FIRST DRAFT: New Work by Chicago Dancemakers

FIRST DRAFT: new works by Chicago dancemakers 

Friday, March 3 at 7:00pm

Saturday, March 4 at 7:00pm 

Sunday, March 5 at 3:00pm

Featuring new works by Summer Smith, Silvita Diaz Brown, Mandy Milligan,

Mariah Eastman, Julia Schaeffer, Movement Revolution Dance Crew,

Sarita Smith Childs, and Lonny Gordon 

Location: Links Hall, 3111 N. Western, Chicago

Tickets Info 

$50, Pay-it-forward allows us to offer discount tickets to low income citizens, such as families with children, students, seniors, and others 

$35, General admission 

$25, Discount for children ages 6 to 18, students, seniors, and others 

Free, ages 5 and under

Ticket Link: https://winifredhaun.ticketleap.com/first-draft-2023/

FIRST DRAFT 2023 will be a showcase of 8 new works by 8 Chicago area choreographers, from March 3 to 5 at Links Hall. 

 Summer Smith, WH&D Assistant Artistic Director, will present a currently untitled group work that explores information overload and how it affects the cognitive ability to make decisions and build values. Silvita Diaz Brown, Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist, will show an excerpt of “Ellas y Yo Mexicanas: Frida  (Them and I Mexicans: Frida),” which describes the connection among three Mexican women artists: Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Frida Kahlo, and Ms. Diaz Brown.

Mandy Milligan, WH&D Assistant Choreographer, will unveil a new duet “I remember damage,” which explores themes of love, loss, and sapphic desire. Mariah Eastman will contribute a new quartet, “Inclined to Decline” that repurposes rejection letters and uses them for inspiration rather than dejection.

Julia Schaeffer, WH&D Company Dancer, will present a fast moving group work for 6 dancers. Lonny Gordon will showcase the talents of WH&D Choreographer’s Assistant Vernon Gooden in a new solo, currently untitled.

Monternez Rezell, Artistic Director of Movement Revolution Dance Crew, and Sarita Smith Childs, Winner of a 2022 3Arts Award, will also present new works.

We are celebrating our 25th Moonstone Season with a year long series of events elevating the Company’s 25 years of creating and presenting award winning, innovative dances and dance events. The Company is continuing and expanding its mission to illuminate and elevate diverse artists, audiences, and global themes.

The gem Moonstone is a perfect metaphor for WH&D’s 25th Season, because it represents light, hope, and new beginnings. The Moonstone is also associated with inner clarity, femininity, and cyclical change.