THE CRONUS LAND


The Cronus Land
is the culmination of a project cycle that includes the works Pales, Esther & the Omphali, and Oubliette. It is a site-specific contemporary dance work that was installed in the decayed splendor of the Louis XVI Ballroom in Hyde Park’s historic Shoreland Hotel. The first half of the performance features a pilgrimage for 12 audience members through a labyrinth of moving walls and shifting pathways in which performers dance, vanish, and reappear. Following cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the second half of the performance begins with the audience entering a glowing structure, where they are seated only feet away from the dancers. The Cronus Land is a study in the psychological impact of different modes of viewing, as well as the catastrophic shifts that occur as potential energy yields to kinetic. A study in privileging and disenfranchising through the manipulation of space, Oubliette developed what became the second half of The Cronus Land, positioning the entire performance inside a 5×8 foot pit, with the audience suspended above the performers. Mining The Epic of Gilgamesh, Esther & the Omphali examined domestication as a metaphor for the conjunction of love and betrayal inherent in friendship.

“Thoughtful, beautifully crafted, it’s nevertheless no well-made dance but a radical experiment in theater.”
Chicago Tribune
Theater Loop Showcase video feature of The Cronus Land
Chicago Tribune
“There is a delicate balance between art for art’s sake and pure entertainment. Khecari somehow manages to find that balance every time.”
Art Intercepts
“A harrowing journey to an uncertain mythical destination.”
Chicago Tribune
“Khecari, one of Chicago’s most innovative dance groups.”
Chicago Tribune

Iteration 4:
The Cronus Land

Choreographer & Director: Jonathan Meyer
Assistant Director: Julia Rae Antonick
Composers/Musicians: Sarah Morgan, Joe St. Charles, Timothy Young
Costume Designer: Jeff Hancock
Lighting Designer: Rachel Levy
Set Designers: Sam Link, Lydia Meyer, Jonathan Meyer
Photographer: Ryan Bourque
Chef: Rachel Post
Performers: Natalia Alarcon, Julia Rae Antonick, Sabrina Baranda,
Chloe Bigelow, Raechel Hofsteadter, Chih-Hsien Lin, Emily Loar, Amanda Maraist, Sara Nelson, Jordan Reinwald, Molly Ross,
Dylan Roth, Cristina Tadeo
Understudies: Natalia Alarcon, Jillian Endebrock, Emily Loar, Amanda Maraist, Sara Nelson, Jordan Reinwald, Cristina Tadeo
Presented in 2015 at
The Shoreland Ballroom
Chicago, IL

Iteration 3:
Oubliette

Choreographer: Jonathan Meyer
Composer: Joe St. Charles and Sarah Morgan
Performers: Julia Rae Antonick, Josh Anderson, Maggie Koller, Chih-Hsien Lin
Costume Designer: Jeff Hancock
Set Designer: Jonathan Meyer
Presented in 2014 at
Indian Boundary Park Nature Center
Chicago, IL

Iteration 2:
Esther & the Omphali

Choreographer: Jonathan Meyer
Composer: Sarah Morgan
Costume Designer: Jeff Hancock
Performers have included: Josh Anderson, Edson Cabrera, John Jandernoa, Jonathan Meyer, Michel Rodriguez
Presented from 2014 – 2016 at
Dance Center of Columbia College – Chicago, Illinois
Bedlam – St. Paul, Minnesota
SooVAC – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cowles Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Storefront Theater – Chicago, Illinois
Links Hall – Chicago, Illinois
University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana, Illinois