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10 Most Haunted Places in Chicagoon February 26, 2020 at 3:36 pm

For a city with so much history, Chicago is no stranger to ghost stories or creepy adventures. We’ve picked out 10 of Chicago’s spookiest spots for your paranormal pleasure. These are Chicago’s most haunted places. 

haunted chicago

Graceland Cemetery

Built in 1860, Graceland Cemetery is the final resting place for some of Chicago’s most notable people, such as George Pullman, Marshall Field, John Peter Altgeld and Jonathan Ogden Armour. There have been reports from visitors and workers of a little girl playing in the cemetery on rainy days.



haunted chicago

Congress Plaza Hotel

Built in 1893 to help house the influx of visitors to the city, this hotel was frequented by visitors in mobs and it is believed to have been the site of many gruesome cries. It was named the most haunted place in Illinois by Travel & Leisure. Pro tip: Room 441 receives the most security calls.

haunted chicago

The Drake Hotel

Though there were plenty of notable visitors at The Drake Hotel over the years, it seems that it has also experienced some notable crimes. For example, the unsolved murder of Chicago socialite, Adele Born Williams. Ghostly apparitions have been reported to be haunting the halls of the hotel.



Site of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Al Capone ordered a hit on Irish mobster George “Bugs” Moran, which resulted in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. This was one of the bloodiest days in Chicago mob history, and those who lost their lives are said to still roam the area.



Couch Place Alley
Photo Credit: Google Maps

Couch Place (The Alley of Death)

Located in downtown’s theater district, over 600 people lost their lives in a fire caused by a stage light sparking during a theater production in 1903. There have been reports of an unusually cool breeze, apparitions and sounds of whispers while you walk down the alley, making it one of the most haunted spots in Chicago.

haunted chicago
Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Camp Douglas

The area between Cottage Grove Avenue to King Drive and 31st Street to 33rd Place is where Camp Douglas used to sit. It was a camp for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, where many of them died from starvation and disease. Maybe you’ll see an apparition of a soldier while you’re in this haunted Chicago spot. 



The Green Mill
Photo Credit: The Green Mill Facebook

The Green Mill

Not only is The Green Mill an iconic cocktail lounge in Chicago, it is also said to have played a part in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre because of its association with Al Capone and other gangsters. Employees have claimed to hear odd noises and see things move mysteriously.

haunted chicago
Photo Credit: Jane Addams Hull-House Museums

Jane Addams Hull-House

This settlement residence in Chicago is located on the west side and was a place for early arriving immigrants to stay and get acclimated. Jane Addams, the woman who ran the house, was the first to report paranormal activity from inside the walls. The room where she reported the most activity, is actually the room in which she died.



haunted chicago
Photo Credit: All That’s Interesting

Site of Eastland River Disaster

On July 25, 1915, the SS Eastland steamship capsized on the Chicago River, trapping over 2,500 passengers on board. Many of the nearby buildings were used as makeshift morgues for the recovered bodies, and visitors of the area have reported ghostly sightings on the riverwalk.

Photo Credit: Rosehill Cemetery

Rosehill Cemetery

As the final resting place for many Civil War soldiers and historical Chicago figures, Rosehill Cemetery has a chilling vibe that is hard to deny even just walking by. Moaning and the rattling of chains can be heard from inside this cemetery’s walls.



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10 Most Haunted Places in Chicagoon February 26, 2020 at 3:36 pm Read More »

Visit These Unique Chicago Bars for the Best Night of Your Lifeon February 26, 2020 at 9:18 pm

This list of one-of-a-kind Chicago bars highlights sometimes classy, sometimes divey, but most of the time, quirky experiences. And quirky isn’t bad; if anything, Chicago will show you how to do quirky effortlessly. Bring a friend and beam with pride for Chicago as you explore your city’s most unforgettable experiences—with a drink in hand, of course. These are the bars to visit to have the best night of your life in Chicago.

Photo Credit: Facebook

The Signature Lounge at 96th | 875 N Michigan Ave

Perched on the 96th floor of the Hancock Tower, just off Michigan Avenue, is the Signature Lounge. Although this tower of delights is in a tourist setting, the overall experience does not disappoint. At this particular famed Chicago attraction, specifically on the 94th floor, you can admire the architecture on the 360 Observation Deck or even dare yourself and participate in The Ledge Experience (for thrill-seekers!). However, for those of you who are thirsty and would like a quieter evening, venture on up to the 96th floor. Here you’ll find some of the most spectacular views of all Chicago all the while enjoying a strong drink. You’ll never want to take your eyes off the vastness of Lake Michigan or the glitter of Michigan Avenue.



Pro-tip: Ladies, go to the bathroom. You won’t believe the view of Chicago. 

Get Laid Chicago - Bunny Slope
Photo CredIt: Bunny Slope Facebook

Bunny Slope | 15 E. Ohio St.

While Chicago doesn’t have a ski-lift (or ski-mountains… or ski lodges), Chicago’s River North neighborhood does have a retro-chic ski-lodge perfect for any special occasion. Bunny Slope is a throwback from the 1960s ski-lodge, complete with cabin-decor and a cozy fireplace. Did we mention there’s a hot-tub as well? Splish-splash with your bubbles and enjoy this eclectic atmosphere with top-notch beverages!



*Note: Bunny Slope is reservation-only for parties of 20 (maximum). Make some friends at our other bar options to make Bunny Slope your go-to party haven.

best chicago bars

Big Joe’s 2  & 6 Pub | 1818 W Foster Ave

Probably the most dive-y of places for a one-of-kind experience but don’t let looks deceive you; Big Joe’s 2 & 6 of Ravenswood Manor is the home of Turtle Races! It’s like the Kentucky Derby, but with turtles and domestic beers… minus the hats, horses, and mint juleps. On Fridays, Big Joe’s transforms its beloved pool table into a race-track for our reptilian friends. Spectate and cheer for your turtle or even make it a team sporting event for you and your friends! 



rose all day in chicago
Photo Credit: Happy Camper

Happy Camper Old Town | 1209 N Wells St

This may be the future of millennials, especially when we age: brunch-themed pizzas, boozy morning drinks, twinkly-lights with neon, and brunch bingo. Nursing homes (or wherever we end up) are going to be lit and trendy. All joking aside, Happy Camper in Old Town has a fresh interpretation of bingo. Give a little, get a little, and score some while you play this famed-game of chance. All proceeds benefit a local charity so be sure to bring the $10 suggested donation. Feel good about your brunch this Sunday and maybe you will realize your potential as a bingo-badass.

*Note: Happy Camper’s Brunch Bingo starts at 1:30 pm every Sunday – be sure to arrive early!



SafeHouse
Photo Credit: SafeHouse Facebook

SafeHouse Chicago | 60 E Ontario St

Whether you’re Agent 007, Evelyn Salt, or Agent Scarn from Threat Level Midnight, SafeHouse offers a whimsical, mission-like atmosphere, complete with undercover events, “in-spy-red” drinks, and shareable cocktails. River North’s not-so-secret spy-themed bar is ideal for those in groups or on dates who want to flex their prowess of perception all the while enjoying a beverage (or sharing one). Come later in the evening and explore the lounge’s nooks or ignore the imminent mission and dance the evening away (in other words, do the Scarn!). With all the events SafeHouse offers, you’re sure to have fun and look good while doing it.

best chicago bars
Photo Credit: Replay Lincoln Park

Replay | Lakeview, Andersonville & Lincoln Park

With various locations across Chicago, Replay has managed to create a one-of-a-kind relaxed environment for those who want to play their favorite arcade games of yesteryear with a craft beer or cocktail in one hand. It’s like the ultimate adult playground. Throughout the year, Replay also redesigns the bar into a “pop-up.” From Spongebob to Harry Potter or Rick and Morty, Replay brings its best self for you to experience your favorite fictitious worlds while playing Skee-ball and enjoying their beverage. With the novelty of a pop-up-themed bar and all the games of your childhood in one place, you’re sure to think you’re in arcade heaven… or Hogwarts…. 



Chicago Bar Bucket List
Photo Credit: Kingston Mines Facebook

Kingston Mines | 2548 N Halsted St

Established in 1968, Kingston Mines in Lincoln Park is an unforgettable evening for any jazz and blues connoisseur alike. Kingston Mines has two rooms and two stages so you have twice the opportunity to savor the melodies, hum to the harmonies, and tap to the riffs. Kingston Mines has been a staple for Chicago, being the longest-running blues and jazz club here. A perfect combination of riffs, raffs, and old-time friends- Kingston Mines brings you an evening of approachable yet top-notch entertainment, complemented by strong drinks and homestyle cooking (BBQ and okra!). Feed your soul and your stomach!

The Revel Room
Photo Credit: The Revel Room Facebook

The Revel Room | 1566 N Milwaukee Ave

Specifically on Monday nights, The Revel Room hosts Industry Night karaoke. This is unlike other karaoke’s in Chicago — primarily because of the juxtaposition that is The Revel Room. First, you’re in Wicker Park, which is unapologetically hipster. But then, the decor of The Revel Room is that of the Victorian era (imagine these massive, leather booths paired with ornate light fixtures and dim lighting). Then, to top it all off, The Revel Room’s creative and friendly bartenders craft well-balanced classic cocktails while belting out Celine Dion… So, here’s the deal: weekends, The Revel Room is your typical Wicker Park old-time-y feel bar with a DJ. However, on Mondays, there’s a karaoke session, in which the emcees and bartenders all join in the fun. It’s quite the experience where you’re included as a spectator, performer, and friend. 



Singing Hall and Oates or watching turtle racing? Enjoying classy drinks in a skyscraper or in a retro-chic ski-lodge? B-I-N-G-O: you can have it all at any of these Chicago bars!



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Visit These Unique Chicago Bars for the Best Night of Your Lifeon February 26, 2020 at 9:18 pm Read More »

Best EDM Nightclubs Where You Can Rave in Chicagoon February 26, 2020 at 9:59 pm

Plurnt up, Chicago! From glovin’ to shufflin’ and everything in between, rave in some of the greatest EDM clubs in Chicago. Kandi Kids and Rave Bunnies unite for the nights that never quit!

rave chicago
Photo Credit: Sound-Bar

Sound-Bar | 226 W Ontario St

This bi-level River North bar is a staple for EDM aficionados as well as fashion-forward Chicagoans and visitors alike. Imagine you’re in a dark space, with loud music, beats, and then occasional flashes of lights in a show. It’s as if you’re in a literal soundbar, which is partially true. Enter: River North’s Sound-Bar. The first level, or main stage, is for electronic music – come here for acclaimed DJs. If EDM isn’t your group’s favorite music genre, send them downstairs to the second floor, which focuses more on throwbacks and hip-hop tunes and remixes. Sound-Bar brings a whole new level to the going-out experience in Chicago, such that you’ll feel like you’re at Spring Awakening (just inside!).



rave chicago
Photo Credit: Spybar

Spybar | 646 N Franklin St

Basements have never been so elevated! Take your evening to new heights at Spybar. Find yourself in the beats and lose yourself in the lights while you dance the night away. Spybar is the ultimate lounge and bar for connoisseurs prog, trance, and house music. Order a strong drink, watch the lights, and en-trance yourself into a melodic evening.

rave chicago
Photo Credit: smartbar

smartbar | 3730 N Clark St

Do you like to stay up until the wee hours of the morning dancing to the drop and the bright lights? How does 5 am sound? Get your PLUR on at smartbar in Wrigleyville. smartbar brings a lot to the dance floor for you and friends- including a disco ball, lights, and national/international DJs. With a capacity of 400 dancers and fist-pumpers alike, smartbar pairs the beats with strong drinks and reasonably priced shows (free on Thursdays, $15 after midnight on weekends). Be smart about your night in Wrigley: skip the snapback and go to smartbar.



Photo Credit: PRYSM Nightclub

Prysm Nightclub | 1543 N Kingsbury St

Three cocktail bars, two dance floors, one unforgettable evening *cue the beat drop.* Home to Pretty in Pink on Wednesday evenings and host to famous DJs (Louis the Child, for one), Prysm Nightclub brings an edgy flair to the edge of Chicago’s quaint, Kingsbury Street. Also, they have lasers so be prepared for an unrealistically bright evening. Keep up the tempo and drops going — if you can — until 5 am on Saturdays.

*Note: Be sure to follow the dress code!



Photo Credit: Tunnel

Tunnel | 151 W Kinzie St

Above a famed country-style establishment in River North, is Tunnel (ironically not in the basement). Go up the stairs and follow your heart’s true desire: beat drops and LED lights. Tunnel has created a high-energy atmosphere that’s even, gasp, sultry. Complete with massive tufted-lounge seating and intricate light fixtures (that sync up to the beat!), Tunnel harnesses the music’s energy and inspires dancers, shufflers, and light enthusiasts to get PLURNT!



Here’s to your evening full of PLUR, kandi, and lights!



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Best EDM Nightclubs Where You Can Rave in Chicagoon February 26, 2020 at 9:59 pm Read More »

Bluesman Frank ‘Little Sonny’ Scott Jr. gave his all to Maxwell Street for half a centuryon February 26, 2020 at 12:15 am

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Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.

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Bluesman Frank ‘Little Sonny’ Scott Jr. gave his all to Maxwell Street for half a centuryon February 26, 2020 at 12:15 am Read More »

Post-everything fusion band Je’raf celebrate their debut albumon February 26, 2020 at 3:00 am

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Je'raf - COURTESY THE ARTIST

Formed in 2017, art-rock ensemble Je’raf arrange bits of hip-hop, jazz, funk, and postpunk into whimsical, progressive jams. All seven members (they’re split between New York and Chicago) play in similarly animated, eccentric bands outside the group too–bassist and vocalist PT Bell is in art-punk unit Blacker Face, for instance, and vocalist Brianna Tong fronts jazz-fusion group Cordoba. On Saturday, February 29, local labels Amalgam and No Index release Je’raf’s rambunctious and politically charged debut album, Throw Neck. That night they celebrate with a headlining set at Hungry Brain; Udababy opens, and tickets are $10.

Morrissey’s swerve into reprehensible political gibberish, mediocre albums, and lackluster live shows over the past 20 years has left many sweet and tender hooligans reaching for their Smiths albums far less often than they used to. Local electronic musician Nicky Flowers has a solution: a covers project called the Smynths, which recently dropped the charming EP The Smynths Return. It seems bound to offend the famously synth-averse Mozzer: Flowers turbocharges Johnny Marr’s melodies with a raft of ringing keyboards and glorious vocoder-assisted crooning. Giving offense is the point–the Smynths are “dedicated to psychically destroying Morrissey,” Flowers says. “Johnny Marr was the Smiths, 100 percent.” Shots fired! Due to prohibitive licensing costs, the Smynths aren’t on any streaming services, but the EP (and a 2018 self-titled full-length) are available via Flowers’s Bandcamp.

Justin Samuel Martin (of indie-rock group Automata) makes stylistically loose indie-pop as Otherly, with occasional help from his friends–Automata front woman Rachel Sarah Thomas, for example, adds luscious vocals to recent singles “Nadia” and “Leave.” Both those tracks appear on Otherly’s debut album, Darkling, which drops Friday, February 28. Otherly plays a free release party that night at the Whistler. v

Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail [email protected].

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Post-everything fusion band Je’raf celebrate their debut albumon February 26, 2020 at 3:00 am Read More »

A cosmic crossword on the gig poster of the weekon February 26, 2020 at 12:00 pm

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ARTIST: Shawn Reed
SHOW: American Dreams Records showcase featuring Forest Management, Jordan Reyes, Civic Center, and Itsi at the Hideout on Wed 3/4
MORE INFO: Shawn Reed/Digital Sting

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A cosmic crossword on the gig poster of the weekon February 26, 2020 at 12:00 pm Read More »

Jasmon Drain joins the ranks of Chicago’s greatest authorson February 25, 2020 at 6:15 pm

It’s not often that a writer will make me see Chicago in a new way, but with his debut collection of interlocking stories, set primarily in Bronzeville’s now-demolished Stateway Gardens housing project for which the book is named, Jasmon Drain has done just that. A young boy named Tracy is our primary guide and narrator, but by the end even the high-rises themselves become fully fleshed-out characters. Though sometimes dreamy with longing for the comforts of a childhood, which, from the outside, appears filled with privation, Drain–who grew up in Englewood and now lives in Kenwood–has fashioned an indelible portrait of this city.

The looming presence over much of Stateway’s Garden (Random House) is Tracy’s mother. She haphazardly raises Tracy and his older half brother, Jacob, while focusing much of her attention on keeping her looks and finding a man who will stay. The lessons she imparts to her children are blunt and unsentimental. “Life isn’t about fun. It’s about money,” she spits out at Jacob when the boy tries to refuse to go with her to a short-lived job at a store back on the west side, where she’d grown up. To Tracy, who visits this store only once, it is a world of wonder, but to his mother it is but a tiresome means to an end. The chasm between an adult’s perception and that of a child has rarely been evoked so precisely and heartbreakingly.

Tracy’s overriding wish is for his mother to love him and pay him attention, but he observes her with a mixture of fascination and fear: “Mother stood slowly and put both hands to her knees to guide her legs straight. She released a groan while standing, then walked into the hall, past my bedroom, and made the left turn to the bathroom. She didn’t shut the door. She hardly ever shut the door while in there.” Here and through many other moments throughout these stories, Drain nails how strange, even foreign, those closest to us can be.

When Tracy and the other boys want to visit other parts of the city, they jump the fence and run across the Dan Ryan Expressway, dodging speeding cars, then vault over the barrier, taking care not to touch the third rail, onto the 35th Street CTA platform. It’s a harrowing way to catch a public train, but these boys have no other means to experience places outside their immediate environment. Everyone in these stories is striving to find a better life, to get out of the projects, to live out their dreams. But it’s not so easy to forget where you come from; nor do you necessarily want to, when being honest with yourself.

In the second-to-last story, “Love-Able Lip Gloss,” Jacob, a beautiful cipher for much of the book, tells his story. Now an overweight, middle-aged man, he can’t let go of his past as a youthful heartthrob. He carries on an on-again, off-again masochistic affair with his childhood sweetheart, a woman who managed to leave Stateway Gardens behind. But Jacob couldn’t take the leap when given the opportunity and is stuck instead romanticizing the past and ruing what might have been. Jacob is but the last of the people Drain describes in all their complexity. He is not a writer who traffics in caricature or simplification.

I’ve known of the streets and buildings in this book for decades, but now feel like I’ve been there. Through slyly poetic language and an absolute grasp on place and description, Drain has added to the canon of Chicago literature. He belongs on the shelf next to Algren, Brooks, Dybek, and Wright–writers who know and love this city in all its magnificent contradictions, its unique, ugly beauty. v

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Jasmon Drain joins the ranks of Chicago’s greatest authorson February 25, 2020 at 6:15 pm Read More »

Alex Grelle is the new David Bowieon February 25, 2020 at 7:10 pm

When Blackstar came out in January 2016, I got my hopes up. Maybe, just maybe, this new album meant that David Bowie would go on tour. I made a promise to myself that I would spend anything–sell anything, take out a loan, do anything–for the chance to see Bowie live. Of course those hopes were dashed when just two days later the Starman died, and I’ve spent a lot of time since wondering what it would have been like to be in the presence of such an amazing performer and artist, how it must have felt to see him in his prime. After seeing the Bowie-inspired performance Floor Show, I feel like I don’t have to wonder anymore. And not in the sense that I saw someone do their best Bowie, but that I got to see Alex Grelle (soon to be, if not already, a legend in his own right) create a completely original, electric night of music, fashion, laughter, art, and many, many wigs celebrating the spirit of transformation.

The stage for Floor Show, cocreated by Grelle and director Jesse Morgan Young, is set up like a runway–the friend who accompanied me compared the space to that of an underground show at Fashion Week. Nestled in between two loops of the runway is a full band and two singers (the “Cherrys,” aka Teressa LaGamba and Bran Moorhead). The walls on either side of the band feature projections (designed by Sid Branca) inspired by famous Bowie imagery, and at the direct end of the runway is a two-way mirror where the audience can see performers prepare before the show and in between scenes.

The core of the show is musical performances of Bowie and Bowie-adjacent songs accompanied by Zachary Whittenburg and Erin Kilmurray’s choreography that moves from energetic to stoic to playful to emotional and–perhaps most impressive–a seemingly endless and seamless stream of costume and wig changes, often happening while Grelle is still belting out a tune without missing a beat. Grelle is clearly the star of this show, but the onstage dressers (opening night, Adrian Hadlock and Maddie Barton, the latter replacing Mandyn Mueller for that performance) come in at a close second. (Kate Setzer Kamphausen, Keith Ryan, and Chris Tuttle are credited with costumes, wigs, and styling.)

Despite being built on recognizable source material, nothing about Floor Show is expected. That becomes most clear during one of the most delightful moments halfway through when Grelle and Andrew Sa show up as Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland to perform a show-tune-esque medley of Bowie hits. The performance from Grelle in particular highlighted his range as a performer, able to go from dark brooding Bowie to playful, ingenue Liza in an instant.

Throughout the night I saw it, there was a sense of camaraderie among the audience members that felt rare. There were several moments where I would catch someone’s eye from across the room and we’d both be grinning our faces off as if to say “how amazing that we’re lucky enough to be here for this transcendent moment.” As Grelle continues to create, I have no doubt that there will be someone wondering what it would be like to be at that performance, to be in the presence of such a powerful performer. Lucky for you, there’s still time to say you were there when. Floor Show is a moment that you’ll want to live in forever. v






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Alex Grelle is the new David Bowieon February 25, 2020 at 7:10 pm Read More »

Kill Move Paradise imagines an afterlife for victims of police killingson February 25, 2020 at 8:15 pm

Of all the inescapable truths that James Ijames bombards his audience with in Kill Move Paradise, the biggest one is found in the mirror he holds up to the audience. There are few things more dismaying, or more apt to generate a knee-jerk, fear-based, totally ignorant defensiveness, than being forced to confront the worst parts of yourself. And that’s precisely what Kill Move Paradise does, at least for the melanin-redacted people in the audience. With surgical precision, Ijames lays down the facts of living in a country founded by and–for most of its 200+ year history–run by white supremacists. Ijames knows that if you are white, you are part of the problem, so long as the system designed to favor white people remains intact. If you find yourself wanting to look away or giggling nervously or demanding a refund during Kill Move Paradise (all have happened), that says more about you than anything else.

Directed by Wardell Julius Clark with brutal, beautiful, haunting choreography by Breon Arzell, Kill Move Paradise stands at the unicorn-rare intersection of mesmerizing and indispensable.
The skate park-like set (by Ryan Emens) is a netherworld limbo for three Black men and a Black child who have been murdered by cops. The actors don’t enter so much as they are hurled like crash test dummies across the half-pipe, down into an assaultive purgatory of buzzing lights and throbbing noises.

Isa (Kai A. Ealy) has been there the longest. It falls to him to help newcomers, including Grif (Cage Sebastian Pierre), Daz (Charles Andrew Gardner) and 12-year-old Tiny (Trent Davis) get oriented. The others, for example, are initially confused by the endless spew of sheets from a downstage dot matrix printer. It’s a list of names that Isa reads aloud–hundreds of them, all Black people killed by law enforcement. In Isa’s utterance, the names become an indictment of history and a demand for reckoning. “Jesus,” says Grif in the shattered silence that follows. “They got his ass too,” Isa responds.

Throughout, the actors move purposefully through the audience, demanding prolonged eye contact, puzzling over these creatures who “like to watch.” Grif: “They have a name?” Isa: “America.”

Intimacy and violence director Rachel Flesher makes the violence visited on these young men so wincingly realistic, it’s tempting to avert your eyes. Which, again, points to the problems Kill Move Paradise so vividly underscores. v






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Kill Move Paradise imagines an afterlife for victims of police killingson February 25, 2020 at 8:15 pm Read More »

Trinity Irish Dance Company plays at the intersection of American Trafficon February 25, 2020 at 9:10 pm

In the 19th century, amid social unrest, crime, and infectious disease in the lower Manhattan neighborhood of Five Points in New York City, an American dance was brewing. The source of this new creative energy was a combination of cultures colliding and competition. “Black people and Irish people were on the street corner together, in the music halls together, in the pubs together,” notes choreographer Michelle Dorrance. “And Irish were referred to as Blacks, and Black dancing was called jigging.” In the 1840s, a series of contests, or “challenge dances,” spearheaded by Irish dancer John Diamond (sometimes referred to as the “greatest white minstrel dancer”) brought the blackface performer head-to-head with the young man who replaced him in P.T. Barnum’s show, William Henry Lane, known as “Master Juba.” Juba roundly triumphed over the ill-tempered Irishman in all but one contest, staged in cities nationwide. Described by Charles Dickens as “the greatest dancer known,” Juba gained worldwide fame as the only Black dancer in all-white minstrel companies and the first Black performer to be billed above a white performer in minstrel shows.

“Tap dance was born on the southern slave plantations,” says Dorrance. “A lot of slave uprisings were organized by drums, [which were] central to West African culture.” Body percussion, or “patting juba,” arose as drums were outlawed by plantations. “Tap dance was born in that dire need for expression and communication,” she explains. “And those famous contests between African American dancers and Irish dancers in the 1800s pushed tap and American Irish dance forward. It’s sewn into the history of tap dance. Early tap, then called ‘buck dancing’ or ‘buck and wing,’ lives on the balls of the feet, which is where Irish dance lives. Juba was able to imitate the Irish dancers’ approach to buck dance. And he would imitate them imitating him. Who knows what kind of masterful mockery that was? He was described as doing things people had never seen–he was a masterful innovator. Tap dance is rooted in improvisation. That kind of conversation with the feet is part of the development of the form. It lives in those early contests.”

These thoughts of cultural exchange drove the creation of American Traffic, a new work commissioned by the Auditorium Theatre for Chicago’s Trinity Irish Dance Company by Dorrance, a MacArthur Fellow and artistic director of Dorrance Dance, and Dorrance artistic associate Melinda Sullivan. “Trinity Irish Dance Company is a contemporary Irish American company rooted in the traditions of Irish step dance,” explains TIDC associate artistic director Chelsea Hoy. “We push the boundaries of the form through a performing arts lens. One way we do that is by collaborating with movers from different genres. Michelle Dorrance’s work bears similarities to ours in the way that it honors the ancestors.”

“We were interested in breaking down the rigidity and traditional carriage of Irish step dancing,” says Dorrance. “We wanted to explore a pedestrian quality. The execution of Irish dance is so beautiful but often rigid. The arms are held. In tap, we often have a relaxed upper body and an organic approach.” The title of the work began as a joke, she says–simply a way of organizing the negotiation and exploration of space. “The rule was, when they would pass each other, pass on the right–literally ‘American traffic.’ But it became this thing that reflected a culture that has such depth in its ancestry. Tap is one of the oldest–in terms of immigrated Americans–American dance forms. There’s constant exploration in the piece, and exploration of identity. It’s not about some heavy emotional drama, it just lives in the fiber of the work.”

The exploration of technique and identity is central to TIDC’s mission of innovation in Irish American dance. TIDC was founded in 1990 by Yorkshire-born, Rogers Park-raised Mark Howard, who studied at the Dennehy School of Irish Dance–where fellow Irish American Chicagoan Michael Flatley also trained. Whereas Flatley’s Riverdance became a global phenomenon when it premiered in 1995, Howard has refused traditional Irish dance competitions and Broadway-style spectacles. “We’re the only art-driven ensemble repertory Irish dance company in the world,” says Hoy.

“How are you still doing what you love when [Riverdance] turned into this multimillion dollar thing?” Dorrance recalls asking Howard. “He replied, ‘We just want people to connect with what we do.’ And I thought, ‘That’s exactly what I feel about my art form.’ To exchange the roots of our culture, the rhythmic ideas, to learn more about our techniques, where they came from, and why–that’s fascinating.” v






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Trinity Irish Dance Company plays at the intersection of American Trafficon February 25, 2020 at 9:10 pm Read More »