CRDT recently launched an online fundraising campaign through Kickstarter and time is running out!

Our project aims to raise money for “New Works,” a showcase of original and innovative works featuring stunning live music and dance. With the intimate Hubbard Street Dance Center as its backdrop, “New Works” is a unique opportunity to explore new and original pieces. The goal is to help CRDT develop a library of works leading up to our annual Fall concert. Funds raised will also help spread the joy of dance to underserved youth in our community programs.

And we need your help.

We only have until April 23 to raise the funds, or we do not receive any of the pledges. We greatly need your assistance in spreading the word. If you aren’t able to contribute, passing on our link is just as helpful!

Please take a look at our project page here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cerquarivera/new-year-new-opportunity-new-works

Here are a few other ways you can help:

1. Pledge! Any amount is welcome, even $1 can help!

2. Post the link to you Facebook status or twitter account, and say something like this:

Check out this great project in Chicago celebrating diversity through original dance, live music and art! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cerquarivera/new-year-new-opportunity-new-works

3. “Like” our Kickstarter profile here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cerquarivera/new-year-new-opportunity-new-works

4. Send an email to your friends, family or anyone else who may be interested.

Thank you,

Ashley Fargnoli
Cerqua Rivera Teaching Artist, Little Village High School

On March 9, 2012, Wilfredo and I accompanied our Little Village High School students and some of their family members to see a performance by Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. Although many of the students had previously visited Millennium Park, this was their first opportunity to attend a live professional dance performance.

The overall excitement steadily grew as the group waited for the school bus in Little Village to take us downtown. The bus was diverted several times on the way to the theater, however we had just enough time to eat some chicken sandwiches before the show began.

As we found our seats in the upper balcony, we asked the students what they expected from the performance. They were excited and curious about what kind of dances they were about to see. One student noted that she was really interested in how the ideas would all come together as every dance is different, with different movements and music. Another student remarked that she thought that every dance has a different perspective and story. All of the students wanted to know if they would be able to recognize any movements that they have learned in our dance classes.

Giordano’s program, titled “ Passion and Fire” included 7 different works from their repertoire, dating from 1990 up until today with the world premier of Jolt. The works ranged from classic Giordano jazz pieces, to some that were more abstract, providing the students with a diverse selection of themes and movements to explore.

After the performance, the students journaled about their experiences. Everyone agreed that they would love to attend another performance in the near future. They began interpreting the dances that they watched and the stories that were told through movement. Some of the students commented on the costumes. A few of the students in particular enjoyed watching the solos. They were really impressed with the technical capabilities of all of the dancers and the amount of force and speed they exhibited. The students also enjoyed how everything seemed to fit together. At the same time, they were also vocal about the dances that they did not like as much and were able to pinpoint which aspects of the choreography that did not resonate as much with them.

This excursion brought me back to my first experience seeing a professional performance of The Nutcracker, performed by the Pennsylvania Ballet at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. My experience watching these professional dancers further sparked my interest to pursue a career in dance, and I eventually had the opportunity to dance on that very same stage. I had a tear in my eye as I sat in the theater and realized how fortunate I was to be able to witness these young dancers’ first experience attending a professional performance, wondering if they too would be inspired.

My work focuses on interactions with the world from a place centered on the individual. In my work, I explore a sense of place that allows for more meaningful connections with others in our immediate environment, culture and economy. How can we experience a sense of place through movement? How can we become more present in our society by learning about the history of the places that are important to us? Using my body to create a conversation about experiencing places, I connect with the world through my art-based practice in the hope that I will be able to engage others to critically think about the places we inhabit and the people we share them with.
My choreographic structure is based on the ABA musical structure. Stating a theme that is important to me, taking the viewer on a journey of my experiences and/or research and then back to the theme, reflecting on the process. My movement incorporates the many styles of dance that I have been extensively trained in over the years and the motivation behind creating my movement is a method that examines the mental structure of experience through physical engagement with place.

With the passing of Matt Lamb into “the next dimension” (to use his words), the CRDT family has been pausing to celebrate his remarkable, full life.

Those of us who were lucky enough to meet Matt in person (in my case, first at the CRDT Matt Lamb Tribute concerts in 2010) experienced first-hand his inspiring personality — someone who lived with gusto and joy, who took “the path of the risk-takers and visionaries.”

Wilfredo and Joe knew him and his family well, and he was one of the cofounders of Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre. We love him and continue to honor his generous, artistic spirit and commitment to peace and tolerance.

Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre needs help in the office. With all CRDT’s expansion, including a major increase in educational programming, the company is swamped.

You can help, and all we need is your vote. Intuit, the producer of QuickBooks and other business software, is offering $25,000 for one lucky business to hire a new staff person. We are in competition with businesses across the country. The company with the most votes wins.

If you’d like to help, log on to

http://lovealocalbusiness.intuit.com/business/Cerqua-Rivera-Dance-Theatre/304827?vtid=email_conf_fan

Then pick a screen name, add your email address (this will not be used, sold, or shared), write a brief blurb about CRDT, and VOTE.

Thank you!

The past three weeks of CRDT’s Arts infusion program have marked the beginning of our unit on dance improvisation, in addition to our regular training in jazz, modern and hip-hop. The students began exploring the intricacies of finding their inner dance a concept that might seem foreign for a group of high schoolers who normally are not used to improvising. From the onset, the young teenagers began to embrace the abstract nature of improvisation. They were prompted to translate their life storylines into unique movement phrases, coupled by journaling about their experiences moving through their stories. This was the first step in creating a more structured choreography that originates from the students. We also encouraged the students to discuss what it was like to move their stories. In many dance classes, we often focus on perfecting the choreography and neglect talking about what it is like to actually to move. This act of verbalizing movement experiences allows the students to develop greater self-awareness and understanding of what their fellow peers are also experiencing. By observing their peers and articulating what they witnessed, we are helping to create more socially aware young citizens.

To ease the students into the improvisation exercises and to help them become more comfortable within their bodies, we also began introducing Irmgard Bartenieff’s patterns of body connectivities, basic coordination patterns that help increase coordination and efficiency in movement. The students expressed feeling more connected to their bodies as they explored simple head-tail and core -distal connections. Even the students who have a tendency to air on the shy side have been expressing their thoughts on their own movement experiences and qualities, as well as those of others. Many of the students felt like they were able to expand their movement repertoire by learning to move parts of their bodies that they haven’t paid much attention to before. One student remarked that she often moves in the same patterns, but paying closer attention and focusing on her body has helped her understand the many possibilities for movement. It was very empowering for the students to be able to talk about what they were experiencing. They developed a new found sense of control, which will ultimately translate into other areas of their lives where agency and self-awareness are key for survival in today’s world.

During our Wednesday collaboration with Free St. Theater, we’ve also been delving into group improvisation exercises, accompanied by verbal processing. We started exploring simple flocking exercises to build group cohesion. Flocking is a Follow the Leader type exercise where one dancer is in charge of creating the movement and the others must follow. When the leaders turn directions, the person facing that direction becomes the new leader. This exercise helps to foster empathy among group members as each person takes on the movements of their peers. The ultimate goal is to form seamless transitions and to understand how each person has a unique movement style. The students discussed what it was like play the role of leader and follower. After adding sound to accompany the movements, something that can be unnatural for dancers, one student expressed how natural it felt. Whether its talking about group improvisation, or what it’s like to feel more in touch with one’s own body, verbalizing movement experiences can be an extremely useful tool to help teenagers have a greater understanding of themselves and their peers.

A Holiday Wish

It’s hard to believe we’re already in the midst of another winter holiday season and about to enter 2012.

But it gives all of us at the Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre an opportunity to thank you sincerely for your support during 2011, and to wish all of you happiness, health and prosperity in the coming year.

We know how much you appreciate what we do at CRDT because you tell us.

Now we are asking you to show us.

We have an entirely new way for you to donate to CRDT. It is an efficient system that will provide the support we need to continue both our artistic productions and our outreach programs for many at-risk Chicago children. These kids never would be exposed to the arts if your funding didn’t allow us to take the experiences to them in after-school programs that keep them off the streets and out of trouble.

Don’t run away. We aren’t going to ask you for a lot of money. You can donate once – whatever sum your budget can handle.

Better yet, do you think you would miss as little as $5 a month?

Nearly 4,000 people will see this eblast. If every one of you committed to $5 a month, it would provide us with a cash infusion of $20,000, enough to create great new performances featuring dance, original live orchestra music, vocals and electrifying visual arts. And it would enable us create the supervisory infrastructure to spread our outreach to Chicago youngsters over a much wider area.

We can make a difference. But only with you behind us.

Please go to our Website: http://cerquarivera.org/. Click the “Donate Now” button. It’s easy to find, right at the center of the Home Page.

You can provide your credit card information right on our Website, confident in the data security of Network for Good, and we will charge the designated amount once – or better – each month. You can specify the type of programming you want your donation to help fund, or you can leave that choice to us. And you can stop the charges at any time. And we promise never to share your personal credit information with anyone.

That’s all we ask of you. Just $5 a month.

Please help us continue the work you have grown to love and admire.

Your continued support is critical to us, and we very much appreciate it.

Wishing you the happiest and healthiest holiday season,

Wilfredo Rivera

Artistic Director

Review by Darcy Rose Coussens

For Chicago Theatre Review

…The second act was Cerqua Rivera’s, and their first number snapped me to attention. Eddy Ocampo choreographed a riveting, political piece juxtaposing the concept of home with that of war. This included projections of children’s drawings of houses and photographs of child soldiers all over the world. These were accompanied by gunshots over the music and the dancers’ disturbing but impressive interpretation of play and self-exploration in a frightening setting.

Their opening number set a very high standard that took the show to an entirely new level, and they definitely lived up to it in all following pieces. A collaboration between acclaimed musician and composer Joe Cerqua and Artistic Director/choreographer Wilfredo Rivera, this company features an excellent nine-piece band with additional vocalists. The live music infused the performance with energy and a quality of style for each piece, and several fantastic soloists were featured. The company truly accomplishes the diversity and representation of different cultures they declare in their mission statement while allowing for beautiful choreography. In each number, however different the style, they establish a vocabulary of movement, which is important in creating the world of each piece. This is a company I would jump at the chance to see again.

Hi, everyone. We were very excited to see what Chicago Critic Laura Molzahn had to say in “See Chicago Dance” about Cerqua Rivera’s portion of “Constant Motion” Saturday night at the Harris Theater. But you should read it for yourselves:

By Laura Molzahn 

… Switching to Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre in the second act was like stepping into a bracing stream: we were immersed in the personal, the invested. Cerqua Rivera, founded in 1996, draws on the artistry of choreographer Wilfredo Rivera, composer-musician Joe Cerqua, and painter Matt Lamb. It’s committed to the integration of live music, dance, and visual art and to the exploration of personal and social issues. Throughout, the CRDT Orchestra, positioned at the rear of the stage, played a variety of music, and very well.

Two guest choreographers changed things up a bit, but in a vein suited to CRDT’s mission. Eddy Ocampo’s “Innocent Voices” was accompanied by projections of (uncredited) childlike drawings showing homes — and gun battles. Simple but heartfelt dancing, set to peaceful or festive folk music and the sounds of bombs and gunfire, tell the story of children living with realities they shouldnâ??t have to face. Michelle Manzanales’s mildly humorous romantic duet, “Love in a Foreign Language,” was well danced by Raphaelle Ziemba and Dustin Crumbaugh.

Carefully selected visuals and music anchored the two older works by Rivera. “Home to Me,” set to projected photos of couples of various ages and ethnicities (including Rivera and Cerqua), uses swirling arms and turns punctuated by swiveled hips to communicate both sensuality and comfort. “Let’s Speak the Same Language” is more explosive, musically and choreographically, with beautiful vocal accompaniment by Papo Santiago. It gave the dancers their moments to shine.

A jagged musical interlude — Miles Davis, arranged by CRDT music director Stu Greenspan — set the mood for Rivera’s work in progress, “Of Dreams and Desires.” Projections of Matt Lamb’s eerie paintings, many of them symmetrical mirror images, create a sense of ritual that reinforces Rivera’s choreography: sorceresses exert magical powers, sometimes flattening the crowd of dreamers. Seductive interchanges blend manipulation and support, and singer Bobbi Wilsyn feelingly interpreted Cerqua’s evocative composition.