Vicki Crain

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.

Dec 1, 2023 | better.net | Vicki Crain

Victoria Jaiani, a company artist at The Joffrey Ballet, is the quintessential ballerina. If you see her walking down the street in the Loop on a rehearsal break, you see the slim figure, long dark hair, expressive eyes and immediately know she’s a dancer — and that she’s someone special. She captures your attention and immediately draws you in. Who is that? If she can do that on a random Monday afternoon, you can imagine what happens when she’s on stage. She’s a bird, a ghost, a mermaid, a lover.

Nov 8, 2023 | better.net | Vicki Crain

The Joan B. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, located in downtown’s Millennium Park, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. That’s no small feat for any nonprofit arts organization and particularly for one established, in part, to house the city’s midsize arts companies who often find more challenges compared to the larger, more seasoned institutions. Designed by local architect and Driehaus Prize-winner Thomas H.

Jul 17, 2023 | chicagomag.com | Vicki Crain

Katlin Michael BourgeoisHaving done stints at San Francisco’s Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and DanceWorks Chicago, Katlin Michael Bourgeois comes with an enviable pedigree. Add to that the founding of a dance company in 2018 and a gig as resident choreographer for Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and Bourgeois was the perfect choice to shape young talent as head of the Joffrey Ballet’s contemporary ballet trainee program, now in its second year.