Chicago was abuzz on Friday, May 1. There were the traditional labor union marches and protests, with helicopters flying over downtown and bordering neighborhoods. The energy was also high outside of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. South Chicago Dance Theatre (SCDT) was hosting a performance before its Inaugural Legacy Builders Benefit. Not only has the company grown into an internationally known dance ensemble, but it has evolved into an educational and community organization in Chicago, bringing the arts to the public system.
Founder and artistic director Kia S. Smith started SCDT with her graduate school stipend nine seasons ago, and since then, the company has been established as one of the best in the constellation of Chicago dance organizations. The lineup for the night included three world premieres and a reprise of choreographer Donald Byrd's In Within from 2024 to open the show. It was a perfect opening to the performance, contemplative and evocative of humankind's genesis and interconnectedness. SCDT dancers are like watching art in motion. A moment recalled DaVinci's Vitruvian Man study in anatomy. The musculature of every dancer was enhanced by the exquisite fit of the costumes, which revealed the structure of the movements.
The second dance was the world premiere of Smith's Suite on the Sahara. In the program, Smith mentions a "range of movement vocabularies." The definition became evident with the mix of different disciplines folded into the modern dance genre. The music for this flowing, sensuous work is by the Silk Road Ensemble, an evolving group of musicians with a range of musical vocabularies. Smith's choreography is unique and invigorating to watch. I felt as if I were soaring through the air and spinning with the dancers. Suite on the Sahara was an exhilarating ride like a shot of adrenaline.
The third item was Slip Force, choreographed by Natasha Adorlee. It was a narrative dance that examined gender roles, expectations, and systems that restrict people to certain roles. Slip Force featured four dancers from the ensemble: Trey Alexander, Mya Bryant, Chloe Chandler, and Jack Halbert. There was a backlit teepee with a woman's figure in shadow, resembling Whistler's Mother by James McNeill Whistler. David Goodman-Edberg's lighting design was perfectly balanced, revealing other mini sets. A chess set was opposite the teepee, and a train set was running upstage from the teepee. The props served as suggestions for gendered roles and facilitated the rebellion. The music was a blend of Sufi, Lebanese, and Icelandic, combined with traditional classical. I saw the underlying theme of the "othering" of people by gender and ethnicity. It was a tour de force unlike anything I have seen.
The finale was a blizzard of dance and dialogue against a bare stage, exposing the rows of lights above and in the wings. Trey Alexander's costume design for this was a melange of wild patterns and textures. It was a crazy quilt of joy and resistance. Subject(s)Verb Object! appealed to me on several levels. I am a grammar nerd and used to love diagramming sentences. The choreographed chaos of Subject(s)Verb Object! defied traditional dance. They moved in unison but not with the same steps. I compared this to a blizzard, and just as no snowflake is alike, each dancer was a kinetic display, working like the cogs of a machine, creating a gorgeous dancescape.
I highly recommend that you add South Chicago Dance Theatre to your arts calendar for Season 10. SCDT is another jewel in Chicago's arts scene. Check out their website and their YouTube channel
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