Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Ends Run of Spring Series at Harris Theater, 3/21

The Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will end its spring series at the Harris Theatre on March 21st.

"This program displays the versatility of our company - the versatility of the dancers and the versatility of the choreographers," comments Hubbard Street Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton. "I hope that our audience will walk away with a real understanding of the artistic quality and the diverse programming this season. All the pieces exhibit raw emotional characteristics and innovative aspects that help to advance the art form of contemporary dance as well as Hubbard Street's ambition to constantly explore different approaches to creative expression through movement."

The Spring Series opens with the World Premiere of First Light created by HSDC's resident choreographer and company member Alejandro Cerrudo. Performed by HS2, HSDC's training ground for young professional dancers and choreographers, First Light is set to a piano transcription of Philip Glass's opera Orphee. Though not based on the operatic story - a Greek legend about the musician/poet Orpheus and his doomed journey to rescue his wife, Eurydice, from the underworld - there are unique similarities as this piece explores light and darkness. Using only the front half of the stage, Cerrudo aims to focus on the movement and organic partnering of HS2.

Also receiving its World Premiere as part of the Spring Series is At ‘em (Atem) Adam, created and set by Hubbard Street's own Rehearsal Director and Artistic Associate Terence Marling. Taking inspiration from the colloquial expression "Up and at ‘em;" "atem," the German word for "breath;" and the biblical Adam; this work appears to be a painters approach to choreography, taking broad strokes while allowing the dancers to create movement. A passionate look at the human experience, this witty piece is composed of music by vocalists Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald; bassist Edgar Meyer; violinist and composer Mark O'Connor; composer Moondog, otherwise known as Louis Thomas Hardin; and Italian composer Luciano Berio.

As the first American dance company, and only the third company in the world, to stage Jirí Kylián's surreal 27'52", HSDC is honored to present this Company Premiere as part of the spring program at the Harris Theater. 27'52," so named because it takes twenty-seven minutes and fifty-two seconds to perform, deals with themes of vulnerability, instability, and immortality. With music by Dirk Haubrich, this work highlights Kylián's mastery of contrast between sharp and calming movements. 27'52" also includes vocals - pieces of text chosen by the dancers who originally performed this work. These texts are in the home language of the dancers that chose them, giving the piece a multi-lingual, international feel. Cast by Kylián himself and set by Cristina Gallofré Vargas and Gerald Tibbs, this piece creates an urge to see it again, perhaps in disbelief of what appears on the stage. Please note that this work does contain a brief moment of partial nudity. The final piece being performed as part of the spring program is the company revival of Susan Marshall's Kiss. This work is a sensuous, provocative duet between a man and a woman, which fuses ballet, modern and post-modern styles to create deep emotional resonance.

Additional events during HSDC's Spring Series include:
Honorary co-chairs Pamela Cullterton and NBC5's Nesita Kwan, together with event co-chairs Karen H. Lennon and Betsy Stelle Morgan are proud to host the 7th Annual Bold Moves for Bold Women event, a celebration in the cultivation the next generation of female choreographic masters - a priority at HSDC. Monies raised from this event will directly fund the creation of a new work by young, cutting-edge, female choreographer Aszure Barton, which will have its World Premiere during HSDC's Summer Series. 7th Annual Bold Moves for Bold Women will be held on Thursday, March 18 at 5:30 p.m., prior to the opening night performance, at the Fairmont Chicago, 200 N. Columbus Drive.

On March 20 at 3:00 p.m. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Second Company, HS2, will present an hour-long Family Matinee performance, followed by a post-performance family workshop offered by HSDC's Education & Community Programs department. HS2 will delight and engage audience members with an interactive program that will feature selections from Terence Marling's glass skin; Edwaard Liang's Sight Unseen; I Can See Myself In Your Pupil by Andrea Miller; Cerrudo's First Light; and a new work by National Choreographic Competition winner Jonathon Fredrickson. Throughout the family matinee there will be audience participation and experiential activities with the artists. Following the performance, a family workshop will be held backstage. Target is Lead Sponsor for the Family Matinee performance.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago extends special thanks to its 2009-2010 Sponsors: AthletiCo, Official Provider of Dancer Health & Wellness Services; Chicago Athletic Clubs, Official Health Club; Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Sponsor 27'52"; Exelon, Spring Series Contributing Sponsor; Chicago Sun-Times, Spring Series Media Sponsor; Sara Lee and Walter E. Heller Foundation, Lead Choreography Sponsors; Target, Lead Community Partner; Bold Moves for Bold Women Co-Sponsors Baker & McKenzie and Exelon, as well as Contributing Sponsor SomerCor 504 Inc.; and Kraft Foods, Infrastructure Partner. This season is also partially supported by a City Arts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; the National Endowment for the Arts; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more information about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago visit www.hubbardstreetdance.com or call 312-850-9744.

About the choreographers:
Alejandro Cerrudo (HSDC Dancer and Choreographer) received his training at the Real Conservatario Professional de Danza de Madrid. After joining the Stuttgart Ballet in 1999, he choreographed his first piece, Beige and Brown, which was performed at their annual Noverre's Association Workshop in 2000. He went on to create two more works that were also performed at the Stuttgart, as well as pieces for the Sphaera Organization and the 5th International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition in Nagoya, Japan; two of which, Short Cut To My Friend and I Make You Obvious, were awarded bronze medals in 2005. In 2006, Cerrudo choreographed Fuel for the 20th International Choreographic Competition for Young Choreographers in Hanover, Germany, and received third prize for his work. He joined HSDC in August 2005, and created his first work for the company, Come True, as part of the 2006 Choreographic Workshop, "Inside/Out". He developed this piece further, leading to the world premiere of Lickety-Split, as part of the 2006 Fall Series. Named an HSDC Choreographic Fellow in 2008, Cerrudo has created three works for the company: Lickety-Split, Extremely Close, commissioned by The Joyce Theater in New York, and Off Screen, premiered by the main company in 2009. As the company's first Resident Choreographer, he will present two World Premieres during the 2009-10 season.

Jirí Kylián (Choreographer) was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1947, and started his dance training at the ballet school of the Prague National Theatre at the age of nine. He later studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Royal Ballet School in London. In 1968 he joined the Stuttgart Ballet under the direction of John Cranko as both a dancer and choreographer. In 1973, he created his first work for the Nederlands Dans Theater, where he became artistic director in 1975 until 1999 and is currently resident choreographer and artistic advisor. Kylián has choreographed 66 works for NDT including Sinfonietta, Sechs Tänze, Kaguyahime and Arcimboldo. His works have been staged by more than 40 companies around the world, such as American Ballet Theater, Royal Danish Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, The Australian Ballet and National Ballet of Canada.

Terence Marling (Choreographer) from Chicago, Illinois, Marling began his ballet training in 1982 at the Ruth Page School of Dance under the direction of Larry Long. In 1994, he joined the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater directed by Patricia Wilde, where he performed leading roles in Don Quixote, Glen Tetley's Le Sacre du Printemps, Balanchine's Rubies, Ohad Naharin's Tabula Rasa, Paul Taylor's Airs and Jirí Kylián's Return to the Strange Land. Marling also originated roles in ballets by Kevin O'Day, Dwight Rhoden, Ib Andersen, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and Robert Hill. Directors O'Day and Dominique Dumais invited him to join the Nationaltheater Mannheim in Germany in 2003, where he participated in the creation of ten works. Marling joined HSDC in April 2006 and is continuing to choreograph and teach in his spare time.

Susan Marshall (Choreographer) has created 30 dance works in collaboration with the dancers of Susan Marshall & Company including One and Only You, The Most Dangerous Room in the House, Spectators at an Event, Fields of View, Arms, Interior with Seven Figures and Kiss. Marshall's collaboration with the dancers of Susan Marshall & Company has been the main influence on the development of her choreographic process and work. Marshall choreographed and directed Les Enfants Terribles in collaboration with composer Philip Glass in 1996, and has also created dances for the Lyon Opera Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Boston Ballet and Montreal Danse. Her signature aerial duet, Kiss, is in the current repertory of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She has collaborated with director Francesca Zambello on operas staged for the Los Angeles Music Center and the New York City Opera. A 2000 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Marshall has also received a Dance Magazine Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Brandeis University Creative Arts Citation and the American Choreographer Award. She has received five National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, two New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships and two New York Dance and Performance Awards (BESSIES) for Outstanding Choreographic Achievement. The first BESSIE came in 1985 following Susan Marshall & Company's premiere concert at Dance Theater Workshop, and the second came in 1997 for her collaboration with Philip Glass on Les Enfants Terribles.

About Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), under the artistic leadership of newly announced artistic director Glenn Edgerton, celebrates over 30 years as one of the most original forces in contemporary dance. Critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire, HSDC presents performances that inspire, challenge and engage audiences worldwide. The company's ensemble of dancers displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity, allowing HSDC to expand its eclectic repertoire with works by master American and international choreographers.
HSDC also contributes to dance's evolution by developing new choreographic talent and collaborating with artists in music, visual art and theatre. Since Lou Conte founded the company in 1977, HSDC has expanded beyond its main company to include Hubbard Street 2, which cultivates young professional dancers and choreographers, performs nationally and internationally with a diverse and engaging repertoire; extensive Education & Community Programs which offer city- and state-accredited professional development for teachers to incorporate movement into curricula and allow young people to experience dance; and the Lou Conte Dance Studio, which offers a wide variety of classes weekly in jazz, ballet, modern, tap, African, hip-hop and Pilates at levels from basic to professional, as well as workshops and master classes.

About Hubbard Street 2
Hubbard Street 2 (HS2) is a company of seven dancers between the ages of 17 and 25 who perform a repertoire of works by some of the nation's most promising young choreographers. HS2 reaches more than 35,000 people annually through performances in schools, community centers and theaters. Since its inception in 1997, the company has become a respected training ground for young, professional dancers and choreographers; a major component of HSDC's Education & Community Programs; a resource for new dancers for HSDC's main company; and a company performing a diverse and engaging repertory nationally and internationally.

 

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