Chicago Dance Month returns for a ninth time this June with in-person events featuring Chicago dancers and dance companies outdoors at Navy Pier and McKinley Park. Previously held in April, this year’s celebration launches a whole summer of Saturdays featuring dance at Navy Pier produced by See Chicago Dance. There will also be an online presentation June 24 as part of Chicago Takes 10, a virtual tour of the performing arts in Chicago sponsored by the Walder Foundation.
This year, Martignetti speaks with particular enthusiasm about the Scavenger Hunt, a self-guided tour on June 9 and 30 through McKinley Park featuring dance performances along the route. “It’s a beautiful wooded area, and there’s a garden and green space and lots of interesting spaces to dance in,” she says. “We’ve got Indian dancing and belly dancing and Middle Eastern dancing, films I’m projecting on the side of the fieldhouse, and contemporary work.” On safety protocols, she notes that the park district requires masks on its grounds and adds, “We’re keeping the groups small and doing several walk-throughs of the park to make sure there’s room for people to spread out and stay socially distanced.” For audience members who want to learn more about dance, volunteers will be stationed by each performing group to assist and offer information.
For the longer term, Mayer says, “We’re developing a dance amplification committee, which will include a couple of our board members but be primarily a group that comes together, some folks we invite, and that people in the group invite. One of the things we’re mindful of is a traditional white supremacist framework of who’s the gatekeeper and who isn’t. We’re in the process of developing a mission and purpose for that committee.”
Opens Sat 5/29, 3 PM at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand, F; seechicagodance.com for complete schedule.
