Occupy Dance 2013 reveals the power of a community coming together to overcome obstacles and celebrate common goals.  Through dance and text, choreographers take on the complex issue of poverty.  Who is impoverished and what does that mean?  How does poverty affect individuals and how does it affect the community at large?  What fantasies and myths have our fears of poverty produced?  Under the artistic direction of award-winning Northwestern University dance faculty Annie Beserra and Susan A. Lee, Occupy Dance 2013 explores these timely topics through various dance forms including dance theatre, contact improvisation, Jump Rhythm Jazz and hip hop.  A pre-show conversation and spoken word performances throughout the evening guide the audience through this moving experience about the unsolved, and sometimes unrecognized, issues associated with the changing face of poverty in our world. 

Occupy Dance 2013 will feature the collaborations of NU dance faculty Annie Beserra, Lizzie Leopold, Susan Lee and Billy Siegenfeld; Chicago guest artists David Lakein and Stephanie Paul; and a featured performance of "Getting There" by the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project.

This program is partially sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.