Hubbard Street Dance Sets Season 37 Summer Series

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic direction of Glenn Edgerton, concludes its 2014-15 subscription season with a Summer Series devoted to its first Resident Choreographer, June 11-14, 2015.

The fourth and final repertory program in Season 37 at Hubbard Street, the Summer Series features the 14th original work by Alejandro Cerrudo for Hubbard Street's main company. For a cast of four female and four male dancers, and set to music by Max Richter and other contemporary composers, this pure-dance world premiere reunites Cerrudo with lighting designer Michael Korsch (One Thousand Pieces, The Impossible) and costume designer Branimira Ivanova (Hubbard Street + The Second City's The Art of Falling).

The Season 37 Summer Series is Hubbard Street's second-ever performance engagement devoted to a single artist, following an all-Ji?í Kylián mixed bill in March 2013, and preceding the company's Season 38 opener in October 2015, showcasing three major works by choreographer William Forsythe.

Premiered in 2007 and inspired by poignant, intimate music for solo piano by composers Philip Glass and Dustin O'Halloran, Extremely Close was Cerrudo's second original work for the company, developed in part with students from the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Enjoyed since by audiences worldwide as part of numerous touring programs, Extremely Close has also been restaged for Compañía Nacional de Danza in Cerrudo's native Spain, as well as by ballet companies in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Tulsa. Janice Pytel's costumes and lighting by Trad A. Burns, based on the original design by Tanja Rühl, complement Cerrudo's innovative staging concept for an experience at once "unsettling, foreboding and mysterious," says the Chicago Tribune.

Little mortal jump, premiered in 2012, was Cerrudo's tenth creation for Hubbard Street's main company and was recently acquired by Pacific Northwest Ballet for its "Director's Choice" program in March 2016. For four female and six male dancers, with costumes by Branimira Ivanova inspired in part by Alexander McQueen, Little mortal jump is "technically rich and emotionally gripping," says the Chicago Tribune, and "the work of an assured and confident master," according to the Orange County Register. Its eclectic score combines selections from Beirut's album The Flying Club Cup; by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan; and music composed for Jacques Audiard films by 2015 Academy Award-winner Alexandre Desplat (Best Original Score, The Grand Budapest Hotel).

Says Glenn Edgerton: "In 2006, for our annual Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop, Alejandro Cerrudo made a brief duet titled Come True, to a song by Devendra Banhart called 'This Beard Is for Siobhan.' He was 25 years old. It made an indelible impression on Jim Vincent, then Hubbard Street's artistic director, who supported Alejandro's endeavors as a creative artist, inviting him in 2008 to become the company's first Choreographic Fellow. Since succeeding Jim as artistic director the following year, I've happily deepened and extended our relationship with Alejandro, now the first Resident Choreographer in Hubbard Street's history, and we're delighted to be taking the opportunity this June to celebrate the astounding range of his invention. To watch Extremely Close along with Little mortal jump and his forthcoming premiere will be the perfect introduction to Alejandro for those unfamiliar with his work. For those who are, our Season 37 Summer Series will be quite a treat."

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Season 37 Summer Series runs June 11-14, 2015 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 East Randolph Street in Chicago. The complete performance schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, June 11 at 7:30pm
• Friday, June 12 at 8pm
• Saturday, June 13 at 8pm
• Sunday, June 14 at 3pm

Single ticket prices start at just $25 and are available now at hubbardstreetdance.com/summer or by phone at 312-850-9744. Hubbard Street Ticket Office hours are Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm.

Hubbard Street Studio Series
Full-Day Alejandro Cerrudo Choreography Workshop
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Blvd in Chicago
Saturday, June 6, 2015 from noon-6pm

Hubbard Street, in partnership with local venues and presenters, is pleased to continue its Studio Series of master classes and workshops for advanced, pre-professional and professional dancers in Chicago. Each Studio Series event is based on the work of dance artists performing in Chicago, or repertoire in production at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Hubbard Street 2, led by internationally recognized artistic directors, dancers and choreographers.

In residence at Hubbard Street for six seasons, Alejandro Cerrudo has consistently reinvented himself as a choreographer, creating unpredictable, immersive works that delight both seasoned dance audiences and newcomers to the art form. During preparations for his 14th original work for Hubbard Street - premiering during the company's Season 37 Summer Series at the Harris Theater - this workshop offers a deep dive into Cerrudo's complex movement vocabulary and rich musicality. Workshop attendees will be taught by Cerrudo's longtime collaborators, with Cerrudo himself joining for final feedback and coaching.

The fee per person to attend this Full-Day Alejandro Cerrudo Choreography Workshop is $75 and registration will be limited to 40 participants. Additional Hubbard Street Studio Series events will be announced on an ongoing basis. Advance registration is required and must be completed before June 5, 2015. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com/studioseries or contact Meredith Dincolo via e-mail at workshops@hubbardstreetdance.com.

Season 37 Summer Series Sponsors
Hubbard Street's Season 37 Summer Series celebrating Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo is sponsored by Ross Bricker and Nina Vinik; Bill and Orli Staley; Richard and Ann Tomlinson; and Randy and Lisa White. Corporate support is provided by Allstate Insurance Company, Hubbard Street's Community Engagement Partner. Alejandro Cerrudo's Season 37 Summer Series world premiere is exclusively sponsored by Marge and Lew Collens, J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation, and John and Jeanne Rowe. The 2015 revival of Extremely Close is exclusively sponsored by Richard and Barbara Silverman. Additional support is provided by Choreographer's Circle members John and Caroline Ballantine, Linda Hutson, and Marc Miller and Chris Horsman.

Season 38 Subscriptions
Subscriptions to Hubbard Street's 2015-16 season are on sale now. Featuring four programs exclusively at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Season 38 at Hubbard Street includes a Fall Series dedicated to renowned choreographer William Forsythe, the U.S. company premiere of Solo Echo by Crystal Pite, the return of Hubbard Street + The Second City's acclaimed collaboration The Art of Falling, and much more. Single tickets to all four Season 38 programs will be released for sale in August 2015. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com/subscribe for more information.

About Alejandro Cerrudo
Hubbard Street Dancer and Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo 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.

About Hubbard Street
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 37th season in 2014 and 2015. 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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