Chicago’s fall dance season offers a diverse array of performances highlighting local and North American companies, featuring everything from classic ballet interpretations to experimental contemporary works.
Opening the season on September 17, the Joffrey Ballet will present “Liliom,” a new ballet by John Neumeier inspired by Ferenc Molnár’s 1909 play—the source material for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel.” Neumeier’s interpretation is set during the Great Depression in a bleak amusement park and adds to the Joffrey’s growing repertoire of narrative ballets. Performances run through September 27 at the Lyric Opera House.
On the same evening, the Harris Theater will host “Dancing with Bob,” a program paying tribute to collaborations between choreographers Trisha Brown and Merce Cunningham with visual artist Bob Rauschenberg. The production revisits Brown’s 1983 “Set and Reset” and Cunningham’s 1977 “Travelogue,” the latter set to music by John Cage and unseen in Chicago for nearly five decades. This marks a rare return for the Trisha Brown Dance Company, which last performed in Chicago in 2009.
Later in the month, dance returns to the Driehaus Museum’s Murphy Auditorium with “In the Round,” a hybrid dance and visual art installation curated by Brendan Fernandes, who serves as artist-in-residence. Inspired by New York’s Judson Dance Theater, the project includes performances, open rehearsals, workshops, and film screenings featuring choreographers Xenia Mansour, Hanna DiLorenzo, and Kara Hunsinger. The series runs from September 16 through November 14, with free admission by reservation.
At the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Ginger Krebs will explore human interaction with technology and control mechanisms in “Protected by Invisible Fence,” running September 18 to 20. The performance features dancers engaging with stanchions equipped with intelligent lighting systems, addressing themes of crowd control and technological influence.
In early October, the Chicago Tap Summit will celebrate the 25th anniversary of M.A.D.D. Rhythms, a pioneering Bronzeville-based tap company founded in 2001. The three-day event includes workshops, a film screening, and premieres of works by co-founders Bril Barrett and Martin “Tre” Dumas III. Barrett’s piece pays homage to Oscar Peterson’s reinterpretations of Gershwin, while Dumas choreographs to music from his father’s 1970s funk-soul band, Rasputin Stash. The summit takes place October 2-4 at the Harold Washington Cultural Center.
The season also features Ballet Hispanico’s revival of Gustavo Ramirez Sansano’s “Carmen.Maquia,” a contemporary ballet inspired by Georges Bizet’s opera. The production, rooted in Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater legacy, will be performed on October 10 at the McAninch Center at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn as part of a Midwest tour.
Addressing themes of aging and artistic longevity, the 3320 Dance Series, commencing in mid-October, spotlights veteran artists including Bob Eisen, co-founder of the former Links Hall dance incubator. Eisen will perform a duet reflecting on the aging body as he approaches his 80th birthday. The series also features works by Jyl Fehrenkamp and Matthew Hollis, who explore life and physical decline, as well as Colleen Halloran’s solo focusing on the societal invisibility of older women. These performances run October 16-24 at Dovetail Studios.
Overall, Chicago’s fall dance offerings emphasize both the city’s rich dance heritage and forward-looking contemporary work, providing audiences with a wide range of styles and perspectives.