Woohoo! The amazing Burlesque group that I work with, Belmont Burlesque Revue was named Best Burlesque Troupe in the Chicago Reader's Reader Poll!!
So Exciting!
Recently in Choreography Category
The Chicago Reader Named Impress These Apes the Best Variety Show in Chicago!
Thanks to all the readers who voted!!
There's a lot that can go wrong here. Impress These Apes is an eight-week talent competition, now in its fifth iteration, in which contestants prepare assigned acts--stand-up with a puppet, say, or anti-comedy--to be judged American Idol-style by "hyper-intelligent apes from the future" (three comedians in masks). The acts might easily flop--or, worse, they might not be bad enough to elicit sufficient zingers from the apes.
And yet there's never a dull moment.
Blewt! Productions has engineered Apes with silly backstory and wacked- out characters enough to keep things lively. And the contestants--who've endured a rigorous audition process for the chance to win prizes, $500, and the title of Least Pitiful Human--are always up for the increasingly weird tasks at hand. The possibility that Apes could fall apart at any moment only means that when something special happens, like an underdog pulling out all the stops, it's glorious. It runs through July 26, Mondays at 8 PM; tickets are $10.For its fifth edition, this eight-week talent contest has been streamlined. The backstory, explaining why three hyper-intelligent apes from the future are subjecting eight people to weekly challenges, is gone, and bits between the apes and other characters-a bronzed beauty pageant host; the sidekick, Future Human-are kept brief. The focus is on the contestants and the challenges, which are harder and weirder than ever. The first week's task was to perform anti-comedy. Chloe Ditzel prepared a unicycle routine that was derailed when she couldn't mount the thing; Otis Fine chugged two bottles of wine and sat quietly, awaiting the consequences. Few shows in Chicago are as consistently dangerous as Impress These Apes-anything can happen and usually does. -Steve Heisler
When I am doing a marathon choreography session, sometimes I get really sleepy, and things like this happen:
"Cross walk w/arms camel crane Step R cross left W/arms like flapping or on a horse x4"
Yeah.
I know what I mean by this tonight, but who knows if I will remember tomorrow?
I am creating such an arsenal of badass dance videos for inspiration here, and this one is no exception. Brilliant. Perfect. Creepy. Wonderful. It gives me chills and I can't stop watching it.
The XX, "Islands"
I want to make music videos.
Here is a clip from the Breakfast Club: The Totally 80's Musical at IO.
And a blurb from a review!
Erica Reid and Jeff Gandy's jerky, self-conscious choreography imparts a good deal of the humor, coupled with the actors' largely deadpan re-creations of the characters.
Jeff and I choreographed this fun show which opens next week. Written and directed by Jason Chin, and featuring a live band! I can't wait to see it.
IO Theatre
Starting February 4th
Thursdays @ 10:30pm
$15
Erica Reid
