Department of Cultural Affairs Announces Fall Theater & Dance Schedule

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is pleased to announce its fall season of theater and dance performances and residencies. The DCASE Theater and Dance series presents critically-acclaimed local, national and international music, theater, dance and multidisciplinary artists, newly commissioned works and Chicago premieres.

New this fall at the Chicago Cultural Center and the Storefront Theater is the first annual SpinOff dance series, October 6-November 3. This month-long celebration of contemporary dance will present work by Midwest-based choreographers and dance companies. All performances are free and feature Chicago and world premieres and excerpts from works-in-progress. A complete schedule will be released in September.

Performance locations include the Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.) and the Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph St.). Admission is free or low cost for all DCASE Theater and Dance events. For event details, visit cityofchicago.org/dcase.

Fall 2013 DCASE Theater and Dance Schedule:

The Sideshow Theatre Company production of 9 Circles is the story of Private Daniel Reeves, who was never good at anything except being in the army. Now, he stands accused of a horrific war crime and as he awaits his day of judgment, a surreal progression of lawyers, clergy and his own memories carry him deeper and deeper into his crimes. Inspired by a true story, 9 Circles is award-winning playwright Bill Cain's searingly-relevant and razor-sharp look at the search for life in a place that seems made to extinguish it. To purchase tickets, visitsideshowtheatre.org

Storefront Theater
September 5-October 6 (Previews: August 29-31, September 4, 7:30 p.m.)
Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.

Celebrate contemporary dance at SpinOff, a month-long series of work by emerging and mid-career Midwest-based choreographers and dance companies. The inaugural year of SpinOff will feature world premieres by Every House Has a Door (Chicago) and Kate Corby & Dancers (Madison, WI), and Chicago premiers by Body Cartography (Minneapolis, MN) and Neijla Yasemin Yatkin/NY2 (Chicago). Audiences will also experience excerpts and works-in-progress by Chicago-based companies The Seldoms, Red Clay Dance Company, Esoteric Dance Project and Kristina Isabelle Dance. A complete schedule will be released soon.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio, Storefront Theater
October 6-November 3, start times vary

From The Strange Tree Group, The Dead Prince is a rambunctious, "fairly family-friendly fairy tale muzikal" scripted by Jeff Award-winning playwright Emily Schwartz and directed by Paul Holmquist. This world premiere follows the story of a young princess who is told at an early age that her true love has died and that the two of them are destined never to meet, for he is dead and she... alive. Soon she discovers it is possible to sneak across the void and steal him back. But does pulling someone from the brink inflict more damage than you think? To purchase tickets, visit strangetree.org.

Storefront Theater
November 17-December 22
Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m. (No performance on Thanksgiving)
In the Works Presentations

The In the Works residency program gives emerging and established performing artists the opportunity to test-drive new work in a public setting. Each residency is tailored to the needs of the artist or company and their project. Each showing is a unique opportunity for audiences to get a behind-the-scenes look at new work by Chicago artists. All presentations are free.

Donald Gecewicz's, a reading of Magic Lantern, set in 1907 Italy's first film studio. This new play asks if technology reveals more beauty in humanity or simply exposes us

Chicago Cultural Center Studio Theater
September 30, 6:30 p.m.

The Transatlantic Project is a year-long collaboration between Red Clay Dance and the Keiga Dance Company from Uganda. Together they are creating a new dance work exploring the similarities and differences in the two companies' choreographic process. This work-in-progress showing is part of the SpinOff dance series.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio
October 6, 2 p.m.

Three dance companies split the bill on October 13. Where Power Lies is a new dance theater work-in-progress from The Seldoms exploring the paradoxes surrounding political power, ethics and social change. Chiaroscuro, presented by the Esoteric Dance Project delves into the fascinating emotional contrast of light and dark and the ultimate affect that it has on a composition as a whole. Kristina Isabelle Dance will present an excerpt of The Floating City, a multi-media production inspired by the writings of Haruki Murakami. This work-in-progress showing is part of the SpinOff dance series.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio
October 13, Noon

In the art of immersive engagement, REVIVAL, a work-in-progress by Eric Hoff & Jesse Morgan Young and Salonathon, is part dance party and part performance art featuring 10 of Chicago's hottest performance artists, dancers and DJs.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio
Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27, 11 p.m. (Doors open at 10 p.m.)

Mariposa Nocturna by Stephanie Diaz is a work-in-progress inspired and influenced by the Quay Brothers, Marta Carrasco, Ukiyo-e, Grey Gardens, silent-era film and Butoh; striving to present a contemporary, interdisciplinary approach to both classical puppetry forms and Latin-American folklore in a performance setting that walks the line between theatre and performance art.

Chicago Cultural Center Studio Theater
October 28, 6:30 p.m.

Presented by The Inconvenience, this puppetry and dance workshop presentation aims to explore the themes of memory, loss and the uncanny by juxtaposing the familiarity of the personal body with the unearthly form of the Bunraku Puppet. A peek into the cellar of the self, this fusion of forms seeks to bring out the haunted in the homely.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio
December 7, 6:30 p.m. and December 8, 2 p.m.

The Conviction of Pearl Dakota is a work-in-progress created and directed by Jillian Soto and inspired by observations at Chicago's Richard J. Daley Center's traffic court over six months.

Chicago Cultural Center Studio Theater
December 14, 6:30 p.m. and December 15, 2 p.m.

Swath, presented by Rachel Damon/Synapse Arts, explores the clash of the accepted brutality of nature with order and urbanity. Damon will also present "You're so Stubborn", a solo.

Chicago Cultural Center Dance Studio
December 16, 6:30 p.m.

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