Straight From The Arts

Random thoughts about watching and working in the arts, from HMS Media co-founder/executive producer Scott Silberstein

August 28, 2011

The Chicago Dancing Festival: We Are Family

A facebook status update from a Chicago Dancing Festival performer leads to some thoughts about one of the more wonderful groups of people you could ever hope to meet: professional dancers.

“Wow,” begins River North Dance Chicago company member Jessica Wolfrum’s facebook status update this morning, reflecting on the end of the fifth annual Chicago Dancing Festival, in which River North performed four times. “This week,” she writes, “I’ve shared the stage with dancers from Hubbard Street, Joffrey, New York City Ballet, Paul Taylor, Martha Graham, Ballet West, Aspen Santa Fe... unbelievable. Thank you Chicago Dancing Festival.”

A few noteworthy things about this. First, Jessica’s delighted to have been a part of something bigger than herself. Second, she’s giving shout outs to other dance companies – what some people would call competition, and what Jessica would call friends and family. Third, she’s saying thanks for the chance to dance. Among the things she’s not saying: That she deserves to be on stage. That people should be thanking her. That River North is better than the other companies. That Jessica Wolfrum is better than anyone else.

That’s a dancer for you.

Sorry to disappoint anyone who’d like to believe that “Black Swan” is an only slightly exaggerated depiction of what dancers are really like, but the kind of humility and camaraderie that Jessica declared to the world via facebook is typical of what dancers are really like. For anyone who doubts on this, I wish you could have been with me last night, backstage at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, for the finale of the Chicago Dancing Festival. Gathered around a big HD monitor that displayed the live feed that my HMS colleagues were creating (so that the crowd of more than 10,000 that came for the free show could get a closer look at what was happening on stage), dozens of dancers from all over the country who were also performing that night watched the video feed, and whooped, hollered and gasped with amazement as they watched their fellow artists work their magic on the stage.

If you’re a Bulls fan, you might remember Taj’s Gibson’s incredible putback dunk during the playoff series with the Miami Heat. It was one of those bursts of daring athleticism that sent both the crowd and the announcers into a frenzy, but even more fun was watching the footage of Derrick Rose and the rest of the Bulls on the bench yell, scream and laugh in giddy disbelief at Gibson’s dunk. If he sent those guys (including the league MVP) over the edge, then that play must have really been something.

That’s what it was like backstage at the Pritzker. Watching dancers marvel at other dancers with such warmth, generosity and enthusiasm was exhilarating. I’ve seen it a lot over the years, and every time, it makes me love dance even more. There wasn’t a whiff of competition, judgment or condescension in the air last night. These dancers – some of the best in the country—were genuinely and absolutely overjoyed – thrilled, actually – at the ways their fellow artists were not only dazzling the audience of more than 10,000 people (and, trust me, those watching the monitors were even more thrilled than the capacity crowd). Most dancers actually like to see other dancers do well, and most dance companies revel in the success of other dance companies.

Watching Ballet West’s dancers nimbly move their way through Jiri Kylian’s “Sinfonietta,” the dancers from the rest of the companies shook their heads and smiled at the sheer beauty of the performance, as if they couldn’t believe the delicacy and energy with which the piece was performed – which is saying something, coming from some of the few people in the world who would stand a chance at doing it themselves.

When River North took the stage for their third take on “Nine Person Precision Ball Dancing” of the week, the rest of the dancers’ excitement at seeing if they could pull off another flawless performance of this delightful and deceptively tricky piece was palpable. When Hanna Brictson’s, whose ability to be the piece’s ringleader while engaging in some tricky kinetic witticisms along the way should not be overlooked, turned her body around and tilted her head upside down in the middle of an especially frenetic moment of ball-passing, the dancers broke into spontaneous applause.

The Joffrey took the stage next, to perform “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” and the other dancers sat hushed, wide-eyed with rapt attention during the gorgeous performance. I watched them lean into the screen – always a good sign – and turn to each other every sixteen counts or so, whispering things like, “Oh my god, she’s incredible,” and “He is just amazing.” After the piece ended and one of the dancers came off limping, it wasn’t just Joffrey dancers expressing concern and seeing if she needed help – it was everyone.

And so it continued all night, through Martha Graham Dance Company’s “Diversion of Angels,” where the dancers seemed to be genuinely appreciative for their chance to see history-making choreography performed by expert interpreters, and New York City Ballet’s performance of Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” for which many gave Gonzalo Garcia and Tiler Peck at standing ovation as they came offstage. Perhaps my favorite moment came during Paul Taylor Dance Company’s “Esplanade,” which, in addition to its onstage choreographic demands, requires many of its dancers to exit on one side of the stage, make Olympic style sprints across the backstage area to the other side of the stage, and then gracefully glide back onstage as if magically transported from one wing to the other. The Taylor dancers would yell encouragement to each other as they raced through the backstage cross, and the rest of the evening’s performers joined in: “You can do it! You can make it! You got it!” My goodness, it was sweet.

Look, I don’t want to idealize anyone or anything here. The dance world is filled with human beings who have their flaws and foibles. Of course it’s not filled with universally perfect people, and of course I’ve met a few dancers, choreographers, artistic directors and designers that I’d be happy to never see again. But – emphasis on the word “few.” The overwhelming majority are every bit as generous, smart, courteous and supportive as those who were on last night’s bill.

I think that’s why I got so miffed at “Black Swan.” Fine, it had some virtuoso filmmaking and acting, but the world doesn’t need another misleading depiction of dancers as narcissistic, hyper-competitive, psychosexual jags. Generally speaking, it’s just not the case. That’s part of what makes watching performances like the ones on display last night at the Pritzker so inspiring. You feel that you’re not just watching something beautiful, but something also infused with community, with a sense of ensemble, with humility and, yes, corny as it sounds, love. By striving for a certain kind of perfection, dancers embrace their imperfections; by nevertheless going all out in the face of those imperfections, and by attempting to do the impossible, they remind us of all we want to feel and experience, and how beautiful we are for being imperfect creatures with perfect dreams. They also invite us to explore the need to have new and different dreams; after all, the nature of their profession means that most of them will have to stop doing what they love while still very young men and women. Like them, we will all have to surrender to time, and question what we’re dreaming about, why we had those dreams in the first place, and if perhaps we will find a way to morph our dreams into something new as lives take their various and inevitable twists and turns.

The beauty of watching dance is that we don’t have to think about all of this stuff in a solitary fashion. We don’t have to think about it at all in fact, because dance reminds us that we’re not alone in this world, and that even though we come from different places with different ideas, we can cheer for each other, and know that others are cheering for us.

“Thank you, Chicago Dancing Festival,” dancer Jessica Wolfrum wrote. Thank you indeed.

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