CDI to Present A WORLD OF DANCE Celebrating 25 Years & Venetia Stifler's NEIU Retirement

CDI/Concert Dance, Inc. returns to Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), 3701 West Bryn Mawr, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Ruth Page Dance Series with A World of Dance, Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5 at 7 p.m. The limited engagement not only celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Ruth Page Dance Series but also commemorates CDI's Artistic Director Venetia Stifler's retirement from the NEIU Department of Music & Dance Program. Both evenings will feature live musical accompaniment and five of Stifler's favorite works, ranging from her earliest choreography in 1981, "The Chicago Project," to last year's stunning Ravinia Festival-commission, "Fly Me To The Moon," as part of the Frank Sinatra Centennial Celebration. Also on the program will be special guest Ruth Page Civic Ballet, with a preview of its world premiere dance created as part of a 2015 cultural exchange with Cuba's Escuela Nacional de Ballet and partially funded by The MacArthur Foundation's International Connections Fund.

THE FULL PROGRAM INCLUDES:

The Chicago Project: Future Present (work in progress)

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Movement Development: The Company

Visual Design/Photography: Frank Vodvarka

Music: TBD

Overweight, Overwrought, Over You (1996)

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Baritone: Bob Heitzinger

Piano: Jane Kenas-Heller

Music: Thomas Pasatieri

Controlled Chaos (2011)

Choreography: Venetia Stifler and CDI Dancers

Music: Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald

Fly Me To The Moon (2015 Ravinia Commission)

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Movement Development: The Company

Music: Frank Sinatra

Soundscape: Venetia Stifler, Victor Sanders

When All Is Said And Done/German Songs (2008)

Choreography: Venetia Stifler

Movement Development: The Company

Music: Richard Strauss, Franz Schubert

Soprano: Christina Kaloyanides

Movements (Work in Progress)

(Collaborative project between Cuba's Escuela Nacional de Ballet

and the Ruth Page School of Dance)

Choreography: Victor Alexander

Music: Max Richter

Performed by Guest Artist: Ruth Page School of Dance

The March 5 performance also includes a benefit for the Ruth Chakos Scholarship Fund. The Ruth Chakos Scholarship Fund at NEIU is in honor of Ruth Chakos (1927-2009), mother of Venetia Stifler. The Fund was created by Stifler in 2009 as a means to help further the training of performing arts students. The benefit ticket includes the performance followed by a post-performance reception with the artists. Tickets for this benefit package are $40. For any questions, please contact Silvino da Silva at 312-337-6543. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.ruthpage.org.

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