FAB!

Evanston Dance Ensemble dances the Beatles

        Proving that the music of the Beatles strikes a chord with many generations, including their own, the Evanston Dance Ensemble presents FAB! Evanston Dance Ensemble Dances the Beatles on March 7 and 9 at The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts in Skokie (at the intersection of Skokie Boulevard and Golf Road). 

       Under the artistic direction of Béa Rashid and Christina Ernst, the youth performance company in residence at Dance Center Evanston devotes its annual festival of dance to the music of the Beatles, pairing original choreography with covers of the Fab Four’s hits.  FAB! premieres Friday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. with additional shows on Sunday, March 9 at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are available by calling The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts ticket office at 847-673-6300.  Tickets are priced at $15.00 for children under 18, students and seniors, and $21.00 for adults. 

       In this its 11th season, the Evanston Dance Ensemble looks to past generations for inspiration and creative input, utilizing the choreographic talents of Rashid and Ernst, and of choreographers Keesha Beckford, Mike Gosney, Julie Cartier, Jenny Shore and special guest choreographer Eddy Ocampo.  The production also includes guest dancers ranging in age from 7 to 82.   From Beckford’s high-energy dance interpretation of “Oh Darling/Birthday,” to Ocampo’s jazz choreography for “And I Love Her,” to Ernst’s use of multigenerational dancers in “Hello/Goodbye,” FAB! features pieces choreographed for contemporary and classical ballet, as well as jazz and modern dance.

          “The Beatles explored music in many different ways, which allows their music to be used for many different styles of choreography,” states Rashid.  “Each of our choreographers has chosen their own cover versions of Beatles’ songs, so classical, acoustical, jazz, and Baroque interpretations are all being used, and while each person has expressed their own ideas through each piece, the production comes together thematically around the Beatles’ universal message of love and peace.”

        Choreographer Jenny Shore, who chose “Across the Universe” for her piece, explains, “The young dancers I’m working with are starting to form strong identities, their own worlds, and this piece is about change and discovering the possibilities of their imagination.  I’ve tried to create a work that is an empowering experience for the dancers, and by using a well-known Beatles’ song, the audience is eased into a viewing of a more difficult style of dance.”  

       Rashid has wanted to create a complete Beatles-inspired dance production for several years, since choreographing two Dance Center Evanston recital pieces for different age groups to the songs “Let It Be” and “Here Comes The Sun.”  Her co-artistic director Christina Ernst and the team of EDE choreographers all agreed that the music of the Beatles has stayed relevant and speaks to many generations.  While the Beatles weren’t an unknown to the young EDE dancers, exploring the Fab Four’s music has allowed the ensemble to go on its own journey of discovery.