Chicago Contemporary Dance Company to Perform at Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company based in Chicago, will perform at Northwestern University June 4 to 6.

Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak will present “Stamina of Curiosity: my answer is yes” at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4; 8 p.m. Friday, June 5; and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 6, in the Ballroom Theater of the Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. A discussion with the artists will follow each performance.

Shanahan, a Northwestern Dance Program faculty member, is the artistic director of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, which she founded in 1994.

“Stamina of Curiosity” is the most current in a series of works developed through Shanahan’s multi-year movement project in which she is translating and expanding upon the intensive movement research developed through her solo “My Name is Blackbird.”

Working with a new group of dancers comprised of Tim Heck, Benjamin Law, Kristina Fluty and Jessie Marasa, Shanahan is expanding her exploration of the energetic exchange between observers and the observed as a palpable, alchemical agent in spontaneous composition, and deepening her evolving movement vocabulary with the ensemble.

“Stamina of Curiosity” received a National Performance Network Creation Fund Award for the continued development of the choreographic work. The award provides $10,000 in financial support, which allows Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak to further the ensemble’s research with their partnerships with Alverno Presents, the performing arts series of Alverno College in Milwaukee and Denison University in Ohio.

This marks the company's fourth performance at Northwestern University and the 15th anniversary of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak’s premiere performance, which was held in the Ballroom Theater in 1995.

General seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. Admission for the general public is $15 and $10 for students with IDs and senior citizens 65 and older. For tickets, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or visit www.dance.northwestern.edu.

(Nathalie Rayter, a sophomore in the School of Education and Social Policy, contributed to this story.)