Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre
Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre - 2019 in review
This video includes highlights from the three new works made in 2019 – our 20th Anniversary Season. There are samples of both the work in full production concert performances, as well as excerpts from our interactive Inside/Out series. (Each new piece was the subject of an Inside/Out event, where the work in progress is performed and discussed, usually also featuring audience participation and company improvisation.)
ROOT by Monique Haley and Joe Cerqua – An athletic, soulful piece exploring a modern identity rooted in African tradition. Haley drew on West African maxims from a book entitled African Cultural Values: An Introduction by Kwame Gyekye. Building on this foundation with Cerqua Rivera’s artists over two years led to a powerfully rooted piece of art.
American Catracho by Wilfredo Rivera and Joe Cerqua - The culmination a three-year exploration of immigration led by Cofounder and Artistic Director Wilfredo Rivera involving over three dozen artists and hundreds of audience members – “a tour de force” (Chicago Magazine) and “easily [Wilfredo’s] most promising work” (Chicago Tribune). Inspired by Rivera’s own personal journey, the four-part suite moves through themes of dislocation, assimilation, renewal, and hope.
A Place Between Earth and Sky by Shannon Alvis and Clarice Assad – A lyrical, sensual work from inspired by a Blackfeet legend. Place is layered and symbolic of several ideas. Infused with inspiration from a Blackfoot Star Myth, the piece is structured in sections as different times of the day. This is then paralleled to that of a lifetime, and then also to an ever-circling evolution of self.
We welcome you to view this entire 5-minute compilation of highlights from 2019. If you prefer to skip through, here are the segments:
0:00 ROOT in concert at Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts, fall 2019; Concert title America / Americans
0:32 ROOT in concert at Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts, fall 2019; Concert title America / Americans
1:19 Inside/Out with American Catracho at Studio5 Performing Arts Center, June 2019; audience participation
2:31 American Catracho in concert at Studio5 Performing Arts Center, September 2019; Concert title America / Americans
3:11 American Catracho in concert at Studio5 Performing Arts Center and Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, September & October 2019; Concert title America / Americans
3:47 Inside/Out with Place Between Earth & Sky at Dovetail Studios, August 2019, discussion between choreographer Shannon Alvis and audience
4:20 Place Between Earth & Sky in concert at Reva & David Logan Center for the Arts, fall 2019; Concert title America / Americans
