After you see Little Dead Riding Hood, check out Beyond Blue. This is something CTT's never done before: a show of all new Chicago debuts on the Athenaeum Mainstage for One Night Only!Chicago Tap Theatre has already established a reputation for stretching the boundaries of tap dance and taking the art form in new and relatively unexplored directions. Their new show, “Beyond Blue: New Tones in Tap” is a manifesto of innovation in tap dance. Audiences will be treated to all new premieres by Artistic Director Mark Yonally, two new dances by up-and-coming tap choreographer Kendra Jorstad (including the intricate Click, which explores the sounds made by two dancers’ shoes striking each other!) and a piece by Innovation in Percussive Choreography winner Caitlin Gudat. Every piece in this show will be a Chicago Tap Theatre premiere.

Especially exciting for both the audience and the company will be the premiere of Flying Turtles, an American choreographic masterpiece by tap pioneer Brenda Bufalino. Originally choreographed in the late 80s, this piece demonstrates Bufalino’s intense polyrhythms and supple movements. Chicago Tap Theatre will be the first company to perform this piece in Chicago and was lucky enough to learn the piece directly from Bufalino herself. The rights to this piece were secured through a generous grant from the Young Leaders Fund.

CTT will be extend this concept of innovation to its invited guests, who will perform alongside some of the company’s greatest improvisers. Artists include Poetry Slam creator Marc Smith of the Green Mill Poetry Slam fame. Though Marc and CTT AD Mark Yonally have been creating tap and poetry pieces for the past seven years, this will be Marc’s on-stage premiere with Chicago Tap Theatre. Another confirmed guest for the evening is David Bragman, one of the leading Bluegrass banjo musicians in the country. Bluegrass, beatboxing and tap? Why not!

We would like to thank The Saints Foundation and the Young Leaders Fund for their generous support.

Photo by Josh Hawkins. Graphic Design by Kristie Kahns.