The Seldoms are no strangers to political themes: Stupormarket (2011) explored the nation’s economic crisis, Exit Disclaimer (2012) focused on the debate surrounding climate change, and Monument, a 2008 work revived in 2013, took on consumerism and the environment. What’s different this time around is the contemporary dance company’s specificity. Instead of tackling a broad subject, with Power Goes artistic director Carrie Hanson and her company zero in on one political target—Lyndon B. Johnson.
Later on in the performance the set is empty except for a single dancer wearing a blazer backward. She’s as trapped by it as she would be by a straitjacket, and as she struggles to put the suit coat the right way around, forcefully throwing herself across the stage, her frantic efforts can be read as showing one caught up in a power trip—or as representing the desperation of the powerless.
Through 3/29: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM Museum of Contemporary Art 220 E. Chicago 312-280-2660theseldoms.org $28
