The Joffrey Ballet performs Human Landscapes at the Auditorium Theater through October 28, and it's a journey through three very different, and very compelling works --- different, compelling, and a little surprising. It's never surprising when the Joffrey is really accomplished in what they do, and it's never surprising when they seem inspired and convincing. What is surprising about Human Landscapes is that the Joffrey weaves a really strong sense of conviction into this show, to go along with their trademark professionalism and inspiration.

At 4dancers.org, Johnny Nevin writes about Luna Negra Dance Theater's Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's World Premier of 18+1, one of two World Premieres at Luna Negra Dance Theater's Harris show this weekend.

"I like to work with process and collaboration," Fernando Melo says, a few minutes after finishing a rehearsal for his new work Walk-In, "because then we realize things we could not have imagined."

Luna Negra Dance Theatre will perform the World Premiere of Melo's Walk-In at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on October 13, along with a reprise of Melo's critically acclaimed (and massive audience favoroite) Bate and Artistic Director Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's much anticipated 18+1.

Considering how enthusiastic people are about Fernando Melo's choreography, identifying exactly what makes his approach so unique can be surprisingly elusive; his originality can defy description almost as much as it defies expectations. He comes up with such a different take on things that it makes you wonder if Fernando Melo might be the only person around who could have actually reinvented the wheel. Once you've seen some of his work, you start to believe that he probably could have; by now cars and bicycles might all be rolling around on something very different, and probably something better, if he'd put his mind to that instead of choreography.

Chicago Repertory Ballet is a new company with a very new perspective, and the careful architecture of ideas that it is built from promise a lot. The Company's much anticipated premiere performance is September 21st and 22nd at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts; it features what is likely to become a characteristically rich set of dance visions, including works by Jacqueline Stewart, Autumn Eckman and Artistic Director Wade Schaaf.

This would have been an intriguing story no matter what. Schaaf has always brought a wide and balanced creativity to his choreography, and he's known for moving easily across a wide choice of styles and ideas. That would already have been a compelling story; the founding of a new independent ballet company is an unusual and complex event in itself, and Chicago Repertory Ballet's premiere includes an attention-worthy blend of established audience favorites and important premieres, performed by an impressive cast of accomplished performers.

Luna Negra Dance Theater is such an imaginative and unique Company that it's never at all surprising when they do something new and forward-looking. Their collaboration with the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago was a program of three exceptionally strong premieres, combined in a program called Luna Nueva which means, "the New Moon". It was a superb choice as the title for the program; in the pre-electrified past of almost every culture on Earth, the new moon has been a powerful and enchanting symbol of change. Luna Nueva's explicit purpose was to showcase works by choreographers "whose movement style and artistic voices extend beyond the conventional aesthetics of dance".

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago opened their Summer Series at the Harris Theater Thursday, presenting three very different works from three inspired choreographers. Alejandro Cerrudo's Malditos opens the program, followed by William Forsythe's Quintett. Batsheva Dance Company Artistic Director Ohad Naharin's THREE TO MAX completes the evening, and "completes" is an understatement. The three works cover an unbelievable range of choreography and music, but what they all have in common is that Hubbard Street is performing them. In all three works the Hubbard Street dancers look like they invented the concert stage; it doesn't seem to matter what artistc vision they find themselves inside of, they're always at home.

This weekend the Atlanta Ballet presents its "New Choreographic Voices" program, featuring works by Christopher Wheeldon, Helen Pickett and the Atlanta Ballet's own Tara Lee. Lee's work, "Pavo", is a fascinating story; it involved a collaboration with Atlanta based composer Nickitas Demos, and Catherine Tully of 4dancers.org did an interview with Lee at The Huffington Post in which Lee talks about the work, and about how she became a choreographer. There's a video interview embedded in the story that's really worth checking out.

The Joffrey Ballet's Spring Desire is a richly successful evening; it features three works, "Age of Innocence" by Edwaard Liang, "In the Night" by Jerome Robbins, and the world premiere of "Incantations" by Val Caniparoli. Spring Desire continues this week, from Thursday through Sunday, and ticket information is available at the Joffrey website.

Johnny Nevin wrote about the Joffrey performance here at aotpr.com, and has also taken a much more in-depth look at the making of Edwaard Liang's richly enchanting "Age of Innocence" at 4dancers.org. Here's a video collage of photographs by Herbert Migdoll of scenes from "Age of Innocence".

The Joffrey Ballet's "Spring Desire" is a beautiful, masterful evening, made out of elegance and precisely focused inspiration; it opened April 25 at Chicago's legendary Auditorium Theatre, and will run through the beginning of May.

"Spring Desire" starts out with Edwaard Liang's "Age of Innocence", an intricately conceived and beautifully performed work of profound insight. I wrote about the making of the piece in an article at 4dancers.org called "The Choreography of Understanding", and in the process I had the chance to see one of the rehearsals for it. In a way it's a revelation to see the movement isolated in the bright light of the Joffrey's expansive rehearsal studio, repeated again and again until it shows the multiple perspectives of individual performance, ensemble precision and choreographic architecture, but it's nothing like seeing the lights come up on it at the Auditorium. There's a depth to the staging, a harmony to its richly woven movement-fabric, a brightness in the dancers who perform in it, that immerses you in it's rich, brooding story.

The second work in "Spring Desire" is a widely respected work by Jerome Robbins entitled "In the Night", set to four Chopin Nocturnes. The Nocturnes are performed live, and beautifully, by Paul James Lewis, as six dancers weave a hopelessly enchanting spell with Robbins' movement design. The program notes say that the "exquisitely romantic pas de deux explore love in all its phases", and although "exquisitly romantic" is exactly what they are, the graceful eloquence of the Jofferey dancers adds a whole new kind of love to the list.

The last work in the show is the world premiere of "Incantations" by Val Caniparoli that I won't even try to describe; you just have to go see it. It starts out with a nonstop energy that could be the finale of almost anything else, then one of the most effective lighting changes you'll ever see brings everything way down, and it finishes, it finishes, maybe I shouldn't say how it finishes. You should just go see it.

Watching the Joffrey work is beyond impressive; the performance is at a level that's stunning in its gracefulness, its energy and its commitment. In three very different works, "Spring Desire" showcases what can happen when a group of richly talented people work really hard together to make something brilliant. This is a band where everybody knows how to play; this is a show to go see.

Spring Desire is at the Auditorium Theater through May 6, tickets are at the Joffrey (10 E. Randolph Street) and Roosevelt Box Offices or from Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787.

Alliance Dance Company is at Ruth Page April 20-21 at 7:30 performing "Fighting for a Dream", a dance performance focused on fighting for what you believe in. It's a two act show, the first act includes all new works by Bryan Hurd, Lindsey Jaynes, Kimberly Schomburg, Stephanie Unger, and Amy Williams while Act II is the Artistic Director Jennifer Gage's full ballet "Fighting for a Dream". There were still a few tickets at brown paper tickets when we wrote this, but if you want to see this resourceful and imaginative Company, maybe you should check it out now.