LEVELdance is a significant artistic project for us co-artistic directors, Ocampo and DiCriscio. Rather than having the design cater to the dance, we aim to produce a fully integrated design-driven dance that incorporates the performance's environmental setting as a crucial of the creative process. With a long-term vision of developing modular works adaptable to various touring venues, our approach will deeply engage with the theatre's architecture and aesthetics, extending the dance from the stage into the aisles and the exterior, rather than merely using dressing and lighting to create a blank canvas.
HISTORY
LEVELdance first emerged in the Chicago dance scene in the early 2000s as a BlackBox Dance Group. Founded by internationally recognized choreographer Eddy Ocampo, the company was initially a platform for Ocampo to express his artistic vision. Bringing together some of his closest dance collaborators, Ocampo’s first commissioned work was CHO, an athletically demanding trio featuring three dynamic solo performances.The success of CHO sparked the creation of BlackBox, which has since toured across the United States, Mexico and Europe. The company has gained recognition for its powerful and evocative choreographic works, including Hysterical Silence, Black Binasuan, Vicissitude, THWhack, and Brink of Nada.
Ocampo’s busy choreographic career put Black Box Dance Group on hiatus until 2012, when his friend and colleague, Laura Kariotis, artistic director of Nomi Dance Company, invited him to share an evening program at the Athenaeum Theatre. That collaboration led to the revival of Ocampo’s artistic vision and the emergence of LEVEL —a 45-minute work depicting the harrowing journey of a single soul ascending through the nine levels of hell, as inspired by Dante’s Inferno.
LEVEL took audiences on an emotional journey through intense highs and lows, earning Ocampo even greater critical acclaim within the Chicago dance community. Following the performance, the piece was invited to be re-staged as part of a museum installation at the Institute of Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2012, Ocampo officially brought LEVEL back to Chicago with co-artistic director and lightening designer, Joshua Paul Weckesser, under his newly rebranded dance company, LEVELdance. The company made its official premiere at the Athenaeum Theatre in 2013, solidifying its presence in the Chicago dance scene.
Today, LEVELdance returns after an 8 year hiatus. Now without Weckesser, LEVELdance's former Associate Artistic Director Brandon DiCriscio now shares the artistic reigns with Ocampo as co-artistic director. LEVELdance will present "The Red Door"a harrowing journey of a couple's encounter of the underground sex and nightclub scene in Japan. 3 performances at the Edge Theater in Chicago March 28-30, 2025. Tickets available at the below link.
