Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Sets 38th Season

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 of William 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 of N.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 its Season 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 runs March 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 director Billy 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 Redd and 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 Thursday performances begin at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday performances begin at 8pm, and Sunday matinée 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.

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