Dance Crash Opening Night Reception

After the sold out opening night performance of Chicago Dance Crash’s Movement/Gentlemen, the audience joined the cast and crew for food, music and drinks on the Storefront Mezzanine.

Special thanks to ROTI Mediterranean Grill for catering (and to Wayne, the fantastic server); our generous beer sponsors Three Floyds and Goose Island Brewing Co; and DJ Josh Werner who created a great atmosphere for the party.

If you missed out on the Dance Crash reception, join us on Thursday, June 11 for the opening night performance and reception for Theater Oobleck’s Strauss at Midnight. Josh Werner will be back with more great music along with ROTI, Three Floyds and Goose Island. Get your tickets here.

Josh Werner

Claire Sutton, Maurine Mizwicki and Eva Silverman

Crowd on the Mezzanine

Tech Week and Breakfast Cereal

Submitted by Mark Hackman, Producing Director of Chicago Dance Crash

In case you’re not aware of how the creation-process goes for making a show, the final week or so of rehearsals before opening night are usually the first ones spent in the actual theater… called “tech week”.  Lights are cued, the floor is laid, etc...etc… and it typically involves very long hours on behalf of the dancers and even longer hours on behalf of the technical crew. After this last Saturday’s 9am-9pm practice for Movement/Gentlemen (opens Friday, April 17), I did what any considerate producer would do and text messaged various men involved in the show asking them to compare the status of “tech week” to a breakfast cereal. Here’s what they texted me back…

Daniel Gibson (performer)
It’s like Trix, get it? Always chasing a rabbit, hopefully come show time we’ll catch it.

David Ingram (performer)
Captain Crunch, it’s good no matter what time of the day it is

Christian Castro (performer)
I could go the easy route and say Crispix, but i won’t. Or i could go the fun, happy route and go for the Cosco-econo brand-size of Lucky Charms cause we’re not charging, like 100 bucks a pop for a ticket, BUT you still get exactly what you want… and then some!

Nick Matonich (Technical Director and head of tech week)
*** Nick was unavailable to answer this question as he’s temporarily lost the ability to formulate words or feel feelings unless it has to do with lighting cues***

Garrett Jones (performer, choreographer, pioneer of Chicago’s hip hop fusion style)
Cheerios, tastes like crap but good for you in the end.

Paul Christiano (performer, choreographer)
Wheaties.

Michael Dice Jr. (Head Writer)
Honey Nut Cheerios- The burden of this tech week definitely helped me lower my cholesterol!
(Note: Michael had nothing at all to do with tech week)

Where’d the title come from?

Written by Mark Hackman, Producing Director of Chicago Dance Crash

Oddly enough, Movement/Gentlemen was actually the product of one of the more laborious brainstorming sessions we’ve had to go through in recent history. For Dance Crash, unless the work’s title is painfully obvious ("Faust" for example) it’s decided on between the company’s artistic director, Kyle Vincent Terry, head writer, Michael Dice Jr., and myself.

Dance Crash saw performing again with DCA this year as a great opportunity to reestablish the “cultural side” of our artistry and wanted a show and title that would communicate that. “Gentlemen” was the first word we all agreed on in that it promoted the more refined sense of the show’s aesthetic (our usual mixture of spins and backflips, but a little fancier than normal). Kyle very much preferred to have a simple, direct title… one that pushed confidence in it’s simplicity and kept coming back to a “Mission:Impossible” sort of structure.

After a lot of yelling we sat on “Movement: Genlemen” for about a week discussing all the different punctuation variances. I hated the use of the colon but thankfully, I was watching “Nip/Tuck” the night before on TV and brought up the slash option. That, plus italics ended up being what we used.

Below is a list of most of the other options we considered, whether just briefly or at length. If the amount of work we put into the title seems a bit much, imagine how much time we’re putting into the actual show itself!

Guy Dance

Dudes Dancing

Gentlemen’s Waltz

A Man’s waltz

Guy Steps

A Guy Thing

“Y”: a Concert

Read more »

Dance Crash Poster

Submitted by Mark Hackman, Producing Director of Chicago Dance Crash

Recently, Chicago Dance Crash producer Mark Hackman sat down with company dancer Brian Hare over some biscuits and gravy and discussed his role in the Movement/Gentlemen** promotional materials and why it took so long for Crash to finally put Brian on a poster.

Mark: So Brian, is there any significance to this poster for you personally?

Brian: Um, yes actually. After 4 years of complaining and submitting written complaints, formal written complaints on detailed Dance Crash stamped paper.Having never been on a poster I’m now finally sharing a poster, SHARING but on it nonetheless with Kyle Vincent Terry and Daniel Gibson.  I’m also under the “Movement” not the “Gentlemen” which holds particular significance to me.

Mark: Do you have any idea why you’ve not been on a poster for so long?

Brian: I think it has something to do either with my face, personality, or prejudice within the infrastructure that is Chicago Dance Crash.

Mark: You mean towards white people or towards men?

Brian: Take your pick. I have a lot of “isms”. I’m just a walking swirl of contradiction.

Mark: How was the actual photo shoot?

Brian: I liked that it was Emmo (company photographer Emily Coughlin) who took the photo. I was comfortable being shirtless in front of her. I knew that she wasn’t judging me. She made me feel safe like I was one within the universe, although I was judging her. And note, Daniel Gibson is not actually in the front in that picture. That was Photoshopped so his feet blocking my legs was not originally there cause I would not have stood for it.

Mark: We wanted to block the hottest part of you, your knees.

Brian: My knees, yeah. You know what, sexy knees. Not “sexy back” … sexy knees.

Mark: Now that you’re looking at the poster, is there anything in particular that strikes you?

Brian: Yeah, that I’m just not big enough. I feel that if we could get those other two out of the picture and then just enlarge me. Like, go in Microsoft word and just go up to the toolbar… cause there’s a drop down that you can increase people by percentages…

Mark: Uh huh

Brian: …and if we could just increase me by like 400%. Maybe so it’s just like the entire poster is my stomach.

Mark: Will that really sell tickets?

Brian: I really think it would.

Mark: Would you say that would “put butts in the seats”?

Brian: I don’t know. They might not be in the seats cause they might be standing the whole time.

Questions recently posed

Submitted by Mark Hackman, Producing Director of Chicago Dance Crash

The following questions were recently posed to selected cast members of Movement/Gentlemen

CHRISTIAN CASTRO (performer)
At the most recent rehearsal, I realized…
just how much i missed seeing myself rehearsing in a room with 4 way mirrors. man, the good ol times

I most recently hurt myself doing…
stunts for a brand new Owen Wilson action movie

As of today, Movement/Gentlemen will be a huge success because…
we prescreened everyone in the show to make sure no one has more than 6% bodyfat. if you do, you’re out!

As of today, Movement/Gentlemen will be a miserable failure because…
it can’t fail or else we go our to our day jobs in the cheese factory earning 13 cents an hour. times are rough...

GARRETT JONES (choreographer, pioneer of Chicago’s hip hop fusion style)
At the most recent rehearsal, I realized…
That my piece has even more for movement development.

I most recently hurt myself doing…
KTF (the company’s monthly late night competition show)

As of today, Movement/Gentlemen will be a huge success because…
The diverse movement and dancers.

As of today, Movement/Gentlemenwill be a miserable failure because…
It needs cleanliness and clear intent, but that will come with time.

PAUL CHRISTIANO (choreographer, all around good guy)
At the most recent rehearsal, I realized…
I need to work an “Oxygen Tank” clause into my contract.

I most recently hurt myself doing…
a jazz square, for Biz Markie’s sake!

As of today, Movement/Gentlemen will be a huge success because…
scrawny white boys gettin’ jiggy with it is trendy right now.

As of today, Movement/Gentlemen will be a miserable failure because…
oops!Scrawny, jiggy white boys was last season’s trend. Currently, it’s cougars in bikinis.