Going Dutch Festival celebrates female voice in the arts
Side Street Studio Arts will hold its 9th annual Going Dutch Festival, a celebration of the female voice in dance, music, theater, and the visual arts, Friday-Sunday, June 21-23, in various locations around downtown Elgin, including the Imago, Martini Room, and SSSA.
The three-day festival will feature a visual art gallery, live music, 10 performances, and a range of workshops, talks, and panels featuring the work and performances of more than 300 artists.
Passes are $25-$30 for all three days or $10-$12 for one day. Workshops are free with a pass or a $5 donation at the door.
A panel of five professional artists selected a group of visual and performing artists, who self-identify as female and hail from all over Illinois, as well as Maryland, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.
Featured artists include Joey Bee, Nakeita Brewer, Chris Johnson Dance, Distance Dances, dropshift dance, Dyanna Daniels, Jane Erlandson, Sarah Fye, Carrie Gant, Goodly Creatures Theatre, Christine Hands, Christine and Melissa Hands, Amanda Harris, Hot Crowd, Moriah Hoyt, Mel Hyde, Jodie Randolph Dance, Saffron Klekamp, Erin Kouwe, Looking at Seeing, Rachel Elizabeth Maley, Moxie, Janelle O'Malley, Megan Philippi, Brandy A. Rogers and Dyanna Daniels, Melina Ester Scotte, Olivia Serrano, Sweetie Pie Productions, Gina T'ai, Isabelle Taylor, Thank You So Much For Coming, Patricia A Wilson, Rain Wilson, Kimberly (Stourton) Witz, Karen Yatsko, and more.
For the third year, the festival committee has selected artists to be the recipients of the Going Dutch Festival commission, which includes financial and technical support of their new work, to be premiered at the June festival. The 2019 recipients are Erin Kouwe of Nashville, Tennessee, and Gina T'ai of Beloit, Wisconsin.
"After putting my performance career on the back burner for about eight years, I returned to the stage for 2017's Going Dutch Festival," said T'ai.
"Going Dutch is a place where I feel both comfortable and challenged to put new work, new ideas out there. I am grateful for this commission - it is the catalyst sure to jump-start a new phase of creation and performance. "
"This year's Going Dutch Committee was thrilled by the work submitted," said Going Dutch Festival founder and Artistic Director Erin Rehberg.
"We are always excited to get such amazing artists in one place for a few days, and this year is no exception. We are bringing their charged works into more intimate spaces, where the audience will be up close to the performers. We will all be in this together. I can't wait to watch every second of this year's festival, and am so glad we have brought it to my hometown of Elgin for a third year."
The festival will feature traditional visual and performative works, as well as those less easy to describe. The full schedule is available at sidestreetstudioarts.org and in June's BRAVO Magazine.
To purchase tickets or for more information, visit the Going Dutch Festival at www.sidestreetstudioarts.org or call (847) 429-2276.