Luna Negra and MCA Present LUNA NUEVA, Now thru 6/10

Luna Negra Dance Theater and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, launch a new initiative this summer called Luna Nueva. An extension of Luna Negra’s mission to showcase the works of Latino choreographers from around the world, Luna Nueva features works from emerging and established Latino choreographers whose movement style and artistic voices extend beyond the conventional aesthetics of dance and focus on the “art of movement.” The partnership between Luna Negra and the MCA highlights both organizations’ shared commitment to support emerging artists in the contemporary field. Luna Negra and MCA Stage present Luna Nueva in four performances only at the Edlis Neeson Theater of the MCA, 220 E. Chicago Avenue, tonight, June 7 – Sunday, June 10 at 7:30 pm each night.

The first program of Luna Nueva will feature three works, including a World Premiere by Argentinean guest choreographer Diana Szeinblum. Currently based in Buenos Aries, Szeinblum studied and danced with the Folkwang Tanz Schule in Germany under the artistic direction of Pina Bausch. Since then she has created dance and theater pieces that have toured throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Her latest work, Alaska, toured through the U.S. in 2008. For Luna Negra Dance Theater she will create an original full-company work.

Also on the program is the World Premiere of Requiem by Luna Negra company dancer and rehearsal director Mónica Cervantes. Cervantes crafts a work for six dancers exploring the idea of pathways, both literal and metaphorical, and how the life path that each person chooses (or doesn’t choose) shapes who they are, always a part of them and influencing which path they choose next.

Completing the program will be the U.S. Premiere of En Busca de (In Search of) by Luna Negra Artistic Director Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, a piece for two women and four men originally created for IT Dansa (Barcelona) in 2009. “I’ve dedicated this piece to one of my teachers, Marta Munso, who was also a choreographer and who helped me to find what I was ‘in search of’,” said Sansano. “There is a kind of ‘happy anxiety’ when you are waiting for the next big thing to happen in your life but you have no idea what it is or how to get to it. For me, Marta helped me during this time.” A tall, slender column serves as the sole set piece for En Busca de (designed by Sansano’s longtime collaborator Luis Crespo), representing the solemn, guiding presence of a mentor overlooking the fast and frenetic movement of the dance. Sansano’s work is set to music by Holst, Tchaikovsky and Bedrich Smetana.

Tickets
Individual tickets are $28. Student tickets are $10 and subject to availability. For information and tickets, call the MCA Box Office at 312-397-4010 or visit www.mcachicago.org. One free museum admission is granted with an MCA Stage ticket stub, valid up to seven days after the performance.

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