance meet in a three-part series that unites some of Chicago’s most innovative young artists who, in their customary environments, draw pretty separate crowds. Curators Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr, who recently collaborated in “Stridulate,” a year-in-the-making exploration of the body as an instrument of both voice and movement, designed “Collision Theory” to be a forum for musicians and movement artists to get together and jam, disrupting the old dance-and-accompaniment hierarchy and allowing the disciplines to interact on equal footing. Part one threw hypnotic, transcendent droners Pillars and Tongues into the creative stew with Asimina Chremos—a recipe for happy fluidity and a free-flowing exchange of energies. This week’s installment teams modern dance masters Darrell Jones and Kirstie Simson with the experimental noise piano and groove percussion of the duo Technical Drawing—a formula that may well challenge and excite the palate. Prepared piano maven Melissa St. Pierre and electro-percussionist Jesse Stiles will compose on the spot, in conversation with the physical virtuosity and responsiveness of Jones and Simson who promise to deliver a “transatlantic chest bump.”
Movement artists and musicians don’t meet until the performances, yielding entirely unique dance -slash-music events—somewhat in the experimental vein of Merce Cunningham, but featuring sounds by the cool kids you bob your head to at Sub-T or Schubas. The concept behind “Collision Theory” represents the best of the up-and-coming in live performance, and the talent involved is a testament to the vibrancy and collaborative spirit of Chicago’s arts scene. The final “Collision Theory” installment in December partners Julia Rae Antonick and Jonathan Meyer of the highly kinetic, highly cerebral Khecari Dance Theater with drone and trance group DRMWPM. (Sharon Hoyer)
At Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield, (773)281-0824. Monday, November 9, 7:30pm. $15.
Titans of Culture: A Review of "The Big Bang: Movement Theory + the Black Dancing Body" at Art on The Mart This three-act visual story connects traditional African dance to twentieth and twenty-first century American forms. Through the magic of editing, West African stomps give way to tap and hip hop, sideways kicks of the Charleston are revealed in the shuffle steps of Footwork…with three hundred foot tall dancers gliding across vivid backgrounds.
Indie rock and improvised dance meet in a three-part series that unites some of Chicago’s most innovative young artists who, in their customary environments, draw pretty separate crowds. Curators Rachel Damon and Dan Mohr, who recently collaborated in “Stridulate,” a year-in-the-making exploration of the body as an instrument of both voice and movement, designed “Collision Theory” to be a forum for musicians and movement artists to get together and jam, disrupting the old dance-and-accompaniment hierarchy and allowing the disciplines to interact on equal footing. Part one threw hypnotic, transcendent droners Pillars and Tongues into the creative stew with Asimina Chremos—a recipe for happy fluidity and a free-flowing exchange of energies. This week’s installment teams modern dance masters Darrell Jones and Kirstie Simson with the experimental noise piano and groove percussion of the duo Technical Drawing—a formula that may well challenge and excite the palate. Prepared piano maven Melissa St. Pierre and electro-percussionist Jesse Stiles will compose on the spot, in conversation with the physical virtuosity and responsiveness of Jones and Simson who promise to deliver a “transatlantic chest bump.”
