What’s Next: Works-In-Progress

Pivot Arts highlights 2020 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artists with a showing of works-in-progress. On Sunday, June 12 join us for a Day of Dance (Events ticketed separately, come to one or attend all).

4 p.m.: Works-in-progress performances. This will be a showing of works-in-progress by Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist grantees. Reservations recommended, free or suggested donation that offsets our costs.

Chicago Dancemaker 2020 Lab Artists include:

Irene Hsiao, Mond(e). Irene Hsiao makes dances with visual art in museums and public spaces, a practice that includes interaction with visual artworks and experimental engagement with artists, institutions, and the public. Her work includes site-specific durational improvisation, solo theatrical dances, and video studies of art by Emmanuel Pratt, Virginio Ferrari, and Tang Chang at the Smart Museum of Art, and Philippe Parreno and Cevdet Erek at the Art Institute of Chicago. She has performed with companies and projects in the US, Asia, and Europe. Her writing on theater, art, dance, literature, and science can be found in venues including the Chicago Reader, LA Review of Books, SF Weekly, Newcity, and Chicago Sun-Times.

Christopher Knowlton, Extended Play. Christopher Knowlton, Ph.D., is a movement artist, research scientist, dancer and engineer who uses emerging technologies to investigate the nature of dance, choreography, health, cognition and audience engagement. While completing his degree in Bioengineering, Chris has acted as manager of the Rush University Medical Center Motion Analysis Laboratory and worked as a collaborative performer with numerous Chicago dancemakers. Affirming that art and science have always been intertwined, he believes that the body holds intrinsic information conveyed through movement, while our technologies, old and new, allow us to access that information and extend our bodies into new expressive possibilities.

Christopher “Mad Dog” Thomas, Juke for Liberation. Christopher “Mad Dog” Thomas is an extremely motivated dancer, activist, and youth mentor. Born and raised in Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens housing project, he was inspired to dance at age 5 by artists like Michael Jackson and New Edition. “Mad Dog” became a member of the FootworKINGz in 2007 and was the official spokesperson for FWK during their 2009 appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” In 2005, Thomas joined Kuumba Lynx, where he is now the Program Manager. He also teaches footwork at a juvenile temporary detention center as a part of a social/emotional development program and is a member of the dance fraternity Delta Phi Delta Dance Fraternity Incorporated.

6 p.m.: Reception. Come meet the artists and mingle with artistic staff. RSVP at marketing@pivotarts.org. Sponsored by Revolution Brewing!

7 p.m.: Screenings of digital works (visit Dance On Film! for details)