Best Choreographer: Eduardo Vilaro
Best Choreographer
The Reader’s Choice: Eduardo Vilaro
Eduardo Vilaro has wrestled Luna Negra Dance Theater from small-potatoes beginnings to well-deserved prominence. Born in Cuba and raised in the Bronx, he danced for nine years with New York’s Ballet Hispanico, then moved here in 1996 to attend Columbia College. In 1999 he founded Luna Negra, which started out contributing little pieces to big, overstuffed multicompany programs and now performs its own shows twice annually at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.
Vilaro picks and chooses from the realms of modern, classical, and Latin dance to create works that can be sexy or lighthearted yet touch on challenging subjects: male-female relations in 2005’s Quinceañera, or Cuban communism in 2007’s Cugat! Always strong musically, Vilaro in recent years has come into his own with pieces set to live Latin music. Mi Corazon Negro, a 2006 collaboration with Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca and her band, was a party-time creation with a get-up-and-dance sense of community. And last September Vilaro debuted Deshar Alhat, an emotionally and musically complex piece set to sensuous Sephardic songs performed live by Stefani Valadez.
No attention hog despite his talent, Vilaro has invited many other artists to set works on the accomplished Luna Negra dancers. The company performed José Limon’s classic There Is a Time as part of its fall program and has worked with homegrown choreographers Ron DeJesus, Maray Gutierrez, and Luna Negra rehearsal director Michelle Manzanales. 
Luna Negra’s spring concert is Sat 3/28, 8 PM, with a family matinee (for kids six and up, $10) at 3 PM, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph, 312-334-7777, harristheaterchicago.org, $25-$55. The company also performs its “best works” Thu 5/14, 6:30 PM, Sat 5/16, 11 AM and 2 PM, Storefront Theater, 78 E. Washington, 312-742-8497, dcatheater.org, $10-$20. —Laura Molzahn
Our readers’ choice: Carisa Barreca
Of Matter Dance Company.
