Amy Alt, Ann Boyd, and Marianne Kim
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The language of movement is difficult to master. All of these women are young, impressive dancers now trying their wings as choreographers in the Hedwig Dance Lab program, which serves as an incubator for them by providing rehearsal space, mentoring, and a series of showings during which choreographers and audience members discuss the dances. The final result is a fully produced concert like this one, “Seeing Triple,” which features lighting by Ken Bowen.
Bowen’s uncanny talent as a designer can bring out the depth in any dance. Not that his lighting is necessary to these five dances, but it proves a point. Alt, Boyd, and Kim are working in a rarefied, difficult environment. They have received guidance from some of Chicago’s top choreographers: Hedwig Dances artistic director Jan Bartoszek, X-Sight’s Timothy O’Slynne, Ballet Chicago’s Gordon Peirce Schmidt. They were nurtured. And the nurturing paid off.
Part of the thrill of Hedwig Dance Lab is feeling these choreographers grow more confident in their own voices. At times their expression is a little blurred. But their ideas are fresh and original, and their choreography strives to be honest and true.
