Michel Rodriguez's Moi Aussi. Photo: E. Ryan
It may not come with a surly panel of celebrity judges, but The A.W.A.R.D. Show has an American Idol sensibility about it. This choreographic competition, running July 28-31, was created by choreographer Neta Pulvermacher and is now administered by The Joyce Theater Foundation in New York. In its second year at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, it awards a major cash prize ($10,000 to be exact) to one of 12 local participants – mainly from the more abstract, contemporary concert-dance realm. Each choreographer will show a short completed work or an excerpt. After each performance, the audience has a chance to share their comments with the artists during a moderated discussion. Then they get to vote for their favorites and choose a finalist.
New to this year’s competition is established choreographer Joanna Rosenthal of Same Planet Different World. In Grey Noise, she presents her psychologically blistering vision of film noir of the 1940s and ’50s – a form whose archetypes, she believes, “are rooted in human nature”. She alternates between moments of violence and control executed by suggestions of the hero, the femme fatale and other familiar noir types (including the outcast and ambiguously motivated man and woman). Their stylized gestures and tilt-a-whirl movements recall a time in American history when fear of the Cold War followed on the heels of winning World War II. Rosenthal also addresses the paradox of how “women helped win the war, then got relegated to their traditional positions.”
Two emerging choreographers also make their debut at The A.W.A.R.D. Show. They focus on the ambivalent nature of most romantic relationships. Gymnast-turned-dancer Michel Rodriguez of Hedwig Dances gets physical in his duet, Moi Aussi. It centers on a pair coming off a troubled romance and plays with the idea of personal and shared space. Besides some aggressive pushing, the dancers have moments of stillness and reflection. They also execute lifts that force them to resist and yield to each other’s weight. Jacqueline Stewart of Thodos Dance Chicago has crafted a duet around a ghostly light that projects onto the dancers from the floor. Titled It’s Not Enough to Close Your Eyes, this frantic and elusive pairing addresses vulnerability in a relationship. The light, to which the performers are drawn like moths to a flame, intimates the harsh exposure of one’s soul.
Most artists try not to fixate on the competitive nature of the series. Instead they see it as an opportunity to share, learn, attract new audiences, and – if they snare the big prize – keep creating new work.
Here’s a complete schedule:
July 28: Jacqueline Stewart, Alicia Wilson Mike Gosney of Elements Contemporary Ballet, and Kate Corby of Kate Corby & Dancers.
July 29: Peter Carpenterof Peter Carpenter Performance Project, Rebecca Lemme, Michel Rodriguez of Hedwig Dances, and Molly Shanahan of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak.
July 30: Mary Tisa, Ginger Krebs and Andy Braddock, Philip Elson, and Joanna Rosenthal of Same Planet Different World.
July 31: Three finalists compete for the Grand Prize.
The A.W.A.R.D. Show takes place July 28-31 at 8 p.m. at the Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. Tickets: $15. Call 312-369-8330 or visit www.colum.edu/dancecenter.
Also playing…
Shirley Mordine, artistic director of Mordine & Co. Dance Theater, teams up with Natya Dance Theatre artistic director Hema Rajagopolan for a collaborative concert titled Encountering the Other. Rather than a fusion of the classical Indian dance style of Bharatanatyam and Western contemporary dance, each choreographer respects their distinctive characteristics and how they complement each other. Performances run July 29, 30 and 31 at 7:30 p.m.; and Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. at the DCA Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St. Tickets: $15-$20. Call 312-742-TIXS or visit www.dcatheater.org. More information: www.mordine.org and www.natya.com.
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