Review – The Last First
What makes Chicago Dance Crash stand out to me is their ability to tell a story through dance with performances dubbed “movement plays” early in the company’s life. Chicago Dance Crash, or just “Crash” as they are affectionately known to their fans, stands out among myriad Chicago dance companies. Since 2005, Crash has collectively gone from playing noble-savages, to light-up video game warriors, to gritty urban superheroes. This time we get to see the Crash dancers be characters unique to the company’s history: themselves.
It’s tough to see Crash’s season reduced to a modicum of its usual grandeur, but “The Last First” reminds us that the sci-fi sets and light-up costumes we’ve come to expect from them come second to quality dancing, which the company still has in spades. It is a testament to hard work and dedication that the production team and dancers of Crash are able to carry on through the pandemic and put out new work at all.