CDI/Concert Dance Inc. Returns to Ruth Page Festival of Dance at Ravinia This Week

CDI/Concert Dance, Inc. returns as part of the 2015 Ruth Page Festival of Dance at Ravinia this week, Sept. 1 & 2 at 7:30 p.m., in Bennett Gordon Hall, 200 Ravinia Park Rd., Highland Park.

This performance, which includes a world premiere titled, Fly Me To The Moon, choreographed by CDI's Emmy-nominated choreographer Artistic Director Venetia Stifler concludes a summer season that celebrated the milestone birthdays of two central figures in jazz: Frank Sinatra, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated this year and the 80th birthday of Ramsey Lewis. This engagement marks CDI's, one of Chicago's leading contemporary dance companies, 12th year performing as part of the Ruth Page Festival of Dance at Ravinia and the retirement of veteran dancer and choreographer Victor Alexander.

Reserved seating tickets are available for $10 and may be purchased at www.ravinia.org or via phone by calling 847.266.5100. No lawn seating will be available. For more information on CDI the Ruth Page Festival of Dance, please visit www.ruthpage.org.

Victor Alexander has been with CDI for more than 12 years, performing in the many of the company's iconic works. Included in Dance Magazine's prestigious "25 to Watch in 2013" list, Alexander is known for his riveting stage presence as he mixes formidable technique he gained in the rigorous training ground of Cuban dance schools with facility at theatrical interpretation. Alexander is currently the director of the Ruth Page School of Dance, having joined the artistic and administrative team of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the summer of 2013. As both director of the Ruth Page School of Dance and co-director of the Ruth Page Civic Ballet, he continues a tradition of exceptional training and mentoring of the next generation of the nation's best young dancers.

The full program includes:

Fly Me To The Moon (World Premiere) - Commissioned by The Ravinia Festival

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Music: Frank Sinatra

El Salon (2010) - Commissioned by The Ravinia Festival

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Music: Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein performed live by artists from Northeastern Illinois University's music department, Kay Kim and Susan Tang

Four Last Songs (2014) - Commissioned by The Ravinia Festival

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Music: Richard Strauss featuring live music by Soprano Christina Kaolyanides

Meetings Along the Edge (2007) - Commissioned by The Ravinia Festival

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Music: Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar

About CDI/Concert Dance Inc. - Founded in 1981, CDI/Concert Dance Inc. is the official contemporary dance company and an Artist In-Residence of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. CDI creates and presents contemporary works that evolve from a choreographic collective under the artistic direction of Emmy Award-nominated choreographer, Venetia Stifler, often using live music, video and other media to enhance the process and product. This approach to dance and choreography drives the company's artistic vision and sets an example of artistic collaboration. CDI has evolved from a repertory company into a dance collective and artistic incubator; a unique community of collaborators within a growing organism that changes with every new dance that is made. The choreography that is currently presented by CDI comes out of this creative process. Because the dancers are both highly trained technically and active in the development of the movement vocabulary, their skills of improvisation and ability to create visual imagery results in work that is not only of the highest caliber, but also artistically proficient and emotionally satisfying.

About the Ruth Page Center for the Arts - An incubator of artistic energy and excellence and the center of Chicago's dance history, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts carries forward the vision of international dance icon Ruth Page to make dance accessible to everyone, ensuring that children and dance artists have a place to study, work and perform at the highest level of excellence. Located at 1016 N. Dearborn Street, the Center serves the Chicago dance community by being an incubator, providing a home, office space, rehearsal space, performance opportunities, professional dance training and marketing support for the up-and-coming companies and artists of Chicago's vibrant dance scene. Founded by Chicago icon and internationally-renown performer and choreographer, Ruth Page, the Center reflects her vision of supporting dance excellence in Chicago. Emanating from the Illinois heartland, the visionary work of Ruth Page influenced the growth of theater design, opera-ballet and dance. She achieved worldwide recognition as a true pioneer of dance in America by creating at the forefront of social, political and artistic issues. As a prominent force in the Chicago arts community, the Ruth Page Center for the Arts continues that legacy through its initiatives and programs that nurture the art form of dance, and by being an arts incubator for emerging and established artists and organizations.

About Venetia Stifler - Venetia Stifler, Emmy-nominated choreographer and director, is the Executive and Artistic Director of The Ruth Page Center for the Arts and is also the Artistic Director of CDI/Concert Dance Inc., the official contemporary dance company of the Ruth Page Center, which performs choreography by Stifler and other leading contemporary artists while also exploring and re-envisioning Ruth Page's work. Since becoming The Ruth Page Center for the Arts' Executive and Artistic Director in 2000, Stifler has helped to bring into greater focus the its mission of ensuring that children and dance artists have a place to study, work and perform at the highest level of excellence Stifler has choreographed over 25 major works, including the critically-acclaimed "The Chicago Project," a collaborative work combining original music and photography that used Chicago's rich architectural landscape as a vibrant backdrop. Her re-envisioned production of Ruth Page's groundbreaking 1947 "ballet carton" "Billy Sunday" came alive again in 2007 with several stage productions and in the PBS documentary produced by HMS Media. A two-year project, "Billy Sunday" not only brought this masterpiece work to new audiences, but also garnered several Emmy nominations from The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Stifler served, and continues to serve, as Artistic Director for the Ruth Page Dance Series (RPDS), a festival of dance she created in honor of Ms. Page to showcase the rich variety of dance styles and artists in Chicago and which is produced in conjunction with Northeastern Illinois University. The RPDS has produced over 40 Chicago area dance companies in the last 17 years in venues throughout the Chicagoland area and in 1999 was part of the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, garnering a "Best of the Fest" by the Sunday Times of Scotland.

CDI/Concert Dance, Inc. returns as part of the 2015 Ruth Page Festival of Dance at Ravinia Tuesday, Sept. 1 and Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m., in Bennett Gordon Hall, 200 Ravinia Park Rd., Highland Park. This performance, which includes a world premiere titled, Fly Me To The Moon, concludes a summer season that celebrated the milestone birthdays of two central figures in jazz: Frank Sinatra, whose 100th birthday is being celebrated this year and the 80th birthday of Ramsey Lewis. This engagement marks CDI's, one of Chicago's leading contemporary dance companies, 12th year performing as part of the Ruth Page Festival of Dance at Ravinia. Reserved seating tickets are available for $10 and may be purchased at www.ravinia.org or via phone by calling 847.266.5100. No lawn seating will be available. For more information on CDI the Ruth Page Festival of Dance, visit www.ruthpage.org.

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