News updates from the 2014 Chicago Dancing Festival

Here is the updated news from the free 2014 Chicago Dancing Festival, running Aug. 20-23 at several major downtown venues. The Festival will feature top ballet, modern and hip-hop companies from Chicago and across the country.

± Free tickets for the Festival’s indoor performances at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance and the Museum of Contemporary Art Theater become available to the public this week (July 8 and 9), but must be reserved in advance through each venue’s box office.

Tickets for the Aug. 20 program at the Harris Theater will be released July 8 at noon, and will be available in person at the Harris Theater Box Office, 205 E. Randolph, or by calling (312) 334-7777. Limit two tickets per order; tickets ordered by phone will be held at Will-Call.

Tickets for the Aug. 22 programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art will be released July 9 at noon, and will be available in person at the MCA Stage Box Office, 220 E. Chicago, or by calling (312) 397-4010. Limit two tickets per order; tickets ordered by phone will be held at Will-Call.

NOTE: No tickets are needed for the outdoor Pritzker Pavilion events, including the opening night simulcast presented by the Harris Theater on Aug. 20, and the Grand Finale performance on Aug. 23. Any empty seats or tickets unclaimed 15 minutes prior to curtain time will be released to those in a stand-by line. Stand-by lines begin one hour before each performance, in person only. All seating is general admission.

± Additional works are being added to the Festival lineup, including two more world premieres.

Chicago-based choreographer Ron De Jesus, a former dancer with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, who worked with Twyla Tharp on Broadway, and now is artistic director of Ron De Jesus Dance, has been commissioned by the Dancing Festival to create a new duet for the dancing male pair of Ben Wardell (Nexus Project, Lucky Plush Productions, formerly Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) and Michel Rodriguez (Nexus Project, formerly Hedwig Dances). “Transition Zone” will debut as part of the Festival’s “Dances for 2” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, in two performances on Aug. 22.

New York-based choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, who has worked with pop stars like Beyoncé, as well as highly regarded institutions like The Juilliard School, the Alvin Ailey B.F.A. Program and tap legend Savion Glover, has been commissioned by the Festival to create a new work for the student dancers of After School Matters, to premiere on the Pritzker “Celebration of Dance” program, Aug. 23.

These newly commissioned works are in addition to the previously announced world premiere the Festival has commissioned from New York-based mixed-genre choreographer Kyle Abraham for the dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Entitled “Counterpoint” (and set to Peter Gregson’s “Tu Non Mi Perderai Mai” and Brahms’ “Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor (Third Movement),” performed by Arthur Rubinsteinis), it will be performed at the Harris Theater as part of the “Classics and Creations” program on Aug. 20.

± Plans have been announced for a pre and post-performance sponsors party focused on the “Celebration of Dance” grand finale performance on Aug. 23. The Festival will host this year’s “Last Dance” party, which acknowledges the sponsors whose support is crucial to keeping the Festival’s performances free for the public, on the terrace at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph. The evening includes pre-show cocktails beginning at 6 p.m., followed by reserved seating for the performance at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and a post-show picnic with cocktails and a chance to mingle with the artists. Those interested in donating or learning more about sponsorship opportunities can visit http://www.chicagodancingfestival.com or call (773) 609-2335.

Following is the complete Chicago Dancing Festival lineup:

± Wednesday, Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph:

“Classics and Creations” (also to be simulcast on the outdoor screen of the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park), will feature: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Kyle Abraham’s “Counterpoint”; The Juilliard School in Eliot Feld’s “The Jig Is Up”; Martha Graham Dance Company in Graham’s “Errand into the Maze”; Stars of American Ballet in Jerome Robbins’ “Fancy Free”; and the Joffrey Ballet in an excerpt from Yuri Possokhov’s “Bells.”

± Friday, Aug. 22 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago:

“Dances for 2,” including “Belladonna,” by Adam Barruch; The Joffrey Ballet in “Bells” (excerpt); Martha Graham Dance Company in “Errand into the Maze”; Ron De Jesus Dance in “Transition Zone”; and Pam Tanowitz Dance in Tanowitz’s “Passagen” (to live music).

± Saturday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph:

“Celebration of Dance” grand finale, including After School Matters in commission by Darrell Grand Moultrie; the Joffrey Ballet in Twyla Tharp’s “Nine Sinatra Songs”; The Juilliard School in Feld’s “The Jig Is Up”; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Jiri Kylian’s “Falling Angels” (see photo above); Rennie Harris Puremovement in Harris’ “Students of the Asphalt Jungle”; and stars of Washington Ballet (Brooklyn Mack and Maki Onuki) in the pas de deux from Petipa’s “Le Corsaire.”

For additional information visit http://www.chicagodancingfestival.com.