Summer 2022

Singer-Dan-Navarro
Music Summer 2022 

LUMINARY: Q&A with Singer/Songwriter Dan Navarro

Fred Cummings ,

Saying singer/songwriter Dan Navarro is a versatile artist is like saying the past two years were kind of challenging for live music. It’s an understatement of epic proportions. Navarro is as prolific a master of all trades as they come. In addition to singer and songwriter, he routinely excels as producer, voice-over actor and all-around “road warrior,” all mounting a convincing argument for Navarro as the Hercules of the performing arts.
For years, he worked prolifically as part of the acoustic duo, Lowen & Navarro, releasing 14 albums and performing 1,500 gigs before Eric Lowen’s retirement in 2008 and subsequent passing from ALS in 2012.

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Gabriel-Randle-Bent-Court-Theatre
Summer 2022 Theater 

Full Circle: Court Theatre Names Gabriel Randle-Bent Associate Artistic Director

Oscar Peterson ,

In any real artistic pursuit, there comes a time when you simply have to invest in what you believe in. After all, as the old saying goes, you have to put up or shut up. And Court Theatre, who’s collaborated generously with a host of emerging and talented Chicago-based artists, directors and playwrights, has done just that in their recent appointment of Gabrielle Randle-Bent as associate artistic director. Bringing a uniquely powerful combination of academic excellence, artistic acumen and collaborative experience with with Court Theatre’s artistic team, Randle-Bent finds herself uniquely qualified to fill the post for which Court has been searching since early this year. 

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Kyiv-City-Ballet
Ballet Dance Summer 2022 

Voice of Resistance

Fred Cummings ,

One sleepy evening this past February, the full company of the Kyiv City Ballet boarded a flight out of its home city of Ukraine to embark upon a long-planned European tour. Little did anyone know at the time that it would be one of the last flights out of the country as Russia would invade its borders the very next day. That flight made its way to Paris, a city and its country that would adopt the ballet company in the wake of the Russian invasion. There and throughout Europe, the Kyiv City Ballet has performed since and now embarks upon a US tour that will bring them to the landmark Auditorium Theatre stage this fall. 

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Dance Summer 2022 

Giordano Dance Raises more than $125,000 at 2022 Legacy Ball Gala

Patrick Curran

Giordano Dance Chicago (GDC) hosted its annual Giordano Legacy Ball gala at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4021 N. Ravenswood, Thursday, June 2, 7-11 p.m. The evening provided attendees the chance to enjoy pop-up performances by the GDC dancers and Hiplet Ballerinas, plus eat, drink and dance the night away surrounded by vintage cars, neon signs, and music spun by world-renowned DJ Madrid Perry.  

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Ballet Dance Summer 2022 

Joffrey Ballet’s free family-friendly “Rita Finds a Home” tours the city.

Patrick Curran

The Joffrey Ballet will present the world premiere of Rita Finds Home, a family-friendly program and collaborative project between the Joffrey and Miami City Ballet, which will make its debut at the Navy Pier Lake Stage, July 9–10, 2022. Rita Finds Home is conceived by a nationally recognized, women-led creative team including Amy Hall Garner, a featured choreographer of the Joffrey’s Winning Works Choreographic Competition in 2011; Karla Estela Rivera, the Chicago-based author and executive director of Free Street Theater (West Town); as well as award-winning children’s book author Elisa Chavarri, and will be danced by the Joffrey Studio Company and Academy Trainees of the Joffrey Academy of Dance, Official School of The Joffrey Ballet.

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