Peter Taub looks the part — his fashionably bald pate and intense gaze are decidedly the features of an avant-garde maven.
Indeed, he was head of the progressive Randolph Street Gallery in its heyday, and for the last few years he has helped to launch a new performance series at the Museum of Contemporary Art that not only brings a wide variety of innovative artists to our scene, but has also evolved as one of the most exciting and reliable homes for dance.
The offerings are mid-sized but broad-reaching, from dance legend Merce Cunningham (whose troupe will make a rare appearance here next year) to European veterans (Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and her Brussels-based Rosas, getting a long overdue Chicago debut Oct. 19-20). And there’s the far out: Japan’s Dumb Type will bring a piece mixing video, computer graphics and disco lighting Dec. 9-12.
The MCA is also one of three sponsors bringing the celebrated Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan to the Auditorium Theatre in November. There are non-dance entries, too, including the Resfest Digital Film Festival Sept. 17-19 and the MCA’s participation in the city’s World Music Festival Sept. 22-26.
Taub’s $700,000 operation is a small portion of the museum’s $13 million budget, but he has so far succeeded in one important financial goal: keeping ticket prices affordable.
“They range from $15 to $25, and it’s important we keep them accessible,” he says. “Our audience skews young, and you can’t charge too much when you want people to take risks.”
More Top Picks Best Reverse Osmosis Water Filters