Hubbard Street Dance Announces Its 38th Season, Featuring N.N.N.N., SOLO ECHO and More

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton are excited to announce the main company's 2015-16 season performances in Chicago. Tickets to four engagements at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 East Randolph Street, are available immediately as a Season 38 subscription; single tickets will go on sale in August 2015.

The company's third mixed-repertory program devoted to the work of a single choreographer will follow up its critically acclaimed, nearly sold-out presentation in March 2014 of four works by Ji?í Kylián, and a full series of works by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo taking place June 11-14, 2015. Hubbard Street's Season 38 Fall Series celebrates the boundless invention ofWilliam Forsythe, associate choreographer with the Paris Opéra Ballet as of fall 2015, and incoming faculty member and artistic advisor for the Choreographic Institute at the University of Southern California's Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

October 15-18, 2015 at the Harris Theater, the Fall Series features Hubbard Street premieres ofN.N.N.N., created by Forsythe in 2002 and performed by four men; and One Flat Thing, reproduced, premiered in 2000 for an ensemble of 14 dancers and 20 large tables, also the choreographic basis for the interactive website Synchronous Objects.The original scores for both works are by Forsythe's longtime collaborator, Dutch composer Thom Willems; completing the Fall Series is Forsythe's 1993 work Quintett, for five dancers and set to music by Gavin Bryars. Hubbard Street was the first U.S. dance company to perform Quintett, in May 2012, and likewise is the first company to acquire N.N.N.N. following its world premiere by Ballett Frankfurt and revivals by The Forsythe Company, based in Dresden and Frankfurt am Main.

Says Hubbard Street Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton: "Few choreographers today have made a bigger impact on the field than William Forsythe. His incredible, four-decade career - still going strong - has raised countless questions that shape the way we define, observe and perform choreography today. I'm eagerly anticipating spotlighting this artist with a program spanning 11 crucial years of creative fortitude, from the post-balletic landscape of Quintett to the kinetic, intricate, almost scientific environments of One Flat Thing, reproduced and N.N.N.N."

Hubbard Street's relationship with William Forsythe will be further strengthened June 1, 2015 at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park, 200 North Columbus Drive, when the company holds itsSeason 37 Spotlight Ball honoring the choreographer and Presenting Sponsor Archer Daniels Midland Company, with Honorary Chairs Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule, Co-Chair Patti Selander Eylar,and distinguished guests including philanthropist Glorya Kaufman. The organization's annual gala benefit brings together hundreds of notable personalities from Chicago's business and creative communities, the company's world renowned artists, alumni and more for dinner, cocktails, auctions and dancing. Attending to accept Hubbard Street's Spotlight Award on behalf of Archer Daniels Midland Company will be Patricia A. Woertz, Chairman of the Board of ADM. The evening opens at 6pm with dinner service beginning at 7pm. Reservations are available now for tables, single tickets and sponsorship opportunities; for more information, contact Jennifer Breslin of PJH & Associates, Inc. at 312-553-2000, via email at jbreslin@pjhchicago.com or visit www.pjhchicago.com/hubbardstreetdance. Cocktail or business attire is requested.

December 10-13, 2015 at the Harris Theater, the Winter Series features the Hubbard Street premiere and first production by a U.S. dance company of Solo Echo by Crystal Pite, originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater in 2012. Inspired by poet Mark Strand's Lines for Winter and set to excerpts from two sonatas for cello and piano by Johannes Brahms, opuses 38 and 99, Solo Echo is exemplary of the fluidity with which Pite's choreography shifts among dance, theater, classical and contemporary techniques. The Winter Series also features the Harris Theater debut of Waxing Moon by Hubbard Street alumna Robyn Mineko Williams, for three dancers with an original score by Chicago composers Robert F. Haynes and Tony Lazzara, costumes by fashion designer Hogan McLaughlin, and lighting by Brooklyn-based designer Burke Brown.

Says choreographer Crystal Pite: "Solo Echo presents a man reckoning with himself at the end of his life. The character is echoed - copied, reiterated, by seven different dancers. He is portrayed through both male and female bodies, and through various physiques and strengths. Each performer is a distinct and nuanced version of the character, and the connections between them evoke a man coming to terms with himself."

Completing the Winter Series are two world premieres: an original work by Penny Saunders, Hubbard Street dancer from 2004-13, will be performed by the main company; and Hubbard Street 2 will perform new work by 2015 International Commissioning Project choreographer Yin Yue, born and raised in China with an MFA in Dance from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and currently artistic director of Yin Yue Dance Company. In addition, Saunders returns to the company as a performer for Season 38, along with two new male dancers: Jeffery Duffy joins Hubbard Street from the BFA program at the Juilliard School in New York City, while Crailsheim, Germany native Florian Lochner joins Hubbard Street following four seasons with Gauthier Dance Company in Stuttgart.

Featuring mixed repertory by innovative choreographers, Hubbard Street's Spring Series runsMarch 17-20, 2016 at the Harris Theater. A new work choreographed by Hubbard Street Rehearsal Director Lucas Crandall receives its world premiere alongside audience favorites The Impossible by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, and I am Mister B by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano. Additional works to be performed during the Spring Series will be announced at a later date.

Chicago's most critically acclaimed theatrical event of 2014, The Art of Falling returns to the Harris Theater for the Summer Series, June 9-12, 2016. Helmed by Jeff Award-winning directorBilly Bungeroth (The Second City Guide to the Opera), the largest creative team in Hubbard Street's 37-year history, including more than 30 performers, were assembled to devise The Art of Falling, written by Tim Mason with Carisa Barreca, T. J. Jagodowski, Kate James, Chris Reddand the casts of The Second City; and choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucas Crandall,Jonathan Fredrickson, Terence Marling and Robyn Mineko Williams.

Named to "best of 2014" lists by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Newcity, and lauded by dance and theater critics throughout Chicago, The Art of Falling was declared "hugely entertaining and strikingly emotional," and "not-to-be-missed" by Chicago Tribune chief theater critic Chris Jones. The production "has real legs," wrote theater and dance critic Hedy Weiss for the Chicago Sun-Times, "a buoyant spirit counterbalanced by a genuine sense of gravity." Kris Vire, associate editor and chief theater critic at Time Out Chicago, "it's hard to imagine a more seamless marriage" than Hubbard Street and The Second City's collaboration. "?????/5."

Musical direction, original composition and sound design for The Art of Falling is by Julie B. Nichols with additional instrumentation by Emma Dayhuff. The show's improvised scenes are coached and created by T.J. Jagodowski and HS2 Director Terence Marling, with set designs by Martin Andrew, lighting by Michael Korsch, costumes by Branimira Ivanova, properties design by Tierra G. Novy, and video design and production by HMS Media. The world premiere, five-performance engagement of The Art of Falling October 15-19, 2014 was commissioned by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, with support from Sandy and Jack Guthman through the Imagine campaign.

Says Glenn Edgerton: "Since first arriving at Hubbard Street seven years ago, I have been working to make our repertory reflect both the best of international contemporary dance, and the high caliber and creative growth of the artists within the company. With these choreographers we've gathered for 2015-16, Season 38 represents our progress toward this goal better than any subscription series we've offered so far."

Season 2015-16 subscriptions are $90-$297 and on sale now at the Hubbard Street Ticket Office, online at hubbardstreetdance.com/subscribe or by phone at 312-850-9744. All Thursdayperformances begin at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8pm, and Sundaymatinée performances begin at 3pm. Single tickets for these four programs will be available late summer 2015. 2014-15 domestic and international touring engagements, special projects, residencies and additional collaborations will be announced at later dates. Programming is subject to change.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago extends special thanks to its 2015-16 Season Sponsors:Athletico, Official Provider of Physical Therapy; and Chicago Athletic Clubs, Official Health Club.

About William Forsythe
Raised in New York and initially trained in Florida with Nolan Dingman and Christa Long, William Forsythe danced with the Joffrey Ballet and later the Stuttgart Ballet, where he was appointed Resident Choreographer in 1976. Over the next seven years, he created new works for the Stuttgart ensemble and ballet companies in Munich, the Hague, London, Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Paris, New York and San Francisco. In 1984, he began a 20-year tenure as director of Ballett Frankfurt, where he created works such as Artifact (1984), Impressing the Czar (1988),Limb's Theorem (1990), The Loss of Small Detail (1991, in collaboration with composer Thom Willems and designer Issey Miyake), A L I E / N A(C)TION (1992), Eidos:Telos (1995), Endless House (1999), Kammer/Kammer (2000) and Decreation (2003).

After the closure of Ballett Frankfurt in 2004, Forsythe established a new, more independent ensemble. The Forsythe Company, founded with the support of the German states of Saxony and Hesse, the cities of Dresden and Frankfurt am Main, and private sponsors, is based in Dresden and Frankfurt am Main and maintains an extensive, international touring schedule. Works produced by the new ensemble include Three Atmospheric Studies (2005), You made me a monster (2005), Human Writes (2005), Heterotopia (2006), The Defenders (2007), Yes we can't(2008/10), I don't believe in outer space (2008), The Returns (2009) and Sider (2011). Forsythe's most recent works are developed and performed exclusively by The Forsythe Company, while his earlier pieces are prominently featured in the repertoires of virtually every major ballet company in the world, including the Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, London's Royal Ballet and the Paris Opéra Ballet.

Awards received by Forsythe and his ensembles include four New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Awards (1988, 1998, 2004, 2007) and three Laurence Olivier Awards in the U.K. (1992, 1999, 2009). Forsythe has been conveyed the title of Commandeur des Arts et Lettres (1999) by the government of France and has received the German Distinguished Service Cross (1997), the Wexner Prize (2002) the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale (2010), the Samuel H Scripps / American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Swedish Carina Ari Medal (2014).

Forsythe has been commissioned to produce architectural and performance installations by architect-artist Daniel Libeskind (Groningen, 1989), ARTANGEL (London, 1997), Creative Time (New York, 2005), and the SKD-Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (2013, 2014). His installation and film works have been presented in numerous museums and exhibitions, including the Whitney Biennial (New York, 1997), Festival d'Avignon (2005, 2011), the Louvre Museum (2006), Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2006), 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo (2007), the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus (2009), Tate Modern (London, 2009), the Hayward Gallery, (London 2010), MoMA (New York 2010), ICA Boston (2011) and the Venice Biennale (2005, 2009, 2012, 2014).

In collaboration with media specialists and educators, Forsythe has developed new approaches to dance documentation, research and education. His 1994 computer application Improvisation Technologies: A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye, developed with the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe (ZKM), is used as a teaching tool by professional companies, dance conservatories, universities, postgraduate architecture programs, and secondary schools worldwide. 2009 marked the launch of Synchronous Objects for One Flat Thing, reproduced, a digital online score developed with the Ohio State University revealing the organizational principles of the choreography and demonstrating potential applications within other disciplines. Synchronous Objects was the pilot project for Forsythe's Motion Bank, a research platform focused on the creation and research of online digital scores in collaboration with guest choreographers.

As an educator, Forsythe is regularly invited to lecture and give workshops at universities and cultural institutions. In 2002, Forsythe was chosen as one the founding Dance Mentors for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Forsythe is an Honorary Fellow at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London and holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Juilliard School in New York City. Forsythe is also a current A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University (2009-15) and, as of fall 2015, Professor of Dance and Artistic Advisor for the Choreographic Institute at the University of Southern California's Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Also beginning in fall 2015, Mr. Forsythe will be Associate Choreographer with the Paris Opéra Ballet. Visittheforsythecompany.com to learn more.

About Crystal Pite
Born in Terrace, British Columbia and raised on the Canadian west coast, choreographer and performer Crystal Pite is a former company member of Ballet British Columbia and William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt. Pite's professional choreographic debut was in 1990, at Ballet British Columbia; since then, she has created more than 40 works for companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, the National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, and Louise Lecavalier / Fou Glorieux, plus collaborations with the Electric Company Theatre and acclaimed director Robert Lepage. In 2002, Pite formed the company Kidd Pivot, which integrates movement, original music, text and rich visual design, balancing sharp exactitude with irreverence and risk. Kidd Pivot tours nationally and internationally, performing critically acclaimed works including Dark Matters, Lost Action, The You Show and The Tempest Replica. Pite is the recipient of the Banff Centre's Clifford E. Lee Award (1995), the Bonnie Bird North American Choreography Award (2004), the Isadora Award (2005), two Dora Mavor Moore Awards (2009 and 2012), a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award (2006) and the Governor General of Canada's Performing Arts Award, Mentorship Program (2008). Pite also received the 2011 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, the inaugural Lola Award in 2012, and the Canada Council's 2012 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize. Visit kiddpivot.org to learn more.

About Yin Yue
Born and raised in China, Yin Yue studied classical ballet technique, Chinese classical and folk dance at Shanghai Dance School. She continued her education at Shanghai Normal University while appearing in many festivals and dance competitions throughout the country, ranked among the top ten performers at the 2005 National Dance Competition in Yunnan. She then relocated to New York City to pursue an MFA in contemporary dance, at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Upon her graduation in 2008, she quickly gained attention as a highly original performer and choreographer. In addition to contemporary Western dance, Yin Yue became fascinated with the folk dances of Mongolia and Tibet - ancient dance traditions virtually unknown to the West, whose elements her choreography began to incorporate. The main themes of her work are emotional experiences, conflicts and relationships in all their complexity, recognized in 2013 by Northwest Dance Project's 5th Annual Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition, and by her selection as a finalist at "The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2010" presented by The Joyce Theater Foundation in New York City. Yin Yue is also artistic director of Jiangxi Zhongshan Dance School. Founded in 1996 and located in Nanchang in China's Jiangxi province, the school is the only privately run educational organization ranked among the country's top professional dance schools. Its curriculum includes a six-year Chinese dance and ballet program and, in 2014, the school joined forces with Yin Yue Dance Company to present an evening-length dance production combining contemporary and traditional Chinese dance. Visit yinyuedance.com to learn more.

Florida native Penny Saunders graduated from the Harid Conservatory in 1995. Later that same year, Saunders began her professional career with American Repertory Ballet while continuing to train with Elisabeth Carroll. In 1999, Saunders joined the company at Ballet Arizona, where she performed classical repertoire as well as contemporary choreography. After meeting Moses Pendleton in 2001, Saunders joined and toured extensively with MOMIX for two years, before becoming a founding member in 2003 of Cedar Lake Ensemble, later Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, in New York City. In 2004, Saunders joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where she performed works by Aszure Barton, Christopher Bruce, Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Ji?í Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Victor Quijada, Twyla Tharp and Doug Varone, among others. While at Hubbard Street, Saunders began to pursue her choreographic interests by participating in the company's annual Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop. Selected in 2011 for the company's International Commissioning Project, formerly the National Choreographic Competition, Saunders received the opportunity to create original work for Hubbard Street 2, followed in 2013 by a premiere for Hubbard Street's main company. Saunders has also made work for Owen Cox Dance Group, SFDanceworks, Whim W'Him, and Neos Dance Theater as a choreographer-in-residence at the University of Akron.

Robyn Mineko Williams is a dancer and choreographer from Chicago, Illinois. She was a member of River North Chicago Dance Company (now River North Dance Chicago) for four years before joining Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2000. During her 12 years as a company member, Williams performed works by renowned dancemakers including Ohad Naharin, Ji?í Kylián, Nacho Duato, William Forsythe and Johan Inger, and originated roles in new choreography by Jorma Elo, Alejandro Cerrudo, Sharon Eyal, Aszure Barton, Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch and others. Williams created her first work in 2001 for Hubbard Street's Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop, continuing to participate in subsequent seasons. In 2010, she and Hubbard Street 2 Director Terence Marling co-choreographed Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure, a full-length work premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and presented since in Chicago, Detroit, Tucson and other cities, as well as at the American Dance Festival. Williams has made works for Grand Rapids Ballet, Visceral Dance Chicago, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company and the Nexus Project, was one of two winners in 2012 of Northwest Dance Project's Pretty Creatives International Choreographic Competition, is the recipient of a 2013 Choreography Fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA and a 2015 Princess Grace Works in Progress resident at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City. Visit robynminekowilliams.com to learn more.

Alejandro Cerrudo, Hubbard Street Dancer and Resident Choreographer, was born in Madrid, Spain and trained at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Madrid. His professional career began in 1998 and includes work with Victor Ullate Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater 2. Cerrudo joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005, was named Choreographic Fellow in 2008, and became the company's first Resident Choreographer in 2009. Thirteen works choreographed to date for Hubbard Street include collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Nederlands Dans Theater. These pieces and additional commissions are in repertory at companies around the U.S. as well as in Australia, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands; touring engagements have brought his work still further abroad, to audiences in Algeria, Canada, Morocco and Spain. In March 2012, Pacific Northwest Ballet invited Cerrudo to choreograph his first work for the company, Memory Glow, upon receiving the Joyce Theater Foundation's second Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance. Additional honors include an award from the Boomerang Fund for Artists (2011), and a Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work from the Prince Charitable Trusts (2012) for his acclaimed, first evening-length work, One Thousand Pieces. Cerrudo is one of four choreographers invited by New York City Ballet principal Wendy Whelan to create and perform original duets for "Restless Creature," and he was recently announced the 2014 USA Donnelley Fellow by United States Artists.

Lucas Crandall, choreographer and Hubbard Street Rehearsal Director, began his dance career with the Milwaukee Ballet in 1979. In 1980, he joined the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, then directed by Oscar Aráiz. Under the direction of Ji?í Kylián, he danced with Nederlands Dans Theater for two years before returning to Geneva, as soloist and later rehearsal assistant, under the direction of Gradimir Pankov. Crandall has performed and originated roles in works by notable choreographers including Aráiz, Kylián, Christopher Bruce, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Rui Horta, Amanda Miller and Ohad Naharin. In 2000, Crandall returned to the U.S. to join Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, as Associate Artistic Director and staff at the Lou Conte Dance Studio. His teaching and coaching career includes residencies at various U.S. universities; master classes and repertory workshops, both domestically and abroad; and guest positions at companies including Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Northwest Professional Dance Project, and the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève. Crandall's choreographic work includes multiple premieres for Hubbard Street (Atelier, Gimme, The Set) and new works for Northwest Dance Project and Thodos Dance Chicago. Crandall was recently rehearsal director for Nederlands Dans Theater's main company for three years, under the directorships of Paul Lightfoot and former Hubbard Street Artistic Director Jim Vincent. Crandall returned to Hubbard Street as Rehearsal Director in April 2013.

About The Second City
Rooted in the improvisational games of Viola Spolin, The Second City opened in Chicago in December 1959 and began developing its entirely unique way of creating and performing comedy. Founded by Spolin's son, Paul Sills, along with Howard Alk and Bernie Sahlins, The Second City was experimental and unconventional in its approaches to both theater and comedy, railing against conformist culture with scenes that spoke to a younger generation. Broadway successes for Mike Nichols and Elaine May - members of The Second City's predecessor, The Compass Players - put attention on the fledgling company. Alumni such as Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris, Robert Klein, David Steinberg and Fred Willard cemented the theater's reputation for developing multiple generations of comedic voices.

The original October 1975 cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live included alumni John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner, and The Second City became internationally recognized. The Second City's sister theater in Canada developed its own sketch comedy series, SCTV, hailed as one of the greatest of all time with an all-star cast including Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty and Rick Moranis. By the mid-1980s, The Second City began a new era as Second City Toronto proprietors Andrew Alexander and Len Stuart bought out Bernie Sahlins' interest in The Second City Chicago and set in motion a new era of innovation for the company.

Today, The Second City continues to produce premier comic talent, its imprint felt across the entertainment industry, as represented by alumni Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and many others. The organization has diversified as it's grown, launching Second City Training Centers in Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles; four touring companies performing Second City revues across North America and abroad; Second City Communications, an industry leader in bringing improv-based methodologies to the corporate sector; and a growing commitment to producing innovative, original content for film, television and the digital realm. Visit secondcity.comto learn more.

About Hubbard Street
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 38thseason in 2015 and 2016. Among the world's top contemporary dance companies and a global cultural ambassador, Hubbard Street demonstrates fluency in a wide range of techniques and forms, and deep comprehension of abstract artistry and emotional nuance. The company is critically acclaimed for its exuberant and innovative repertoire, featuring works by master American and international choreographers. Hubbard Street's artists hail from four countries and 12 U.S. states, and comprise a superlative ensemble of virtuosity and versatility. Since its founding by Lou Conte in 1977, Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms. Each is dedicated to the support and advancement of dance as an art form, as a practice, and as a method for generating and sustaining communities of all kinds.

Hubbard Street 2, directed by Terence Marling, cultivates young professional dancers, identifies next-generation choreographers, and performs domestically and abroad, in service of arts education, collaboration, experimentation and audience development.

Extensive Youth, Education and Community Programs, directed by Kathryn Humphreys, are models in the field of arts education, linking the performing company's creative mission to the lives of students and families. Hubbard Street also initiated the first dance-based program in the Midwest to help alleviate suffering caused by Parkinson's disease. Youth Dance Program classes at the Hubbard Street Dance Center include Creative Movement and progressive study of technique, open to young dancers ages 18 months to 16 years.

At the Lou Conte Dance Studio, directed by founding Hubbard Street Dancer Claire Bataille, workshops and master classes allow access to expertise, while a broad variety of weekly classes offer training at all levels in jazz, ballet, dance fitness, modern, tap, African, hip-hop, yoga, Pilates® and more.

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