Ann Reinking and Melissa Thodos Choreograph A LIGHT IN THE DARK for Thodos Dance

Award winning choreographers Ann Reinking and Melissa Thodos are teaming again to co-choreograph A Light in the Dark, the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, their second full-length story ballet, this time based on the story of Helen Keller, the extraordinary woman who was deaf and blind yet went on to become a world-famous writer, political activist and inspiration to all who know her incredible story.

A Light in the Dark, the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan follows Thodos Dance Chicago's recent success with The White City: Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, a Reinking/Thodos collaboration that told the story of Chicago's legendary 1893 World's Fair through contemporary dance,and was named "Best Dance 2011" by the Chicago Sun-Times.

In fact, the same White City creative team is returning to collaborate on A Light in the Dark, including composer Bruce Wolosoff, who is creating an original score exclusively for this new work, Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker Christopher Kai Olsen, who will create a behind the scenes film, dance legend Gary Chryst, who will provide rehearsal and stage direction, Nathan Tomlinson, TDC's resident lighting designer, and Nathan Rohrer, TDC's resident costume designer.

Characters in A Light in the Dark include Helen Keller, Helen's mother (Kate), Helen's father (Arthur), Helen's brother (Philip), Anne Sullivan, Anne's brother (Jimmie, who died young in an asylum), and Anne's students at a school for the blind where she taught before becoming Helen's teacher.

A Light in the Dark, the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan will be the first act of Thodos Dance Chicago's Winter Concert 2013, which also will boast a second act featuring the new work Rest is Not Always Possible by west coast choreographer KT Nelson, Co-Artistic Director of ODC Dance Company in San Francisco, another new work by TDC founder and artistic director Melissa Thodos titled Subtle Passages, plus a company premiere from TDC's recent New Dances 2012 choreography performance series.

Thodos Dance Chicago's Winter Concert 2013 will be presented in two Chicago-area venues, first on Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 8 p.m. at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard in Skokie. Tickets are $36-$46. Student tickets will be available with a valid ID. For tickets and information, call (847) 673-6300, or purchase tickets online at northshorecenter.org.

TDC will reprise its Winter Concert 2013 Saturday March 2, 2013 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 3 at
2 p.m. at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 East Randolph Street in downtown Chicago. Tickets are $30-$60. Student discounts will be available. Purchase tickets to the Harris performance via phone at (312) 334-7777, or online at harristheaterchicago.org.

Photo Credit: Cheryl Mann