Videodance at HPAC: a primer and more

After two weeks of promising myself a visit to the Hyde Park Art Center's Videodanse exhibit, I finally trekked down to the south side to watch Saturday's program. For fellow northsiders, I know it's hike, but while I had to take three expressways to get to Hyde Park, I flew down each one and parked my car in their (free!) lot less than 15 minutes after leaving my Bucktown apartment. It takes longer to get to Links Hall! I love the layout and design of the space-open, modern and, of course, free to the public. I walked upstairs to find a raw, work-in-progress atmosphere-the kind of place that would be fun to experiment with dance in if not for the cement floors. Videodance runs continuously from 12 (ish)-5 or 8pm depending on the day. I was surprised to walk in just before noon to find the room empty and the video well under way, not too surprising for a beautiful July Saturday. The exhibit presented thanks to the Centre Pompidou, a Paris arts center that produces annual collaborations between pivotal film makers and choreographers.

Not realizing how long each piece was (luckily the program is VERY informative), I had planned to stay for all the works, but featuring several 30, 40 and 60 minute dances I knew three or four would be my limit. Like any decent contemporary dance festival, this gave me the opportunity to see a variety of works, good and bad. As most dances were made by European choreographers, this is an especially rare opportunity to examine what has shaped art and movement outside of the US. A compilation of works from the last three decades, this exhibit puts abstract works in direct comparison to one another in terms of not only choreographic style but how movement is captured on camera.

I was particularly drawn to The Moebius Strip by Gilles Jobin. A study of shape, form and patterning, movement took place on a dark grid of gaff-taped marley flooring. As dancers shifted positions, they became game pieces watching and reacting to each others' moves. Close-up shots came at all the right moments quickly breezing past or following a slow, languid path of dancers moving past each other. Clearly there are rules to this game. As a spatially-obsessed dancer, I was hooked. I had never heard of Jobin and compulsively did a google and youtube search on him when I got home. What I found was that his company uses this piece for their education work allowing students to create and experience their own "Moebius Strip". I love that this exhibit opened my eyes to such a forward-thinking artist.

Each week the work shown in the exhibit changes, and I intend to see as many dances as possible. Seriously, how often does Pina Bausch come to this city? Chicago dancers: take what you can get and do not skip this!!!

Fulfilling my civic responsibility: Jury duty, me and the on-call system

I’m into my third day of this waiting game our legal system calls jury duty and this silly little trick they’re playing on me is getting old. As part of the whole process, a call-in system allows me to avoid unnecessary trips to the courthouse. Fine. Speed dial number nine on my phone now houses the jury hotline, a number I obediently call twice each day anxiously awaiting news about whether or not I may or may need to call back tomorrow to find out if they may or may not have me call back at 11:15 on Thursday to go in on Friday. Borrowing the tactic from the retail world, it’s also a cruel joke. (Do I get to enjoy my Friday night? Can I sleep off my hangover on Sunday morning?) I feel like I’m playing cat and mouse with the Lake County government. These juror-in-waiting phone calls have left me wondering when I will once again meander around my Bucktown apartment, gaze at the hazy skyline from the Edens Expressway, or devour a raspberry sundae at Margie’s.

To be fair, I’m not sitting at the courthouse right now. Jury duty equals many good things too. So far it has taken me to lunch, family dinners and Sam’s Club and given me reading time, writing time, lounge time. Basically I’m taking a vacation from my month off in the city. I know. The life of a dancer is exhausting.