Dance COLEctive to Offer Two Premieres & Revival this Fall

The Dance COLEctive (TDC), under the direction of award-winning choreographer, performer and teacher Margi Cole, and Links Hall present "Holding Ground," a concert program with two premieres and a revival. Performances are October 31, November 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. at Links Hall at Constellation, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago.

To place live performance in a 21st century context and engage with more of its potential audiences outside Chicago, TDC plans to stream one of these performances on YouTube. More details will follow.

Cole's as-yet unnamed new work features the whole company in a collision of ideas drawn from duet material developed last season, the current Internet obsession around quiz-taking and labeling yourself, personal truths and fear of change. Costumes are by Maggie Dianovsky.

In the spirit of TDC's "COLEctive Notions" concerts of the past few seasons, Cole is mentoring four-year company member Madelyn Doyle in creating a work that looks at the physical and mental necessities for an individual to develop a personal philosophy. Doyle noted, "The materials available to us, such as media, literature and individuals who specialize in specific areas, are the ingredients we use to form ourselves, but what do we ultimately need to create true individuality? Experience. Only then do we choose our path and honestly become what we are meant to be."

Cole performs Colleen Halloran's Middle of a Life (2003), a solo that reveals a woman's life decisions to this point in time. The movement acts as a mirror to illuminate the victories and regrets she has experienced along the way. Choreographer, filmmaker and educator Colleen Halloran has been making work for almost 20 years, including 35 works for the stage. She is intrigued by the intersection and manipulation of movement, image and story to arrive at a collective "whole." Cole and Halloran, who were students together at Columbia College Chicago, have been collaborating since the late 1980s.

Prior to "Holding Ground," TDC is participating in Peep Show October 6 at Links Hall, and Cole is teaching at the Tennessee Dance Festival October 17-19 in Chattanooga. Cole performs in Peter Carpenter Performance Project's Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #12: Dominant Collapse December 5-7 at Links Hall and travels to Dublin, Ireland January 11-24 for a teaching residency with Dance Ireland.

On May 1 and 2, Cole continues her collaboration with the Peter Carpenter Performance Project by performing in Rituals of Abundance for Lean Times #14 at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph Street, Chicago, presented in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

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