CHICAGO — Two upcoming weekends at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) highlight former Chicago Dancemakers Forum (CDF) Lab Artists in a mini-festival called SHareOUT. For 15 years, CDF has provided substantial grants to independent artists, supporting movement-based practice and the choreographic process in an array of genres. On Aug. 24-25, Fujima Yoshinojo (Rika Lin) and Joshua Ishmon share the…

“Well, we haven’t talked about philosophy,” said Adam Rose, when asked, “Is there anything else?” toward the end of our interview about his latest work, Against Being. Rose premieres Against Being, what he calls a “dance about nothing,” at Links Hall culminating a year of research and movement investigation supported by a 2014 Lab Artist Grant from the Chicago Dancemakers…

The Chicago Dancemakers Forum (CDF) Lab Artist grant is a coveted prize for any choreographer, yielding some of Chicago’s best works. Since its inception in 2003, the organization lead by Ginger Farley has sponsored nearly 50 artists, each given a significant chunk of change to produce one work. Over the years, artists have allocated their grants in different ways. Some invest…

Pursuit Productions is the collective effort of director Kacie Smith and dancer/choreographer Ahmad Simmons. As co-Artistic Directors, the two have produced a wide range of works in their few years of working together — some more clearly dance, some more clearly theater. One thing is for sure: these two are good for each other, elevating their respective forms through a uniquely collaborative…

CHICAGO — Can different genres of dance co-exist in a performance space? The question isn’t new, but each attempt at an answer produces widely different results. In her final outing as a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist, Paige Caldarella fashions a relationship between ballet and vogue, calling on her background as a Julliard trained dancer and a voguing class in Siberia…