Since we couldn't do a 2020 Season Kickoff in person this spring, stay connected with us from a safe distance! Here is an excerpt from last year's epic work American Catracho by Wilfredo Rivera. Music by CRDT Jazz Band, recorded fall 2019.

Enjoy this excerpt from ROOT by Monique Haley & Joe Cerqua - performed in part by our Dance Ensemble from home, with soundtrack by our Jazz Band and footage from our 2019 fall concert at Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts Social disdancing - clockwise from top left: Carson Von Feldt, Lucy Pierson, Shelby Moran Amarantos, Josephine Castillo, Kristen Vasilakos, Fernando Rodriguez, Jessica Leyva, Jesse Hoisington, Ryan Schwaar, Rachel Spies, Simone Stevens, Riley Cornacchini, Brennen Renteria Normally we'd be kicking off our season this month (April 2020) at Old Town School of Folk Music and participating in See Chicago Dance #chicagodancemonth. This year, we'll just do it remotely! Enjoy this excerpt from ROOT - which debuted last fall after 2 years in development. Choreographer Monique Haley will return to the company to work with Pharez Whitted when possible, developing a new project called Soul Remedy. Joe Cerqua, the Cerqua in Cerqua Rivera, is launching a new project this year with Artistic Director and fellow cofounder Wilfredo Rivera, called Identity City.

We had to suspend rehearsals just as we'd begun working with choreographer Alice Klock on a new project called Complicating Incidents. Complicating Incidents will explore the events in our lives that shape us. In this video, we share individual gestures we developed based on our own complicating incidents. We pick up from the previous person & build on that. As we go through this unique time, it feels as though another of the "complicating incidents" might be right now. Clarice Assad is composing the score. The soundtrack here is royalty-free music. Dancers in video, in order of appearance: Lucy Pierson, Riley Cornacchini, Brennen Renteria, Simone Stevens, Shelby Moran Amarantos, Josephine Castillo, Jesse Hoisington, Rachel Spies, Ryan Schwaar, Jessica Leyva, Kristen Vasilakos Company bios at www.cerquarivera.org/bios

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

ROOT: mwanzo wa mwili ni roho (2019) - WORLD PREMIERE Monique Haley read 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. Choreographer: Monique Haley Composer: Joe Cerqua Costume Design: Jordan Ross Lighting Design: David Goodman-Edberg Projection Design: Simean Carpenter Creation of ROOT Sponsored by The Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation

American Catracho (2019) The American Catracho suite is the culmination of a three-year exploration of immigration (2016-2018) that involved over three dozen artists and other collaborators, including hundreds of audience members. Inspired by CRDT Co-founder and Artistic Director Wilfredo Rivera’s own personal journey, the four-part piece moves through themes of dislocation, assimilation, renewal, and hope. Part I Memories Behind The Crossing Part II First 200 Feet Part III Mi America Part IV Land of Dreams Creator and Director: Wilfredo Rivera Original Music: Joe Cerqua, with introduction by James Sanders and “Fijate Bien” arranged by Stu Greenspan Additional Choreography: Noelle Kayser, Christian Denice Costume Design: Jordan Ross Lighting Design: David Goodman-Edberg Projection Design: Simean Carpenter Other Collaborators: Lewis Achenbach (painter), Charin Alvarez (actor), Laura Crotte (actor), Julian Hester (actor), Cecilie Keenan (theatre artist), Ethan Kirschbaum (movement consultant), Shawn Lent (dance educator and immigration activist), Kristi Licera (movement consultant), Dr. Daniel Michaud-Novak (psychologist), Myesha-Tiara (actor) Creation of American Catracho Sponsored by The Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation, The Saints

Highlights from American Catracho by Wilfredo Rivera

Artist pay is two-thirds of Cerqua Rivera’s expenses and individual donations pay for most of that. We need your help to continue making and sharing our unique brand of sophisticated, compelling art. Give at www.cerquarivera.org/donate

Corner Sketches: A Tribute to Miles Davis Arrangement: Stu Greenspan The Icon Dig / Chocolate Chip - Choreography: Monique Haley When Lights are Low / New Rhumba - Choreography: Raphaelle Ziemba; Featuring Daniel Chenoweth & Hannah Inayoshi The Individual Walkin’ / It’s About That Time - Choreography: Monique Haley Solar / Yesternow - Choreography: Raphaelle Ziemba The Artist Someday My Prince Will Come / Tutu - Choreography: Marc Macaranas CRDT Jazz Band: Timothy Archbold, Joe Cerqua, Rob Dicke, Stu Greenspan, Dan Hesler, Jose Rendon, James Sanders, Leandro Lopez Varady, Pharez Whitted, Juli Wood CRDT Dance Ensemble: Miranda Borkan, Daniel Chenoweth, Federica Cocom, Hannah Inayoshi, Taylor Mitchell, Laura Witter; performing apprentices: Chloe Bigelow, Madison Hom Video from CRDT's fall 2016 concert series at Links Hall