Best dance in Chicago for 2023: Top 10 reimagined fairy tales, notable shows and standout performances

It was a banner year for dance in Chicago, with stellar productions from the city’s leading tap, jazz, contemporary and ballet companies. The year was chock full of standout performances for veterans on top of their game, plus several exciting, emerging dancers quickly rising through the ranks. More than a handful of the year’s highlights leaned hard into storytelling, with ballets and a few shorter works inspired by fairy tales and classic novels — others dazzled with technical and musical intricacy. Here are the top 10 dance shows from 2023.

“Tempo, Rhythm and Time” by Chicago Tap Theatre in February: Chicago Tap Theatre’s 20th anniversary show at the Den was easily their best mixed rep on record. Among the night’s many highlights: electrifying improvised solos by artistic associate Sterling Harris and director Mark Yonally, a merciless musical riddle from Martin “Tre” Dumas III, several alumni cameo appearances and a joy bomb in tap dance form set to Weather Report’s “Birdland” — all with a live band.

“Somewhere Between” at the Dance Center in March: Alice Klock and Florian Lochner’s artistic partnership bloomed in 2017 as they began improvising together at the tail end of their time dancing for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Now expanded as a six-piece ensemble collectively called FLOCK, they brought a new full-length stunner to the Dance Center, culled from dreams, imagination and childhood memory. At once meditative and pricky, “Somewhere Between” is not nostalgic, exactly, only hinting at its premise as unabashed, pure beauty washes over the viewer.

“Elements” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in March: Of several excellent choices, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s strongest outing this year might be their two-week run at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Unlike the cavernous Harris Theater, where most home series are performed, the MCA provides a chance to see every, minute detail. Those who got seats to the sold-out spring series called “Elements” — and not everyone did — were treated to the company premiere of Lar Lubovitch’s swirling 2010 treatise on midcentury art combining John Coltrane’s “Favorite Things” and a Dijon-hued Jackson Pollock backdrop. Other highlights: Alysia Johnson all by her amazing self in Kyle Abraham’s terrific solo “Show Pony,” and “Nevermore,” by Thang Dao, an exquisitely beautiful love story inspired by cross-cultural fairy tales.

“Celebrate Giordano” at the Harris Theater in April: Giordano Dance Chicago capped its 60th season in high style, starting with a simply sweet ballroom-inspired opener by alum Michael Taylor. A fresh, new arrangement of founder Gus Giordano’s homage to big band, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” revived by current artistic director Nan Giordano, served as an exemplar of her father’s signature style. More recent revivals brought back memories from the past few decades, like Liz Imperio’s “La Belleza de Cuba” and Ron de Jesus’s 2003 tour de force, “Prey” — plus a brand-new Kia Smith piece for a super-ensemble of 25 dancers combining Giordano dancers with South Chicago Dance Theatre.

“Supreme Love” at the Dance Center in April: Jumaane Taylor has become something of a lone wolf in recent years, pulling back from what was a feverish period of creation to balance choreography with a newer role leading Chicago Human Rhythm Project. But a revival of his 2016 masterwork honoring John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” proved, once again, that Taylor is as good as it gets. Jazz tap luminaries Christina Carminucci, Ayan Imai-Hall and Shanzell Page joined, forming an unparalleled quartet making sonic magic with local musicians Justin Dillard, Brent Griffin Jr., Marlene Rosenberg and Isaiah Spencer.

“The Little Mermaid” by the Joffrey Ballet in April: Choreographer John Neumeier’s impeccable stunner based on Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 fable is about as far from Disney as it gets. The Joffrey Ballet finally got to perform it last spring after years of delay due to the pandemic. It was absolutely worth the wait, for reasons too long to list here — but here are three: Dylan Gutierrez as the ham-handed and hilarious prince; Victoria Jaiani, who spends half the ballet with an incomprehensibly long set of pants mimicking fins, and the other half deliberately awkward and unsteady on new legs; and Yoshihisa Arai as the Sea Witch, giving remarkable final performances as he retired from a storied Joffrey career.

Arpino Centennial Celebration at the Auditorium Theatre in September: On what would have been Joffrey Ballet co-founder Gerald Arpino’s 100th birthday, dancers from seven U.S. ballet companies came together at the Auditorium Theatre to perform favorite works from his prolific catalog. While some Aprino ballets have aged better than others, his impact on ballet and Chicago — bringing the Joffrey to roost here in 1995 — is undeniable. Never was that clearer than in a two-day celebration and exposition of his best stuff, with “Birthday Variations,” “Suite Saint-Saens” and “L’Air d’Esprit” at the top of the list.

“Frankenstein” by the Joffrey Ballet in October: With career-making breakout performances by José Pablo Castro Cuevas and Jonathan Dole, “Frankenstein” served as the cherry on top of a bang-up year for story ballets. As the titular chemist and his complex creation, respectively, Cuevas and Dole exquisitely captured the nuance of Mary Shelley’s characters — expertly manifested as dance by late choreographer Liam Scarlett, whose shorter piece, “Hummingbird,” will appear at Joffrey next February. With Scarlett’s 2021 death as a macabre backdrop, it would have been easy — understandable, even — for Joffrey to let this ballet become overwrought. Far from that, it is divinely gorgeous and one of the year’s most notable highlights.

Deeply Rooted Dance Theater at the Auditorium Theatre in November: A knockout mixed bill proved Deeply Rooted is not just on top of its game; it’s setting the bar for modern dance in Chicago. Emani Drake’s standout performance of Keith Lee’s “Mama Rose” solidifies her place as one to watch — not easy in a company of dancers that’s just so darn good. With a jaw-dropping revival of Ulysses Dove’s “Vespers” and a timely premiere from artistic director Nicole Clarke-Springer based on the intergenerational fight for human rights, this one-night-only performance was one of the best in the company’s 25-year history.

“Jungle Book re-imagined” at the Harris Theater in November: The Harris Theater’s yearslong love affair with British choreographer Akram Khan has been audiences’ gain. Khan returned for the fourth time since 2019, bringing his eponymous ensemble with a 21st century take on Rudyard Kipling’s “Jungle Book.” As per usual, Khan created an immersive and fantastical visual and sonic world with a top-tier design team, plus an intricately woven dance language forged from Khan’s various influences and the ballet’s human, mammalian and reptilian requirements. To this, he adds narration, hand-drawn animation and physical theatre. It’s a lot to take in — maybe too much in a single sitting. Yet Khan is, and remains, an unequivocally prodigal voice in contemporary dance today. Lucky us.

Lauren Warnecke is a freelance critic.