When Scott Silberstein’s fledgling HMS Media shot a half-hour documentary about River North Chicago Dance Company back in 1993, it was a turning point for both organizations. Initially aired on WTTW, the documentary, Reality of a Dreamer, was picked up for national broadcast by PBS. Suddenly, River North artistic director Frank Chaves recalls, the little four-year-old troupe was on the dance-world map: “Our phones were ringing off the hook, and all the touring started. It was a landmark moment for us.” Reality of a Dreamer even won a regional Emmy
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The special marks another decade in the life of the company, shows off a contemporary repertoire that has broadened from the group’s jazz roots, and displays the emotion that Chaves says enables his dancers to “tear down the fourth wall” and reach their audience. At its center is his own story—the story of a body becoming less and less responsive to its owner’s bidding.
River North has been a resident troupe at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, for about 12 years, and is also a regular at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, holding a gala there in the fall and two or three performances in the spring. Chaves says the 13-member company does 30 to 40 performances annually, touring widely in the U.S. Its 2008 schedule included a Ravinia gig and a swing through Europe that took it to Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg. This is all done on a budget of about $1.2 million, about 70 percent of which comes from donations and grants. There’s no endowment.
Every Dancer Has A Story airs Sunday, January 11, at 3 PM and Monday, January 19, at 2:30 AM on WTTW 11 and WTTWD. Silberstein says he’s also creating a series of one-to-three-minute River North podcasts that he hopes will be available on iTunes early next year. The company, whose shows critic Lucia Mauro has called the perfect first date, performs a sneak peak of its season on January 20 at Ruth Page (call 312-944-2888 for tickets) and then three world premieres at the Harris Theater on Valentine’s Day weekend, February 13-14 (312-334-7777).v
