“Aerial Dance Chicago” reviewed by CJ Hyland

[rating=4]“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you will have been, and there you will always long to return.” – Leonardo DaVinci

Have you ever wanted to fly? To escape the bounds of gravity and soar, like an eagle, into the firmament, completely free of Earthly limitations? I know I have. I think it is only natural, this desire to want to escape what grounds us, to push beyond our physical limitations and the physical limitations of this Earth, to discover what we are really capable of. After all, we are surrounded by it daily, birds take to the air, moths and butterflies flutter past, bees and flies buzz by, and yet we are firmly rooted to the ground, unable to levitate without the assistance of complex engineering and mechanical feats. Why is this? And does this have to be? Those are just some of the questions Aerial Dance Chicago has been asking and answering in awe-inspiring, gravity-defying ways for the last two decades.

Since its inception in 1999, Aerial Dance Chicago has had its heart and vision focused intently on taking dancers into flight, quite an undertaking considering the art form essentially did not exist before, company founder and Creative Director, Chloe Jensen invented it, with the creation of this wholly wonderful and unique dance troupe. One of the world’s first Aerial Dance Companies, ADC and her talented artists and choreographers are pioneering leaders in their field, continually exploring the creative and physical possibilities of the medium while also transcending the assumed limits of dance. Essentially this gifted group of artists and dancers daily push the limits of both their bodies’ capabilities and this planet’s gravitational laws – much to this critic and dance enthusiast’s amazement and delight.

Please do not mistake me, these are not gimmicky productions of gymnastics, acrobatics or circus stunts. Aerial Dance Chicago is a company firmly and completely rooted in contemporary dance and, as such, create stunning, atmospheric compositions of movement and motion worthy of any great concert dance performance. With rare exception, almost every artist at ADC has a solid background in dance and comes to the company not to, necessarily, improve their technique but instead to learn how to master it in the vertical space that is ADC’s domain. This is the magic and genius of Aerial Dance Chicago, a company of immensely talented trailblazers accomplishing super human feats yet done solely through human exertion, and their belief that they can, in fact, fly.

It was channeling this adventurous spirit that I made my way to Aerial Dance Chicago’s loft space, at 4028 W Irving Park Road, last evening for “Road To The Sky,” ADC’s kick off performance of their 20^th anniversary season. Billed as “an intimate evening of short dance works,” this evening’s line up featured twelve dances, ten of which were completely new, created by a virtual who’s who of choreography in the Chicago dance scene.

The evening began with “Hearth,” a solo performance set to the dulcet tones of George Fredrich Handel and choreographed and performed by Chloe Jensen herself. The piece begins with Chloe wrapped in red silk suspended high above the audience, literally upside down. As the music starts, she slowly, softly, tenderly begins to unravel, gorgeously arching, reaching, extending as she lowers herself to the ground, the silk billowing around her as she moves. With every spin, bend and turn the silk is both her partner, her support, and her costume, aiding and enrobing her in this enchanting flight.

“Entanglement,” also choreographed by Jensen and performed by eight dancers utilizing four sets of silks and set to the thrumming tones of Travis Lake, followed closely behind. This piece, inspired by quantum entanglement theories, was a stunning display of lofty movements and balletic floor work with four dancers executing dazzling aerial maneuvers while four more dancers spun, shimmied and sashayed around them on the ground. At times frenetic and frenzied and at others deliberate and controlled, the work ends with the silks all tangled in what looks, to this critic, like the most glorious spider web, a true visual spectacle.

The second act began with a third work by Jensen entitled “Singularity” featuring dancers Dani Bitout and Libby Westra in a vertical Pax de Deux employing a single looped aerial silk. Set to the smooth sounds of Max Richter, Bitout and Westra execute a series of soft, sensual balletic movements, both while suspended in silk and grounded on the floor in a work of stunning athletic prowess and ethereal grace.

The return of company favorite “On Leash,” (2006) a comedic harness duet by choreographer Nadia Oussenko and set to the music of Hazel Dickens also made a comeback this evening. Two dancers, Genevieve Brady & Libby Westra, attached to bungee cords and dressed in frilly evening attire, complete with high heels and cell phones, impatiently tap their feet. As the music soars, the pair kick off their shoes, toss their phones and begin a mad dash to escape, only to realize, much to their chagrin, that they are tethered. In repeated attempts to free themselves the pair wildly gyrate, rotate and whirl through the air in a hysterical aerial frolic that makes one wish they had a leash to swing upon.

Other highlights of the evening included, “I’ll Be Seeing You,” choreographed by Karen Fisher Doyle and set to the sounds of the inimitable Billy Holiday. In this piece, dancers Lisa Caldwell and Grant Hill performed a playful, romantic duet all while suspended and spinning within an aerial hoop. Complicated poses, glorious extensions, hypnotic movements all abound, exemplifying the meaning of true partnership in dance. Also “Connected,” choreographed by Tracy Kaenel and set to the upbeat tones of Tom Waits. In this fast-paced, full company work, inspired by the current cell phone addiction of modern life, eight dancers careen around madly snapping selfies and bumping into each other while one dancer entangled in an aerial silk swings desperately reaching, bending, contorting in a vain attempt the retrieve the cell phone she has lost. And “Duality” choreographed by Braeden Barnes and featuring Katie Harmon and Alanna Kletcke in a dazzling harness duet inspired by the passion and intensity of a charged relationship. In this work, Harmon and Kletcke, manipulate both their bodies and each other in a series of slow sensual movement, punctuated by rapid dance and stunning freezes that leaves one aching for more.

While the loft space provided a virtual playground for the artists this evening, creating airborne choreography has a unique set of challenges that all must be accounted for if a piece is to be successful as a work of dance. The sheer size of the space for one, specifically the vertical space, must be considered, and also the emotion, drama, technique, form, musicality, and story, must all be given considerable thought for a piece to really transcend. Some of the works tonight were very successful by this measure, while others are still dances-in-progress, in need of refinement. Even so, “RoadToTheSky” was an immensely entertaining evening of stunning aerial dance performed by one of the most talented companies in the world. Aerial Dance Chicago is truly a rare gem in the Chicago dance scene, and we are fortunate they call our fair city home. If you have not had the change to see them live, I highly recommend it, for it seems Leonardo DaVinci was right, now that I have tasted flight, I absolutely cannot wait to return.