Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University announces 2012–13 season

Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University 2012–13 season | Slideshow

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  Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: Rodin

  Photo: Nikolay Krusser368.ac.AuditoriumTheatre12_13Season3.jpg151589061
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  Eisenhower Dance Ensemble

  Photo: Courtesy of the Auditorium Theatre368.ac.AuditoriumTheatre12_13Season4.jpg151589112
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  Tenor Rodrick Dixon, to perform “Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz Gospel Messiah”

  Photo: Courtesy of the Auditorium Theatre368.ac.AuditoriumTheatre12_13Season1.jpg151588963
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  Royal Winnipeg Ballet: Moulin Rouge

  Photo: Bruce Monk368.ac.AuditoriumTheatre12_13Season2.jpg151589014
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  Kirven James Boyd of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

  Photo: Andrew Eccles360.da_.alvinaileykirvenboyd.jpg150882795

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Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: Rodin

Photo: Nikolay Krusser

Today the Auditorium Theatre announced the slate of performance programs for its next season, notably heavy on dance, with fully twice as many moving companies scheduled as music engagements. Contemporary folk singer-songwriter Susan Werner is first up, appearing September 15 under the Aud’s “On Stage With…” banner as she did last fall. Ivory-tickler and crooner Michael Feinstein follows on September 29, performing with Jeff Lindberg’s Chicago Jazz Orchestra a night of American standards, the focus of Feinstein’s PBS series.

Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández returns to Chicago for two shows this October 6 and 7. Its March 2010 visit, which kicked off the city’s celebrations of big birthdays for Mexico’s independence and Republic, was a joyful bombardment of live music and folk dance. Our other international neighbor follows suit November 2–4, when Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents Moulin Rouge, a new production currently at the start of its American tour. The Auditorium’s annual gala coincides with the engagement, to take place at the Palmer House Hilton after RWB’s Sunday matinee.

“Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz Gospel Messiah” delivers its eighth-annual shows January 19 and 20, 2013, Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, followed by the first two-week stay in Chicago by NYC’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ten performances by the latter between March 8 and 17 are a response to “overwhelming popularity and high demand,” says the venue; see why for yourself this coming April 11–15.

As it did for the first time last April, River North Dance Chicago visits the Auditorium in tribute to music (then, it was for the Miles Davis Festival). RNDC’s one-night-only April 13, 2013 show will premiere choreography by artistic director Frank Chaves to an original score by Orbert Davis, performed by the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, which Davis founded and directs. Tentatively titled “The Cuban Project” and a partnership between both ensembles and the Aud, it will explore “the origins and evolution of Cuban jazz and music of the Afro-Cuban diaspora.” The following afternoon, Detroit’s Eisenhower Dance Ensemble—named for its artistic director, not our 34th prez—presents its love letter to an American sound, “Motown In Motion,” along with repertory.

The Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg closes out the Auditorium’s season May 17–19, 2013. Whereas the Russian company’s last visit brought Boris Eifman’s reworked Don Quixote from 1996, next spring brings a fresh creation: Rodin, choreographer Eifman’s portrait of the sculptor to music by three French composers, making its U.S. debut this weekend at New York’s City Center.

Prices for single tickets and season subscriptions are yet to be announced; the latter and group packages go on sale May 1. For further details, call 312-431-2357 or go to auditoriumtheatre.org.