ECHO MINE
Echo Mine is a mesmerizing 60 minute performance rooted in the themes of loss, love, resilience and hope.
The piece was originally inspired by and created alongside Robyn Mineko Williams’ longtime mentor, Chicago dance icon and founding Hubbard Street dancer Claire Bataille. “The five-minute solo for Claire that we made together serves as the source material, the heartbeat, of Echo Mine,” says Williams. Bataille was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer one month after their first rehearsal in October 2017. Before her untimely death in 2018, she gave Williams her blessing to complete the work.
Echo Mine blends together experimental folk-rock band, Califone’s “urgent, lushly melodic” soundtrack (Billboard) with Williams’ “magnificent” choreography (Chicago Tribune.) Danced by three different generations of Hubbard Street alumni, Meredith Dincolo, Jacqueline Burnett and Williams, the piece incorporates Califone's original recorded score, composed while watching videos of and listening to interviews with Bataille. Scenic and projection design by CandyStations featuring archival footage of Bataille, costume design by Hogan McLaughlin and lighting by Eric Southern complete the work.
Directed and choreographed by Robyn Mineko Williams
Original soundtrack by Califone
Scenic and projection design by CandyStations
Lighting by Eric Southern
Costume design by Hogan McLaughlin
Filmed by Mike Gibisser
60 minutes
Echo Mine premiered in partnership with the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance on December 9, 2019, and is supported in part by a 2018 Princess Grace Foundation–USA Special Projects grant and a 2018 DCASE Individual Artist grant. Original music for Echo Mine is commissioned by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation.
- Around Town Chicago
- Picture This Post
‘ECHO MINE V2’ BRINGS MESSAGE OF LOSS AND REMEMBRANCE TO GLOBAL AUDIENCE
- Arts Air
MUSIC AND DANCE COME TOGETHER IN ECHO MINE
- Chicago Tribune
- See Chicago Dance
— Chicago Tribune
