Visceral Dance Chicago to Return to Harris with SPRINGFOUR

Visceral Dance Chicago will continue its fourth season offerings with SPRINGFOUR at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, the third mainstage Chicago performance of the company's fourth season.

It will include a world premiere, entitled Synapse, by Artistic Director Nick Pupillo, as well as the technically-charged Minor Threat from Canadian-based choreographer Mark Godden. The SPRINGFOUR program will also mark the return of Pupillo's Atlas and Mónica Cervantes' exploration of fast paced relationships in our modern day, Changes (2014).

Pupillo's Atlas returns to the mainstage, a work which revolves around "the weight of the heavens upon one's shoulders," inspired by humanity's passionate needs. Set to music by The Turin String Quartet, the work explores the responsibility and expectation placed upon each and every individual, and the beauty inherent in striving for what is important to us.

Changes by Mónica Cervantes returns to the stage by high demand. Named by Dance Magazine as one of "25 to Watch" internationally for 2013, Cervantes' Changes imbeds snapshots and vignettes from daily life within driving and abstract ensemble movement.

Mark Godden comes from Montreal to bring us Minor Threat, an incredibly technical ballet which showcases each of the dancers' versatility and strength. [Choreography to Mozart's Piano Concerto in D minor No. 20] Mark Godden's "Minor Threat is a delicate and vigorous creation, graced with vernacular episodes that are as grounded and as heavenly as its score".

Pupillo's world-premiere Synapse, commissioned for Visceral Dance Chicago by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance with support from the Pamela Crutchfield Dance Fund through the Imagine Campaign, is an LED-light immersive experience that will stimulate the audience with a responsive interaction with music, dance and lighting. Electrical energy joins together the driving house beat of Darryl Hoffman's work with the technicality and provocativeness of Visceral Dance Chicago.

Visceral is proud to return to the Harris Theater for SPRINGFOUR on April 8th, 2017 at 7:30 PM.

Nick Pupillo, Founder and Artistic Director of Visceral Dance Chicago, graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Ballet. In 2001, Pupillo joined the acclaimed Giordano Dance Chicago where he toured nationally and internationally for three years. Pupillo decided in 2006 to train and mentor young talent by developing the prestigious Visceral Studio Company.

In 2007, he founded Visceral Dance Center to provide the Chicago community with a new venue for artistic and technical growth. This facility continues to be a Chicago dance landmark. TimeOut Chicago lists Visceral Dance Center as "A bustling, well-appointed facility...with instructors from top companies and in-demand guest teachers." Utilized by a number of Chicago-based companies, Visceral Dance Center is home to its resident company, Visceral Dance Chicago.

Pupillo founded Visceral Dance Chicago in the fall of 2013. This repertory company presents his daring vision to explore the infinite possibilities of contemporary movement. The dancers of Visceral demonstrate this choreographic invention and are recognized for their technique, passion, and athleticism. In less than three years, Pupillo has led the company in a forthright direction, establishing a repertoire described as "expertly devised and stylish as they come." (Laura Molzahn, Chicago Tribune) He created five signature works for the company, Impetere, Senza di te, My Realm, Sum Noir and She Three. He has also commissioned world premieres by Sidra Bell, Banning Bouldin, Monica Cervantes, Brian Enos, and Robyn Mineko Williams as well as company premieres by Ohad Naharin and Fernando Melo. Pupillo continues the company's bold vision this season, commissioning works by Marguerite Donlon, heightening the "distinct flavor to this fledgling company that differentiates it from the other high kick, high flair, contemporary dance companies." (Lauren Warnecke, Art Intercepts)

Pupillo has received various awards for his choreography, including "The Dance Chicago Outstanding Choreography Award" in 2005 and 2012 and "The Cliff Dwellers 2013 Choreographer of the Year." His work has been described as "a stroke of choreographic genius...complex, tumbling changes...in this portrait of perpetual motion." (Laura Molzahn, Chicago Tribune) "Nick Pupillo's world premiere piece, She Three, was by far one of the most visually stunning performances I have encountered thus far." (Rebecca Curl, Chicago Stage Standard) Pupillo is frequently invited to conduct master classes in the U.S. and around the world and has taught for the Jazz Dance World Congress, Chicago Dance Connection and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. Pupillo is currently an artist in residence at Culver Academies.

Guest artist Mark Godden, choreographer and dancer (b at Dallas, Texas 21 Sept 1958), initially studied to be an actor but 1981 at the age of 20 he enrolled at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School's professional division and entered the RWB company upon graduating 3 years later.

Godden quickly became a soloist with the company, dancing leading roles in Classic and Neo-classical ballets. He became know in his work by European modernists such as Hans van Manen, Rudi van Dantzig and Jiri Kylian. By the mid-1980s he was beginning to create ballets himself, and while he continued to dance into the 1990s, it rapidly became evident that his future lay in choreography. Many of his early choreographic experiments were conducted at the RWB's annual choreographic workshop, Fast Forward.

In 1989 Godden won the Clifford E. Lee choreographic award for Sequoia, now in the repertoire of several companies; his 1990 composition, Myth, won the year's top honour for new choreography at the International Ballet Competition in Varna; and in 1991 he shared first prize for new choreography at the International Ballet Competition in Helsinki for La Princesse et le Soldat.

Mark Godden has created original works for Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre (studio company), Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, Northern Ballet Theatre(UK), Ballet Florida, Compania Nacional de Danza (Mexico), Ballet Contemporania (Argentina), Ballet Memphis, Alberta Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Met, Charlotte Ballet to name a few.

Godden is Resident Choreographer for the prestigious Harid Dance Conservatory and was Resident Choreographer for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Godden won Top Honors in both Varna, Bulgaria and Helsinki, Finland international ballet competitions. He is a recipient of the notable Choo-San Goh award and Godden's full-length ballet, Dracula, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award.

Dracula was adapted for film (Directed by Guy Maddin) and won an Emmy for Best Performing Arts Film. Godden was awarded Best Choreography at The Monaco Film Festival for Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary. Godden's full- length Magic Flute, produced into film and directed by Barbara Willis Sweete, won a Gemini for Best Ensemble Performance.

Godden Directed and Choreographed the 2006 Olympic Games Flag Hand-over Ceremony in Torino, Italy.

In 2014 Godden's full length ballet "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation" was a three year project based on the forced assimilation of Canada's First Nations Peoples The ballet premiered to rave reviews in Winnipeg: "Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation may be the most important dance mounted by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in its illustrious 75 year history"(Robert Enright-CBC).

2015 Godden created new works for UNAM (Mexico City), Jalisco Ballet (Guadalajara) "Scheherazade"- and he remounted his Midsummer Nights Dream in Memphis.

Presently, Mark is creating a new work for the Harid Students and staging As Above, So Below for the Nacional Ballet company in Lima, Peru. In the fall Mark is staging Angels in the Architecture for Milwaukee Ballet, Dracula for Royal Winnipeg Ballet and creating a new work for Ballet Memphis-a comedic ballet based on Catherine de Medici.

Founded in 2013 by Artistic Director Nick Pupillo, Visceral Dance Chicago is a contemporary Dance Company dedicated to a bold and progressive world of movement. In less than three years, the company has developed a diverse and respected repertoire. With works by distinguished choreographers Sidra Bell, Mónica Cervantes, Robyn Mineko Williams, Brian Enos, Banning Bouldin, Harrison McEldowney, Fernando Melo, Marguerite Donlon, Ohad Naharin, and Pupillo, Visceral Dance Chicago continues to challenge audiences' expectations. In January of 2015, Visceral Dance Chicago was named one of Dance Magazine's 25 to Watch, recognizing the company's accomplishments and potential in the national community. "Visceral Dance Chicago breathes life into the Chicago arts community with their ability to intertwine complex human emotions with the raw beauty of dance and physical movement." (Chicago Stage Standard)

Visceral Dance Chicago began their fourth season performing at the 25th Anniversary of Dance For Life, followed closely by a fall engagement at the Harris Theater presenting two new works by Erica Sobol and Artistic Director Nick Pupillo. In the spring of their 2016-2017 season, the company is creating a full-length collaboration with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, entitled The Dream, premiering at the Harris Theater on March 5. Their SPRINGFOUR engagement at the Harris will include the work Minor Threat by Canadian-based choreographer Mark Godden as well as a new work by Pupillo entitled Synapse, commissioned by the Harris Theater itself. Completing the season, Visceral Dance Chicago will return with the fourth edition of SOLUS, a signature evening of solos. In an "expertly devised and stylish" (Chicago Tribune) repertoire, Visceral Dance Chicago distinguishes its unique position in the Chicago, national, and international dance communities; "...the buzz about this troupe is more than justified" (Chicago Sun-Times). Nick Pupillo, Founder/Artistic Director, Visceral Dance Chicago, Visceral Dance Center. Visit www.visceraldance.com for more.

The Harris Theater is Chicago's primary residence for music and dance, connecting diverse audiences with outstanding artists from across the city, the nation, and the world. The Theater's activities fall under three central strategies: support for local music and dance companies, community engagement and educational programs, and presentation of national and International Artists. The Harris Theater's original group of 12 resident companies has grown to include 35 diverse organizations. Through these partnerships, the Theater has earned national recognition as a distinctive model for collaboration, performance, and artistic advancement.

Opened on November 8, 2003, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance was the first multi-use performing arts venue to be built in the Chicago downtown area since 1929. Today the Theater continues to host the most diverse offerings of any venue in Chicago, featuring the city's world-renowned music and dance institutions and the Harris Theater Presents series of acclaimed national and International Artists and ensembles.

To learn more about the Harris Theater, visit HarrisTheaterChicago.org. Call the Box Office at 312.334.7777 to request a brochure or additional information. The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Chicago's state-of-the art 1,525-seat performance venue, can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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