Chicago Performs 2022
Erin Kilmurray: the Function
September 15, 20222:00 pm - 3:00 pm
September 15, 20227:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Captioning, ASL, and AD are provided for the evening performance.
About the Event
In the Function, dance artist Erin Kilmurray brings her work out of Chicago’s underground performance scene and onto the MCA Stage for the first time. In this hybrid dance party and performance work, Kilmurray and a trio of dancers explore agency, vulnerability, and empowerment to envision feminist utopias through dance. the Function is a multi-phase project that draws on vigorous cross-training with DJs, production designers, and stagecraft experts. Kilmurray’s team also worked with the MCA staff to develop the technical aspects of the show as she hones her process to translate the Function to different kinds of spaces.
the Function is presented as part of Chicago Performs, the MCA’s annual weekend of groundbreaking new performances by Chicago artists. Each year, three artists share new works of performance, including pieces developed through MCA’s In Progress series and the New Works Initiative Chicago Commission.
Chicago Performs is organized by Tara Aisha Willis, Curator, with Laura Paige Kyber, Curatorial Assistant.
About the Artist
Erin Kilmurray. Photo: Matthew Gregory Hollis
Erin Kilmurray is a genre-straddling artist drawing on space-making practices found in nightlife culture, theater, and dance. Her work challenges the traditional relationships between performer and spectator through electric, often political performance that enlivens body and environment. Her work has been presented by The Dance Center of Columbia College, Links Hall, Thalia Hall, Pivot Arts Festival, DanceBox in Kobe, Japan, and has held residency through High Concept Labs, University of Chicago Performance Lab, Ragdale Foundation, among others. Kilmurray has received support through 3arts and Chicago Dancemakers Forum’s 2018 Greenhouse Program. She is the founder and director of The Fly Honey Show, which has run annually for more than 10 years.
Funding
Chicago Performs is supported by The New Works Initiative which puts the creative process at the heart of the MCA’s relationship with Chicago by supporting the development of new performances and creative projects.
Lead support for the New Works Initiative is provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman.
Lead support for the 2021–22 season of MCA Performance and Public Programs is also provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman.
Major support is provided by the Alphawood Foundation and by Julie and Larry Bernstein.
Generous support is provided by Lois and Steve Eisen and The Eisen Family Foundation; Ginger Farley and Bob Shapiro, Martha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, N.A., Trustee; Susan Manning and Doug Doetsch; Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund; and Anonymous.
Additional generous support is provided by Ms. Shawn M. Donnelley and Dr. Christopher M. Kelly, Cynthia Hunt and Philip Rudolph, Ashlee Jacob, Anne L. Kaplan, Sharon and Lee Oberlander, D. Elizabeth Price and Lou Yecies, and Enact, the MCA’s Performance & Public Programs affinity group.
The MCA is a proud member of the Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District.
