RECOMMENDED
A longstanding collaborator of the renowned Bebe Miller Company (whose namesake performed in Chicago recently as part of the lauded aMID Festival), Hauser teams up here with Smith College Department of Dance assistant professor Aiken to create a new improvisational duet that’s sure to challenge viewers’ assumptions about dance. The buzz is that this is a must-see among this spring’s glut of programming; expect surprises, both subtle and overt. Kay LaSota, manager of the Hamlin Park Theater, says that “improvised dance can seem to ignite from nowhere. The chemical/technical term ‘spontaneous combustion’ refers to self-heating—which I think improvisers do; they are generating internal heat and ideas which suddenly become visible. The slow heat of physicality/imagination is there all along, but there can be ‘thermal runaways’ where the dance quickly takes shape, flight, and catches fire.”
Additionally, following on a six-month residency with Hauser, dancer JulieAnn Graham will present a new piece, “The Interpreters,” performed in collaboration with Josh Anderson, Peter Carpenter and Jessica Marasa to DJ sets and sound design by Matthew McMunn and Zhenia Nemirovsky. Resident Sarah Gottlieb will also present her “Row and Quarry,” along with Jessica Cornish, Sasha Lasdon, Amanda Maraist and Clare Tallon Ruen, to music by Chien-An Yuan. (Michael Workman)
Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser at the Hamlin Park Fieldhouse, 3035 North Hoyne, (773)880-5402. Thursday and Friday, February 18 and 19 at 7:30pm. $15; $12 students and seniors.
