Chicago Dance Crash, the leading physical theater dance company in the Midwest, known for its fusion of street dance, concert dance, and physical theater, will remount its 2025 critically-acclaimed and sold-out production of LXIV (six.four) on March 14 and 15, 2026, in the Ann Barzel Theater at Visceral Dance Center, 3121 N. Rockwell Street, Chicago. The program, featuring works by James Morrow, KC Bevis, and Phillip Wood in collaboration with the Ensemble, is an electrifying fusion of chess, dance, and storytelling that brings the game’s strategic brilliance to life. The performance unfolds in two dynamic halves where each chess piece is introduced as a fully realized character navigating power, hierarchy, and the complexity of the roles they have been assigned.
Chicago Dance Crash ensemble in LXIV: (six.four). Photo by A. Deran Photography.
The production’s titular work “LXIV (six.four)” anchors the first half of the program and features an original, ensemble-driven work curated by Artistic Director KC Bevis and Rehearsal Director Phillip Wood. Built through collaboration and the amplification of each dancer’s individual strengths, Crash artists use the structure of a chessboard to frame human relationships, hierarchy, and pressure. Part battle tactics, part storytelling, this work introduces the players and transforms the chessboard into a human landscape, revealing how we are born into uneven power, enter systems already in motion, and make choices that carry lasting consequences.
In Act II, James Morrow’s “Immortal Games” dives into the strategic brilliance of chess and the intensity of dance battles. Inspired by the legendary 1851 Immortal Chess Game, the work explores themes of risk, sacrifice, and calculation through raw athleticism and real-time decision making. The sound score was composed by Rob Flax during the original presentation of the work in 2025, using a custom-built MIDI chessboard that generates sound in response to each moving chess piece. The dance score was largely improvised and guided by a set of rules that mirror the structure of the game itself, allowing strategy and instinct to unfold throughout every aspect of the work.
Juan Rodrigo Mercado in LXIV (six.four).
Step onto the chessboard with us March 14th-15th—where strategy guides movement, decisions carry weight, and the tide of the game can shift in an instant.
LXIV (six.four) will be performed for two nights only, on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 at 7:30 pm, in the Ann Barzel Theater at Visceral Dance Center, 3121 N. Rockwell Street, Chicago. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children age 12 and under and are on sale now at www.ChicagoDanceCrash.com.
LISTING INFORMATION
LXIV (six.four)
Movement and choreography by Artistic Director KC Bevis, Rehearsal Director Phillip Wood, Choreographer James Morrow, and the Chicago Dance Crash ensemble.
Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 at 7:30 pm
Ann Barzel Theater at Visceral Dance Center
3121 N. Rockwell Street, Chicago, IL 60618
Tickets: $25 for adults / $15 for children 12 and under
Tickets and more info available at ChicagoDanceCrash.com
Questions or requests? Email: info@chicagodancecrash.com
LXIV (six.four) is a genre-bending hip hop theater work inspired by the legendary 1851 Immortal Chess Game. The story begins off the board, where each chess piece is brought to life as a fully realized character navigating power, hierarchy, and human complexity.
As tensions mount, the audience is drawn to the board and into the heart of the historic match, where a seemingly minor pawn turns the tide and a checkmate unfolds. LXIV (six.four) blends theatrical storytelling with street dance forms, using chess as a metaphor for agency, sacrifice, and choice within structured systems.
Click Here for the LXIV (six.four) Electronic Press Kit, which includes production photography and video.
About Chicago Dance Crash
A multidisciplinary dance company existing within the intersection of street dance, concert dance, and physical theater, Crash’s fusion-style works and performing ensemble embodies our dedication to being an accessible and innovative dance company, creating intensely physical, authentic, and narrative-driven art. Crash burst onto the scene in its first season with a new and innovative movement play concept and has grown to receive critical acclaim throughout its 24 years of groundbreaking dance. Learn more at www.ChicagoDanceCrash.com + join the conversation on Facebook and YouTube(Chicago Dance Crash), Instagram @chicagodancecrash