| MEDIA KIT |
| Critics have hailed Hedwig Dances: "In Blues Dances Bartoszek strips down the Broadway musical convention of showing a diorama of broadly painted relationships across a bustling cityscape to something more aching and internal." (Lucia Mauro for The Chicago Tribune) "Beyond the troupe's desire to bask in the rarely tapped well of blues music, it presented a sophisticated program that exhibited comedy and emotional depth." (Lucia Mauro for The Chicago Tribune) “The sort of deep and magical evening of dance and performance that makes one's heart inexplicably soar.” (Chicago Tribune) “A remarkable evening of dance, theater, music and art.” (Chicago Sun-Times) “Some of the most exuberant yet natural partnering I've seen in a long time.” (Chicago Reader) In 1985, Jan Bartoszek founded Hedwig Dances as a vehicle to develop and perform her own choreography and provide a base for her educational touring programs. Since its founding, the company's size has more than doubled, and outreach, mentoring and cross-cultural collaboration programs have all been successfully added. The expansion of Hedwig Dances from its modest beginnings to its current form was a response to the urgent need in Chicago's dance community for leadership and support. In 1990, the demise of MoMing Dance & Arts Theater, a very well regarded center for dance, combined with the loss of two repertory companies propelled dance into a crisis. Individual dancers, choreographers and small dance companies looking for space, schools interested in arts education, individuals looking for instruction, and audiences eager for performances all were under-served. Hedwig Dances came forward to help fill this need. In 1992, Commissioner Lois Weisberg recognized Hedwig Dances' strong leadership and programming and invited us to become the dance company in-residence at the Chicago Cultural Center. This opportunity—which affords Hedwig studio space in one of the Loop's landmark buildings—catalyzed Hedwig Dances' growth and success. Hedwig has been commissioned and presented at: * Ravinia Festival * Dance For Life at Navy Pier's Skyline Stage * Dance Chicago at the Athenaeum Theater * The Steppenwolf Theater * The Grand Opening of Navy Pier * Art a la Carte, a benefit for the Arts and Business Council of Chicago * Toast to the Cultural Center, with Mayor and Mrs. Richard M. Daley * Tangente in Montreal, Quebec * Northlight Theater * The Dance Center of Columbia College * Northwestern University * Televised appearances at the Harold Washington Library Series and Channel 20's Art Special From the Chicago Tribune Hedwig Dances the blues Hedwig finds connection to the blues By Lucia Mauro Special to the Tribune Jan Bartoszek, founder/artistic director of Chicago's Hedwig Dances, extends the rhythmic reach of modern dance through her latest collaboration with local blues pioneer Erwin Helfer. The 19-year-old company's engagement, which opened Thursday at the Dance Center of Columbia College, linked live pianist Helfer's boogie-woogie stylings to the wittily tough- edged movements of seven dancers in the world premiere of Bartoszek's "Blues Dances." Beyond the troupe's desire to bask in the rarely tapped well of blues music, it presented a sophisticated program that exhibited comedy and emotional depth; struggle and redemption. Throughout this 90-minute concert, the human need for connection was interpreted in distinct, thoughtful ways by four choreographers. Bartoszek's loose-limbed but intricate ensemble work — enhanced by Margaret Nelson's seductive midnight-blue lighting — achieves some extraordinary feats in terms of humanizing movement. In "Blues Dances," Bartoszek strips down the Broadway musical convention of showing a diorama of broadly painted relationships across a bustling cityscape to something more aching and internal. The sense of feeling lonely in a crowd is conveyed through a series of rough-and- tumble solos amid the tug-o-war swaying of dancers, who cling to each other or push away their partners at a blues club. The choreographer keeps the movement real and understated. A suggestively cocky strut, a tap on the arm or a lustful pounce reveals individuals' daily search for companionship more effectively than exaggerated gestures. Performers Christopher McCray and Maray Gutierrez bridge the gap between athletic virtuosity and an uncontrived vulnerability. Choreographer Renee Wadleigh takes the quest for intimacy to a clever multimedia level. Set to Michael Nyman's lighthearted pastoral score, "One, Two (and a Half), Three" is a tragicomic sextet with commedia dell'arte-style costumes by Cybele Moon. Besides the work's compositional integrity, it features a live video feed that transforms the dancers into precarious mountain climbers. The artists position themselves in different formations across a keyboardlike runner on the floor, which is projected upright against the back wall. The video feed seems to address the challenges of making contact. The work conveys a Mozartean whimsy. And the exquisitely gifted Mei-Kuang Chen, as she desperately twirls with a rose, makes the eternal search for love strangely heartbreaking. Also on the bill was Sheldon B. Smith's commentary on global discord, "How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb." Chen, Gutierrez and Kim Larimore engage in a literal and figurative Tower of Babel as they order each other around in different languages. There are some stingingly comic moments, especially a series of screams and skips set to Beethoven. It's obvious Smith is addressing unresolved national power struggles. But the piece tends to flail about in fragmented confusion. Jin-Wen Yu's quirkily structured "Duet #1" highlights Chen's effortless-looking versatility and Victor Alexander's gentle strength in this study of optical illusions and unexpected partnering. |
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