Schaumburg native helps bring 'Evolution/Creation' to life
By day (and some evenings) Kerrie Korzatkowski runs her own business, a theater and dance studio called Forevermore. By night (and some weekends) she does choreography for the Chicago-based Quest Theatre Ensemble, including the ensemble's current show, "Evolution/Creation."
"We decided to call me a movement coach for this one," Korzatkowski says. "The process for this show was completely different from your usual show. It is a totally new work. And the score was just being finished as we started rehearsals. Everything we did, we have done as we rehearsed the show, using a lot of improvisational techniques."
Korzatkowski, who grew up in Schaumburg and went to Schaumburg High School, was trained to be a much more traditional choreographer - and dancer.
"In high school I did choreography with the Schaumburg Park District," she says. "I studied dance in Paris and in New York. I danced with a small touring company in New York. I even owned a dance studio in Iowa."
Still, the lure of the Quest Theatre Ensemble has been irresistible.
"It is such an exciting theatrical performance," Korzatkowski says. "'Evolution/Creation' is really two shows. One act focuses on evolution and tells the story of the universe, told through the scientific perspective, from big bang through early man. The flip side is the traditional biblical story, going through day one, day two, day three, day four - all the way through to Noah's Ark."
Both stories unfold more through movement than traditional narrative styles. "This show is a beautiful ballet," Korzatkowski says.
She joined Quest Theatre Ensemble, where she has been an ensemble member for the past five years, soon after she and her husband moved back to Chicago from New York. She had moved to New York after graduating from Northern Illinois University, and was, in a manner of speaking, making it there as part of a small dance company. But the cost of living in New York weighed on her.
"My husband had six jobs. I had three," Korzatkowski says. "And we still could not afford a Broadway show. Which was why we were in New York in the first place."
Korzatkowski and her husband were lured back, in large part, because they were interested in owning and running a little dance studio someone offered to sell them, Forevermore Dance and Theatre Arts in Chicago.
The change has been a fulfilling one for Korzatkowski, who has two children in addition to her work at the studio and Quest.
It helps, of course, that she loves working with the Quest ensemble.
"The current show was a little crazy because we were creating two shows at the same time," she says. "And we keep adding masks to the show. But the process really opened up my mind and creativity. I remember spending lots of time looking at volcanoes erupting on YouTube so I could come up with movement based on it in the show."
• "Evolution/Creation" runs through March 28 at the Quest Theatre Ensemble - Blue Theatre, 1609 W. Gregory, Chicago. For tickets call (312) 458-0895 or go to questensemble.org.