The Seldoms Bring New Full-Length 'All at Once' To Evanston's Studio5 In October

EVANSTON, IL — Evanston's Studio5 Performing Arts Center will host the world premiere of The Seldoms' new full-length work "All at Once" on Oct. 16 and 17.

The Chicago-based dance company is opening its 25th anniversary year with the production, which will run from 7:30 to 8:45 p.m. each night at the performing arts center at 1934 Dempster St.

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The performance is a Cubist-inspired collaboration by choreographer Carrie Hanson and composer and percussionist Tim Daisy. According to The Seldoms, "All at Once" blends contemporary dance, live percussion and voluminous costumes to create a work shaped by principles of Cubism.

Hanson and an ensemble of six dancers explore "an intentionally impossible choreographic challenge," unfolding the three-dimensional body to reveal multiple perspectives at once.

The new piece grew from Hanson's ongoing Cubist movement studies and a solo developed with ensemble member Haley Marcin. The work draws specifically from Pablo Picasso's 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, with Hanson and the dancers examining shaping and torque in the body as the performer attempts to show multiple facings and perspectives at once.

In 2023, during the 50th anniversary year of Picasso's death, The Seldoms performed a related Picasso-inspired solo piece at the Art Institute of Chicago. Now that earlier work is expanding into a full-length production for six dancers and three percussionists.

See Chicago Dance described the choreography as "a living canvas, with limbs extending in sharp, disjointed angles that evoke Picasso's fractured planes and overlapping dimensions." The performance begins with one dancer and one musician, then builds until all nine performers are moving and playing together.

Daisy's original score is written for three percussionists and uses what the description calls a structured architectural framework. Its open design allows the music to meet the choreography while leaving room for improvisation and chance operations. Instruments include marimba, drums, cymbals, gongs and smaller percussion pieces.

Costumes include pieces by Lara Miller and garments created by Associate Director Damon D. Green. Lighting design is by Kevin Rechner. The premiere ensemble includes Faith Balderrama, Laren Chang, Green, Marcin, Rachel Newton and Dillon Zamora, with percussionists Timothy Daisy, Phillip Sudderberg and Scott Taylor.

Tickets are listed at $18 for students, seniors and military members, $39 general admission, $56 supporter and $110 benefactor, with taxes and fees included.