Auditorium Theatre

Dance

The Auditorium Opens New Season with Return of Award-Winning Step Afrika! in the Chicago Premiere of “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence”

Fred Cummings , 

The Auditorium, Chicago’s National Historic Landmark stage (50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive), proudly opens its 2024-25 season with the return of Washington, DC-based Step Afrika!, in the Chicago premiere of its signature, full-evening length production, The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence, for one performance only, Saturday, October 19, at 7:30pm. 

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National-Geographic-Live
Museums

National Geographic Live’s “Coral Kingdoms and Empires of Ice” Comes to Auditorium Theatre

Isaac Jacobs ,  , 

On Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m., Auditorium Theatre will present National Geographic Live’s “Coral Kingdom and Empires of Ice” with photographic team David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes. Vice President of Conservation Research at Chicago’s own Shedd Aquarium, Dr. Chuck Knapp, will introduce the speakers and host a Q&A providing audience members the valuable opportunity to talk directly with Doubilet and Hayes.

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Alvin-Ailey-American-Dance-Theatre
DanceWinter 2023

Coming Home: Alvin Ailey Returns to the Auditorum Theatre This Spring

Fred Cummings ,  , 

If ever there was a “cultural ambassador” Chicago could call our own, it’s the beloved Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The world renowned and resplendently talented company of diversely gifted dancers has performed for an estimated 25 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents—as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms—promoting the uniqueness of the African American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. 

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Kyiv-City-Ballet
BalletDanceSummer 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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Alvin-Ailey-American-Dance-Theatre
BalletDanceWinter 2022

Alvin Ailey to Mark Triumphant Return to Chicago

Fred Cummings , 

Much like the leaves that begin to bud on the trees in Millennium Park and the post-work sunsets commuters enjoy along the Eisenhower, Alvin Ailey’s yearly residency in the historic Auditorium Theater is like one of nature’s reminders that spring has sprung here in Chicago. But for the first time in half a century, in 2021, the elegance of Alvin Ailey dancers did not grace the Auditorium’s stage and audiences have felt the absence. The pandemic has caused us to miss a log of the culture we take for granted in this great city. But for many, it has also caused them to appreciate it all the more. 

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Deeply-Rooted-Dance-Theatre
DanceSummer 2021

New Horizons

Fred Cummings ,  , 

The 2021-2022 season is getting off to a fabulous start for Deeply Rooted Dance Theater and Auditorium Theatre, which are launching a new partnership together beginning this year and extending at least through the 2024-2025 season.

“It’s always been a dream of mine,” says Deeply Rooted’s co-founder and executive director, Kevin Iega Jeff. “We first self-presented at the Auditorium in 1999 when we produced an evening with Roberta Flack—it was a wonderful collaboration. It was my hope to plant seeds for the relationship we’re beginning now.”

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Joffrey-Ballet-and-Lyric-Opera-Orphee-et-Eurydice
BalletDanceSummer 2020

Joffery’s Big Move

Leslie Price ,  ,  , 

Autumn 2020 brings a new and exciting partnership for Chicago audiences to enjoy when the Joffrey Ballet officially joins forces with the Lyric Opera to share the iconic Lyric Opera House on North Wacker Drive. 

The partnership of these two pillars of the Chicago cultural scene has developed over time. First, as an artistic collaboration with 2017’s Orphée et Eurydice, a thrilling piece that blended the musical talents of the Lyric with ballet sequences performed by the Joffrey. During this laudable production, these cherished arts institutions discovered a kind of symbiosis that held the potential for extension beyond a single event.

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