Chicago dance and performance art fans are in for a spring treat this coming mid-May, when MegLouiseDance will present their new work Watching Brief at Links Hall. MegLouiseDance, noted for its collaborative and innovative process in creating work, will be utilizing interactive light projections and responsive choreography to allow audience choices or hesitations that will affect the action in real time. In an unusual twist for theater, audience size will be strictly limited in number, to allow for the viewers to experience a more complete immersion process, and provide the space for cooperative investigation opportunities between performers and audience. The intentionally small gathering of guests will be navigating through a landscape of casual conversation, sophisticated imagery, and exposed boundaries. Audience members will be greeted by dancing that explodes from unexpected places with supple abandon, and should be prepared to experience a hybrid environment, where high-tech sophistication meets old-fashioned hospitality—while bodies are revered as the first and greatest communication device.

This is the premier mainstage production by MegLouise in the Chicago area, and performances are Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19 at the new Links’ Hall location on 3111 N Western Ave in Chicago. Watching Brief is a collaboration between choreographer and new media artist, Megan Pitcher, performers Allison Anich, Angela Luem, Caitlin Rafferty, Kelly Skala and technical designer, Leo Selvaggio. Pitcher was awarded a Works Residency at the Chicago Cultural Center and a $3,000 Albert P. Weisman Award from Columbia College Chicago for the development of this new work.

Tickets can be purchased through Links Hall for $15 ($10 students and seniors) by phone at 773.281.0824 and also online at www.linkshall.org. To learn more about the development and presentation of Watching Brief, click here.