REVIEWS! - Giordano Dance Chicago - 2026 World Premier
Photo by Beth Anne Anderson
Chicago Tribune Reviews ‘namuH’
For “namuH” (Human, backwards), Rua leans on that theatrical street style on display in the musicals “In the Heights” and “Hamilton.” He was in the cast of both. But there’s a rawness and refreshing degree of abstraction I wasn’t expecting and, frankly, can’t get enough of. Rua enters the topic of humanness by depicting a pack of mannequins. Dancers are strewn about the stage on their backs, bent legs pointed skyward in a quasi-rigor mortis. Periodically, the group returns to such a state of paradoxical lifelessness, dragged by a partner or semi-mechanically traversing the stage as an automaton might. I don’t think it’s an attempt at popping and locking. Rua seems to season “namuH” with street styles rather than make it the main course, flanking the piece with music by Bjork for a little extra umami. - Lauren Warnecke
Something of the transformational arrived with Jon Rua’s namuH, a dance signifying the power and importance of love at its most basic and pure. Rua’s video explanation of his personal background and the trajectory of his career from street dancer to choreographer ideally framed the dance that followed. The word “Human” spelled backward, namuH feels as if it has one foot in the present day and one in the future. Bjork and Stateless’s music draw an intense landscape. Rugged and difficult. Coupled with neutral, utilitarian costumes worn by the dancers and you sense a sterile almost bleak world. The energy and magnetism come from the dance and the dancers who, despite any obstacle or hardship, invariably end up leaning on each other to keep on keeping on.
The music, the way the dance unfolds, the unorthodox movements whose origins clearly derive from the grit of urban streets, all draw you in and leave you captivated. As rewarding as the choreography itself is, the company’s dancers give it life by fully internalizing its precepts and projecting its message so beautifully.
This is about as far away from jazz dance as you can get, but namuH’s central theme of cohesion and co-dependence; as well as the way it helps us see the latent generosity in all of us, make it an ideal match for this venerable dance company that can shape shift so elegantly. - Mitch Oldham