{"id":4863,"date":"2015-01-30T11:17:04","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T17:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=4863"},"modified":"2015-01-31T15:23:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-31T21:23:47","slug":"dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Dance company focuses on family in debut performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Megan Kramer<\/p>\n

DanceWorks Chicago<\/a> made its debut in the Harris Theater\u2019s 2014-2015 Exelon Family Series on Saturday, with a program that included the premiere of a piece titled \u201cRed Beans and Rice-ly Yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you missed the performance, you can catch DanceWorks\u2019 next performance on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.<\/a> at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, 1147 W. Jackson. The Family Series, which opened in November with the children\u2019s music band Dan Zanes and Friends, will wrap up its season with the Peking Acrobats Feb. 6-7.<\/a><\/p>\n

Julie Nakagawa, DanceWorks\u2019 artistic director, who also co-founded the company in 2007, said participating in the Family Series was a way to continue the company\u2019s relationship with the Harris while fostering the family ideal that the company values.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took into consideration that it\u2019s named the Family Series,\u201d Nakagawa said. \u201cThe word \u2018family\u2019 applies to the audience and also the community we\u2019re trying to build.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the one-hour show Nakagawa chose several works that exhibited the dancers\u2019 athleticism and allowed the audience to get to know them individually. \u201cThe rate in which i am\u201d <\/a>was performed by the full company, all dressed alike in dark red, form-fitting outfits. Yet each dancer was lit by a separate spotlight, creating a piece that truly felt like six solos in one.<\/p>\n

Participating in the Family Series, Nakagawa said, was also a good fit for DanceWorks because the company focuses on young artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulie creates a safe environment and takes artists early in their career, giving them tools and training them for the broader dance community,\u201d said Matt Wenckowski, one of DanceWorks\u2019 six company members.<\/p>\n

Wenckowski performed the duet \u201cCall the Whole Thing Off\u201d<\/a> with Sarah Elizabeth Stockman. Wenckowski, who started dancing around age 10, is partial to duets.<\/p>\n

\u201cInteracting with someone else on stage,\u201d he said, \u201cmakes the performance better and more real, in a sense.”<\/p>\n

DanceWorks\u2019 closed the Family Series program with, \u201cRed Beans and Rice-ly Yours,\u201d a piece for the full company choreographed by Taylor Mitchell and inspired by the music of Louis Armstrong. The premiere, Nakagawa said, was a \u201cgift\u201d to the Harris for inviting them to perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018family\u2019 applies to the audience and also the community we\u2019re trying to build.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Julie\u00a0Nakagawa, co-founder, DanceWorks<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very fun and energetic and had a sense of humor,\u201d she said. \u201cWe thought older audience members familiar with Louis Armstrong could connect with the dance musically as well, and it gave younger audience members a chance to maybe hear something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the show, the audience was encouraged to stick around and meet the dancers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to be in that environment and feel appreciated,\u201d Wenckowski said. \u201cYoung kids are easily impressed by things and have this enthusiasm about them. Even when we were on stage I felt like we were being appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Matt Wenckowski dances a duet with Sarah Elizabeth Stockman. (Michael Nowakowski, courtesy of DanceWorks Chicago)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Megan Kramer DanceWorks Chicago made its debut in the Harris Theater\u2019s 2014-2015 Exelon Family Series on Saturday, with a program that included the premiere of a piece titled \u201cRed Beans and Rice-ly Yours.\u201d If you missed the performance, you can catch DanceWorks\u2019 next performance on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Lou […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":4865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,243],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-4863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-winter-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nDance company focuses on family in debut performance - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dance company focuses on family in debut performance - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Megan Kramer DanceWorks Chicago made its debut in the Harris Theater\u2019s 2014-2015 Exelon Family Series on Saturday, with a program that included the premiere of a piece titled \u201cRed Beans and Rice-ly Yours.\u201d If you missed the performance, you can catch DanceWorks\u2019 next performance on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Lou […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-30T17:17:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-31T21:23:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/01\/DanceWorks.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"965\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"megankramer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"megankramer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/dance-company-focuses-on-family-in-debut-performance\/\",\"name\":\"Dance company focuses on family in debut performance - 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