Chicago Human Rhythm Project Presents Dorrance World Premiere, 4/4

Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP) presents its resident ensemble BAM! performing a world premiere by 2012 Princess Grace Award winner Michelle Dorrance, commissioned by the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University as part of its debut MUSIC + MOVEMENT FESTIVAL. The program, which takes place Thursday, April 4 at 6 p.m. at the Katten/Landau Studio at 425 S. Wabash, also features works by Chicago native and Broadway star TEd Levy, CHRP Founder Lane Alexander and BAM! member Kristi Burris, as well as live music by the Greg Spero Trio and Chicago jazz vocalist Tressa Thomas.

Winner of the first Princess Grace Award for tap choreography in the award's 30-year history, Michelle Dorrance has created a piece that explores abstractions in vernacular blues and jazz movement coupled with cutting-edge innovations in contemporary tap technique. The piece presents a range of visual and aural aesthetics, from grounded, open, bass-heavy movement and sound to seemingly effortless slide work and treble-dominated airborne turns with light but rapid footwork. Thanks to support from the Auditorium Theatre's MOVEMENT + MUSIC FESTIVAL, BAM! performs this new work with the Greg Spero Trio and Chicago jazz vocalist Tressa Thomas.

One of the most sought-after tap dancers of her generation, Dorrance first performed in Chicago as a teenager with the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble and appeared in CHRP's 1998 documentary JUBA! Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance. She teaches, choreographs and performs throughout the U.S. and abroad, directs her company Dorrance Dance and has taken New York City by storm for more than a year performing in the Off-Broadway production STOMP.

The program also includes Three Little Words (2009), with music by Harry Ruby arranged by Nat "King" Cole. Choreographed by Chicago's own Emmy and Tony award winner T Ed Levy, the piece takes the audience on a journey through natural flow of rhythm and movement.