Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Will End 19th Season With Devised Performance On The Immigrant Experience
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Feb. 24, 2020
Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble has announced the final performance of its 2019-20 Art & Activism Performance Series, WHAT WE CARRIED, a documentary-style danztheatre work created by ensemble-members that brings to life the voices, stories, and struggles of asylum-seekers, featuring text pulled from interviews with local immigrants. The performance is also a collaboration with sculptural artist Jean Parisi, serving as both devised performance and immersive exhibition of her work. WHAT WE CARRIED will play May 8-16, 2020 at Chicago Danztheatre's permanent home, Ebenezer Lutheran Church Auditorium, 1650 W. Foster Ave. in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at danztheatre.org.
"This new work highlights the struggles and successes of waves of asylum seekers and immigrants from across the globe, all of which call Chicago home now," says director and deviser Maggie Robinson. "While we, the Ensemble, may not have directly immigrated ourselves, our families did, our ancestors did, and we bring our stories to this work as well honoring our families and the events we sought asylum from in our own paths. We see the unjust and unethical separation of families at the U.S. Border, and want to address the ways in which no human can be illegal."
WHAT WE CARRIED is devised and directed by CDE's interim artistic director, Maggie Robinson, and features CDE ensemble members Tony Springs and Molly Hillson, as well as newcomers Anna Bennett, Catherine Miller, ChihJou Cheng, Elisa Carlson, Joshua Miller, Koshi Mills, Mariah Larios, and Vanessa Strahan among the cast. WHAT WE CARRIED features sculpture art by Jean Parisi, sound design by Andrew Stefano, and lighting design by Cora Swise.
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: WHAT WE CARRIED
Devised and Directed by Maggie Robinson
Sculpture Art by Jean Parisi
Cast (In Alphabetical Order):
Catherine Miller
ChihJou Cheng
Joshua Miller
Koshi Mills
Mariah Larios
Molly Hillson (CDE Ensemble Member)
Tony Springs (CDE Ensemble Member)
Vanessa Strahan
Location: Ebenezer Lutheran Church Auditorium, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago
Dates:
Regular run: Friday, May 8 - Saturday, May 16, 2020. Performances on Friday and Saturday evenings.
House Open: 7:00 p.m.
Performances: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: General Advance: $19. General Door: $25. Student & Senior Advance (with ID): $10. Student & Senior Door (with ID): $15. Free to high-school and younger. Tickets are currently available at danztheatre.org.
About the Artists:
Maggie Robinson (Director, Deviser) is a multidisciplinary choreographer, performer, and teaching artist dedicated to presenting discussions surrounding socio-political issues through performative art. They hold a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance and a minor in Dance from the University of Memphis where they studied under Holly Lau and Moira Logan. They have been a teaching artist in the Tristate area and Chicagoland region for ten years where they emphasize co-creating and collaboration, students' artistic ownership of work, and devising techniques. As a choreographer, Maggie values a rehearsal process where all artist voices are utilized to create a personal yet universal message. They create pieces that primarily focus on womxn's perspective, the queer experience and the lgbtq+ community, and activism for equality of minority groups. Maggie began as a performance Ensemble member with CDE in 2016 and has since performed in Consumed, Chapter Three, Unraveling Bill, and most recently I Bet You Think This Dance is About You. They have co-directed A Memory A Monologue A Rant and A Prayer (2018) and have choreographed pieces for Body Passages and Women In Response since 2017 and will be making their full-length CDE debut this spring. Additional Chicago choreography credits include Carrie 2: The Rage (Underscore Theatre) and The Pirates of Penzance (Saltbox Theatre Collective). Regional credits include Almost, Maine, In the Soundless Awe (Saltbox Theatre Collective).
Jean Parisi (Space Designer, Artist Collaborator) is an artist, performer, and educator - a cultural activist collaborating with others in a creative effort to make a difference. Since 2010 she has created timely, large-scale, site-specific installations annually at Pilsen Open Studios. Her illustrations for Lionel Bottari's Folktale series have been a monthly feature in the Fra Noi, a national Italian American Magazine for over 25 years. Jean is a performer in the improvised physical tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte presenting her work throughout Chicago, across the US, and in Italy. In 1978 she co-founded the Pros Arts Studio, a community-based arts organization in the inner city Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago where she taught and worked as Executive Director until 2008. Jean Parisi is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist's Fellowship, the Public/Community Service Award from the Illinois Alliance for Arts Education, the Deep Roots Award from ElevArte Community Studio, and several Neighborhood Arts Project grants from the City of Chicago. Jean has an MFA in performance from the School of the Art Institute, and a BFA in sculpture from the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts).
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