Traditionally, the fall arts season kicks into high gear after Labor Day (and we’ll be doing a special theater and arts preview issue on September 11 to give you some of the upcoming highlights). But August also has some traditions of its own, and two of them return this weekend in support of local charities.

Dance for Life, the annual benefit concert at the Auditorium for the Chicago Dance Health Fund (which provides financial support for preventative and critical medical care for local dance professionals), takes the stage Saturday night with ten companies—more than the event has featured in decades—offering enticing samples of their work. Jonathan E. Alsberry, who created last year’s finale, Lift , (based on James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” ), returns to create

See Full Page