Vicki Crain

Feb 19, 2025 | better.net | Brooke McDonald |Vicki Crain

The age-old idiom “it’s a small world” takes on profound meaning in the dance world. What might seem a like niche profession has a global reach, finding its way into even the smallest corners of a dance studio. A young, sensitive boy growing up in France, a British girl fascinated with storytelling, a Ukrainian-born ballet phenom, an Australian who grows up to blend genres — all take very different journeys, yet somehow end up in the same place.

Nov 8, 2024 | better.net | Brooke McDonald |Vicki Crain

Last month, Chicagoan Bruce Sagan traveled to Washington, D.C., to receive the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor for artists and arts patrons in U.S., for his contributions as an Arts Leader. President Joseph R. Biden presented the 2022 and 2023 awards on October 21, 2024 in a private ceremony at The White House. Among Sagan’s fellow 2022 honorees were Broadway singer Idina Menzel and actress Eva Longoria.

Oct 18, 2024 | better.net | Marie Rossiter |Vicki Crain

This week, The Joffrey Ballet brings Atonement to the Lyric Opera stage. This is the first ballet adaptation of Ian McEwan’s best-selling novel turned Academy Award®-winning film, choreographed by Cathy Marston in a co-production with Ballet Zürich. Make It Better (MIB) spoke with Joffrey’s Mary B. Galvin Artistic Director, Ashley Wheater MBE, last week before the company moved to the stage for technical rehearsals before opening night.

Feb 28, 2024 | chicagomag.com | Vicki Crain

About a year ago, Harrison McEldowney was busy at work on a project in the Maldives. There in his role as senior creative director at the Chicago-based consulting company Wilson Dow, he went online for inspiration and stumbled across a video that kindled some dormant artistic embers. It was footage of Burning Man — but the drone filming the event had crashed to the ground, where partygoers had retrieved it and passed around the still-recording robot.

Feb 7, 2024 | better.net | Vicki Crain

If a dancer sprains an ankle or tears their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — common ailments in a field where they train like Olympic athletes — they immediately see a doctor or physical therapist for assessment. But what if the injury is on the inside, invisible to the outside world? For artists at the top of their game, mental health is just as important as physical health, but usually isn’t addressed or acknowledged with the same sense of urgency. That is, until now.