Concerts of Dance: Hanna DiLorenzo

Wednesday, September 16-Saturday, September 19 Free; Registration Required for Workshop Xenia Mansour reactivates was, still is, a 50-minute durational, site-adaptive performance in the Murphy Auditorium. Originally created as a ten-minute work for New Dance 2025 on a proscenium stage, this performance adapts the work for Brendan Fernandes: In the Round. Audiences are invited to enter, exit, and move through the space freely, encountering the work patiently from multiple vantage points. Rather than a fixed performer–audience relationship, the reformatted work—distilled into a duet—creates a porous environment in which dancers, viewers, and the architecture are all in dialogue. Viewers are not bound to seats or a linear narrative. Inspired by the 2016 exhibition Unfinished at the MET Breuer, ongoing questions that live at the heart of was, still is include: What does it mean to be ‘unfinished’? Is it infinite? Does it interrupt? Bleed through? What is not ‘there’ for us right now but should have been? And with that, what remains? Diving deeper into these questions and movement vocabulary, the work aligns deeply with the legacy of Judson Dance Theater, particularly its emphasis on task-based movement, democratic space, and process. Activations include open rehearsals, workshops for dancers, and artist talks. Wednesday, September 16 | 11 am-3 pm Thursday, September 17 | 2-4:45 pm Friday, September 18 | 11 am-3 pm Join choreographer Xenia Mansour and collaborator Faith Balderrama for an open rehearsal of was, still is. Observe the artists as they adapt the work for Murphy Auditorium ahead of its premiere on Saturday, September 19. Movement Workshop of was, still is Thursday, September 17 | 12-2 pm Join choreographer Xenia Mansour and collaborator Faith Balderrama for a workshop designed for dancers and movement artists. Participants will learn phrase material from was, still is and engage with Mansour’s creative process through improvisation, journaling, and guided exploration. This workshop is intended for movement artists. Free; Registration Required. Run of was, still is + Artist Talkback Friday, September 18 | 3:15-4:45 pm Watch an open dress rehearsal of was, still is before its Murphy Auditorium premiere. Following the run-through, Brendan Fernandes moderates a conversation with the artists on the work’s themes, creative process, and adaptation. Free; Registration Recommended. Performance of was, still is Saturday, September 19 | 1-2 pm Join choreographer Xenia Mansour and collaborator Faith Balderrama for was, still is, a site-adaptive performance for the Murphy Auditorium. The questions at the heart of this performance include: What does it mean to be ‘unfinished’? Is it infinite? What is not ‘there’ for us right now but should have been? And with that, what remains? Free; Registration Recommended. Xenia Mansour is a movement-based performer, director, and coach. She holds a BFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and has performed with NYC-based choreographers and collectives, including HIVEWILD, HOLDTIGHT, Sikora + Dance, and Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener. Most recently, she has performed in Brendan Fernandes’ “In Two” at the Pulitzer Arts Museum and choreographed and performed in Grammy-nominated musician Nico Segal’s “Welcome Home” at Steppenwolf Theatre. Her work has been presented by Thodos Dance Chicago/DanceWorks Chicago for New Dances 2025 at The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, and has also been commissioned by Grammy-winner Kalia Vandever and MOMENTA Dance Company. Through her company, Philoxenia Movement LLC, Mansour also works as a movement director and coach, collaborating with Chicago-based musicians, photographers, models, and visual artists. Her movement direction spans live performance, music projects, and fashion and editorial contexts, including ongoing collaboration with Greek-American pop artist Tommy Bravos and leading model movement workshops with photographer Anna Blank. Her work is guided by curiosity, play, and intentionality, using movement as a tool for dialogue, presence, and honest exchange between performers, collaborators, and audiences. Faith Balderrama is a professional dancer, choreographer, and instructor from Southern California. She graduated with a B.A. in Dance Performance from Oral Roberts University in 2020 and is based in Chicago. Faith performed with South Chicago Dance Theatre for three seasons and had the honor of working with Terrence Marling, Noelle Kayser, Jackie Nowicki, Donald Byrd, Monique Haley, Kate Weare, Frank Chavez, and Joshua Blake Carter. She also performed works by Kia S. Smith and Tsai Hsi Hung for the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 2024. As a choreographer, Faith has created new works for the Oral Roberts University Dance Department, Little Fire Artist Collective, and the Winifred Haun and Dancers Third Coast Contemporary Dance Program. Additionally, Faith received a Chicago DCASE Individual Artist Program Gra