Chicago Dancers United has announced the lineup for this summer’s Dance for Life, coming in August to the Auditorium Theatre; participating companies for the one-night benefit include heavy hitters from Chicago’s dance community.
Chicago Dance Crash performs the Chicago premiere of “Us vs. Them,” choreographed by Annie Franklin to music by Man From Sol, Jonah k and Overlook.
Deeply Rooted Dance Theater performs “Parallel Lives,” choreographed by co-founder and associate artistic director Gary Abbott to music by Evangelos Spanos, based on “La Folía.”
Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater performs “Baile de Luis Alonso,” choreographed by Irma Suárez Ruiz, to music by Gerónimo Giménez, based on a one-act lyrical play by Javier de Burgos.
Giordano Dance Chicago performs “Shirt Off My Back,” a jazz work choreographed by Ray Mercer to music by Max Richter, Ólafur Arnalds, and Bongi Duma.
The Joffrey Ballet performs “Élégie” by Yoshihisa Arai live on piano to “Morceaux de Fantasie” by Sergei Rachmaninoff, performed by Jorge Ivars.
NAJWA Dance Corps performs sections of “The Guinea Suite,” choreographed by Mouminato Camara, set to live percussion.
Trinity Irish Dance Company performs “American Traffic,” a progressive Irish dance work choreographed by Michelle Dorrance and Melinda Sullivan, set to drums and hand percussion by Steven Rutledge.
Randy Duncan will choreograph a world premiere finale.
Dance for Life 2022 co-chairs are Jennifer Edgcomb, Ted Grady and Ross Slotten.
The first Dance for Life was in June 1992 as a fundraiser in response to the AIDS crisis. In the years since, Dance for Life became the nonprofit organization Chicago Dancers United. The mission of its Dancers’ Fund has expanded to provide financial support for preventive health care and medical needs to members of Chicago’s professional dance community.
Dance for Life 2022 is 6 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive, followed by an after-party at Venue SIX10, 610 S. Michigan Ave. Tickets are $500 for the performance and after party, $25-125 for the performance; on sale June 6 at 312-341-2300 and auditoriumtheatre.org
Presale May 23 to June 5: $125 tickets on sale for $75 with code PREDFL.