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Three dancers stand far upstage, lit by dim lights and with their backs to the audience. To their left, three dancers lay on their sides. As the upstage dancers slowly—joined step for step—turn to face front, the dancers on the floor sit up to reveal that their faces are covered by their jackets' hoods.

Center stage, a dancer pulls hers down to finally reveal her face. So begins Grisly Bare, which Moonwater Dance Project first performed in 2019 for their second annual performance, and which will return to the stage at Ruth Page Center for Moonwater VI this weekend. Aside from Grisly Bare, choreographed by Katie Carey, the bill will include Montage, which Jessica Miller Tomlinson created for Moonwater in 2021, along with two world premieres.



Moonwater VI 6/28-6/30: Fri-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 3 PM, Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn, moonwaterdanceproject.com, $35-$60 Over the past five years, the contemporary repertory company has amassed a body of work born from collaborations with several prominent women in the Chicago dance community and far beyond and has graced stages such as the Auditorium Theatre for last August's Dance for Life.

The company has grown through their cogent demonstration of a collective created through individual empowerment. Throughout their repertoire, roles are fluid and porous, and each of the dancers initiates shifts in energy and focus. Emily Brand, founding member of the woman-driven company, will perform a solo choreographed by Moonwate.

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