Dance for Life is a fantastic event that brings together the best Chicago dance companies and the best dance audience. The proceeds go to the Dancers’ Fund, which provides financial assistance to dance community professionals in their time of need due to a medical issue. It’s a celebration of the dance community and its ability to care for its own.

This year had a much different feel than those in the past. Firstly, it took place in the Pritzker Pavilion instead of Auditorium Theatre. The larger space gave it a much more expansive feel. Secondly, this was the first performance for most of the companies since the pandemic began. You could see the excitement on the dancers’ faces in finally being able to perform again.

Here is a list of the next performance by the dance companies that participated in this year’s Dance for Life.

Giordano Dance Chicago

59^th Season Fall Series: Illuminate

October 22^nd and 23^rd

Harris Theatre

DanceWorks Chicago

DanceChance

September 24^th

Live on Zoom

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

FALL SERIES

RE/TURN

November 18, 19, 20, + 21, 2021

The Joffrey Ballet

Home: a Celebration

October 13–24, 2021

Lyric Opera House

South Chicago Dance Theatre

‘Lit-Anies’

Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival

Ruth Page Center for the Arts

October 8^th and 9^th

The following groups have not yet announced any future performances:

Movement Revolution Dance Crew

PARA.MAR Dance Theatre

Trinity Irish Dance Company

Visceral Dance Company

Quinn Delaney

It’s a beautiful summer night in Chicago and a great time to be on a rooftop to enjoy some theatre. The Yellow Rose has put together a series of short theatre pieces, aka, sketches, which they perform in front of a small audience.

The first piece, Absent Minds, begins a bit incognito. The host introduces a hypnotist who first asks for three volunteers. Before he even starts, they start acting like they are already hypnotized in a quite hilarious manner. Afterwards there are two more sketches by Sam Sage. Eye Doctor is about a very odd visit to the doctor’s office. The Button includes a button which causes people to switch bodies. Both of them are very funny concepts that have everyone fully engaged and laughing

ZZ Top Café by Joseph Zaki is about a date gone wrong. It starts off innocently enough and then spirals into a more complex outcome than expected.

Lastly is All The Bars We Loved by Anna Lee. It is presented as a funeral for all the bars that closed permanently due to the pandemic. It only seems serious for a moment before it becomes hilarious and ridiculous. It was an excellent way to end the night.

The entire cast displayed great acting chops. It included Anna Yee, Delysa R., Joe Bushell, Joseph Zaki, Katherine Wettermann, Kelly Levander, Sam Sage, Sean Frett, and Sophia Vitello. It was directed by Anna Yee, Joseph Zaki, and Sean Frett.

Look for updates on their website for information about future rooftop theatre events and an upcoming spring 2022 production.

See our review of their last production, Gigi’s Party, here.

Quinn

After two cancellations, Lindsey Stirling is finally taking the stage. The original date was August 10^th, 2020, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. The second date was August 10^th, 2021, which was cancelled last minute due to incoming storms. Thus, it is with great excitement that the audience cheers as she begins the opening number, “Artemis”, the title track from her latest album. 

  

  

It is immediately clear that this is no ordinary violin recital. As she enters the stage, Lindsey captures the audience by synchronizing her dance routine to her bow movements. Shortly after, four dancers join her in the choreography which sets the tone for a spectacular performance throughout the night. 

  

https://open.spotify.com/track/2JU81u88B4kWcFzWhU4dnk?si=cddcef06736f4afe

  

Later on, she tells a story about how she has long idolized Amy Lee, the lead singer of Evanescence. After numerous failed attempts, she finally is able to collaborate with her hero. The joy is clearly visible on her face as she launches in, “Love Goes On And On” with a video of Amy Lee singing in the background. The integration of this prerecorded video and the live instrumentation is flawless! 

  

Throughout the show, Lindsey entertains the audience both during and in between songs. At one point, she shares a story about coming to Chicago many years ago and going to Lou Malnati’s for pizza. Upon learning that they don’t just sell individual slices and that she would need to wait 45 minutes, she decides to go outside and find someone to have pizza with her. After a few failed attempts, one guy finally accepts. They have good conversation and enjoy the pizza. She still has his number in her phone listed as “Chicago Tom”. Someone in the audience yells out, “That’s me! I’m Chicago Tom!” Is it really him? We’ll never know as he wasn’t loud enough for her to confirm. 

  

A major highlight of the performance occurs when Lindsey is attached to a harness and lifted up in the air as she continues to play the violin. Shortly after, she continues to keep her audience at the edge of their seats as she does the same thing upside down! While her talent is a violinist is truly captivating, her ability to engage her audience with story-telling and synchronized dance movements that make her a triple threat. It is evident that this show has been well-crafted to create a full entertainment experience. 

  

Quinn Delaney 

Chances are, if you live in Chicago, you have seen the Blue Man Group.  They have been at the Briar Street Theater since 1997.  What you may not know is that the show continues to evolve.  Some of the best parts remain the same.  The Cap’n Crunch, marshmallows, three notepads flipping faster than you can read simultaneously, and paint on the drums scenes are worth seeing a second time. There are also new scenes. One of them involves the blue men riding a virtual roller coaster. One of the men passes out and wails around like a rag doll in a truly hilarious fashion! 

  

  

Chicago’s production has also added parts of the Blue Man Group’s “Megastar World Tour”, a rock concert parody.  The audience is instructed to go through the seven rock concert movements, such as one hand rocking, raising the roof, and throwing your hands in the air like you just don’t care.  By this point in the show, it’s clear the actors play off the energy of the crowd, so everyone is happy to play along.  

  

  

To keep the show Covid safe, everyone is required to wear a mask. Also, volunteers are equipped with a face shield while they are on stage. 

  To close out the show, the blue men shoot confetti cannons into the audience! It’s a full-on rave! 

  

  

Overall, if you have already seen the Blue Man Group, it’s definitely worth attending again. And for all attending the show for the first time, prepare for a night of laughter, entertainment, and an overall fantastic night!   

Cost of a ticket: $67 and up
PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –
Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Get tickets now for Blue Man Group!  

Quinn 

Dennis Watkins is very charismatic as he explains each magic experiment. One of the these involves 4 paper bags in which one contains a nail pointing upwards. He then proceeds to smash the bags one by one based on which one an audience member chooses. The person choosing the bags was definitely more nervous than he was.

Throughout the show, the audience is mystified. Lots of oohs and ahs are heard after each trick is revealed. For example, one involves six random people choosing a number between 1 and 75. He has each of them type their number into a calculator and then hit plus or times. The result, 2,178,106, is found to have been written on a sheet of paper in a box that was placed on an audience member’s table at the very beginning of the show. And then, even more amazingly, it matched the serial number on a dollar bill used in a previous trick. This was outstanding and had everyone shocked.

Watkins is also very funny during the show as he interacts with the crowd. This is especially evident during the mentalist section. In this part, he attempts to read the mind of three people who have randomly chosen a number on a dice. Afterwards, he successfully figures out the name that someone wrote down just by asking them to picture the name written in the air. It is truly an impressive feat.

This show has been running for 10 years for a reason. It’s an expertly crafted show which all fans of magic should see!

Cost of a ticket: $79

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Get tickets now for The Magic Parlour.

Quinn Delaney

Lespecial is a heavy rock band that plays mostly instrumental songs. They blend in short riffs of other bands like Rage Against the Machine and Tool into their original songs. They also cover Primus and Slipnot this night. The influence of Incubus can be heard in their music as well. They skillfully blend all these artists into their own style.

Their full musical ability is put on display as they play through their originals such as “The Vessel”, “Repeater”, and “Egg Time”. The audience was fully engaged and dancing along for the entirety of their set. This band has a bright future ahead of them.

Cost of a ticket: $20
PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –
Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney

The Box Tops had a very short existence, lasting only from 1967 to 1970. However, during that time they created some great hits. The original bassist and guitarist, Billy Cunningham and Gary Talley front this current incarnation of the band. Alex Chilton was the original lead singer, who later fronted Big Star.

Throughout the night, the band members told stories about the songs. It was a half concert half history lesson experience as they mentioned all the legendary musicians they worked with throughout their careers. The list included Aretha Franklin, Elvis, Bob Dylan, and so many more.

They opened with “Cry Like a Baby” which made it all the way up to number two on the pop charts. They joked about it not quite making it to number one.

Later on they played “I’m Your Puppet”, which was first recorded by James & Bobby Purify. This is such a fun little song that puts a smile on everyone’s face.

For their penultimate song, they played their biggest hit, “The Letter”. It spent 4 weeks at number one on the Billboard charts. It’s such a great track, and also so quick. It clocks in at just 1 minute and 52 seconds.

Lastly, they closed with “Rock Me Baby” by BB King as one of a number of tributes to Memphis, their home town. It was a great finale to a night full of excellent music.

Quinn

Located in the rugged San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, Purgatory Resort is only 25 miles north of historic downtown Durango. Carved by glaciers thousands of years ago, Purgatory provides stunning views of a high alpine landscape. Purgatory Resort’s base is more than 8,000 feet above sea level, and the summit is nearly 11,000 feet.  As people arrived for the Summer Fest they were greeted by a bustling summer scene of hikers, mountain bikers, and other people enjoying the Inferno Mountain Coaster and an Alpine Slide.

State 38 appeared to be right at home performing at the Purgatory Summer Brew Fest.  Surrounded by mountains, endless sunshine, and happy beer drinkers, the band opened their set with a beautiful bluesy rendition of The Grateful Dead’s “Deep Elem Blues.”  Later, Nancy Young’s soulful voice was highlighted in the band’s rendition of “Anyhow“ (Tedeschi Trucks Band).  This eclectic band continued to entertain with an upbeat tune titled, “So Right,” an original song written by guitarist Eric Johnson.  Jim North’s gravelly vocals performing Big Boss Man added to the diverse first set.  Throughout the afternoon, State 38 masterly covered songs from The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones and Talking Heads enhancing the mood of a beautiful summer afternoon in the mountains.  Ahhh, summer!

Delaney

It’s 11:30pm on Friday night at Wicker Park’s newest venue, The Point. Chicago Loud 9 aka Cloud 9 very successfully warmed up the crowd and now Midwest Hype takes the stage. They’ll need to keep the energy high and that’s exactly what they do. It’s their first Chicago show post pandemic and they are ready to rock.

The band mixes so many genres together. Reggae, rock, funk, and hip-hop are all represented. In this way, they draw comparisons to 311, who also blend many of these musical styles. The set is a continuous groove that keeps the audience dancing late into the night.

The lead singer/guitarist is George Matthew. The rhythm section is Max Kepler on drums and Nate Miller on bass. On keys is Kevin Krizmanich. The horn section is Ben Morrisey on sax and Scott Whitford on trumpet. Justin “Ideal” Diehl is the emcee.

Quinn Delaney