Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chicago as Backdrop
Get your teen warmed up for your trip to Chicago by renting one of these
Chicago-based flicks (all of which are rated PG or PG-13):
•
Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)
•
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986)
•
Adventures in Babysitting
(1987)
•
Prelude to a Kiss
(1992)
•
The Fugitive
(1993)
•
While You Were Sleeping
(1995)
•
My Best Friend's Wedding
(1997)
•
Blues Brothers 2000
(1998; note the original
Blues Brothers
movie is
rated R)
• Save the Last Dance (2001)
6 Dance
Ballet Chicago
Ages 10 & up.
Under artistic director Daniel Duell, a for-
mer New York City Ballet dancer, the group is notable for its specialty: the bal-
lets of Balanchine. The ballet performs one full-length story ballet a year, usually
in April or May.
&
312/251-8838.
www.balletchicago.org. Tickets $12-$25.
The Dance Center—Columbia College Chicago
Ages 10 & up.
Columbia
College, a liberal-arts institution specializing in the arts and media, has been grow-
ing by leaps and bounds in recent years. Its Dance Center—the hub of Chicago's
modern dance milieu—features an intimate “black box” 275-seat performance
space with stadium seating and marvelous sightlines. The Dance Center hosts at
least a dozen performances a year by both international and national touring
groups and homegrown choreographers.
1306 S. Michigan Ave.
&
312/344-8300.
www.
dancecenter.org. Tickets $10-$25. Subway/El: Red Line to Roosevelt. Bus: 151.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Ages 12 & up.
Dance lovers recommend
that if you're going to see just one dance performance while you're in town, make
it Hubbard Street, Chicago's best-known dance troupe whose mix of jazz, modern,
ballet, and theater dance has won many devoted local fans. Sometimes whimsical,
sometimes romantic, the crowd-pleasing 22-member ensemble incorporates a
range of dance traditions, from Kevin O'Day to Twyla Tharp, who has choreo-
graphed pieces exclusively for Hubbard Street. Although the troupe spends most
of the year touring, it has regular 2- to 3-week Chicago engagements in the fall
and spring. In the summer the dancers often perform at Ravinia Festival (p. 251).
Office: 1147 W. Jackson Blvd.
&
312/850-9744.
www.hubbardstreetdance.com. Tickets $20-$50.
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago
Ages 10 & up.
Although this major classical
company concentrates on touring, the Joffrey schedules about 6 weeks of per-
formances a year in its hometown. Led by cofounder and artistic director Ger-
ald Arpino, the company is committed to the classic works of the 20th century.
Its repertoire extends from the ballets of Arpino, Robert Joffrey, Balanchine, and
Jerome Robbins to the cutting-edge works of Alonzo King and Chicago chore-
ographer Randy Duncan. The Joffrey continues to draw crowds to its popular
rock ballet,
Billboards,
which is set to the music of Prince, and tours interna-
tionally. The company is usually in town in the spring (Mar or Apr), fall (Sept
or Oct), and December, when it stages its rendition of the holiday favorite
The
Nutcracker.
Office: 70 E. Lake St.
&
312/739-0120.
www.joffrey.com. Tickets $15-$80.
