Hubbard Street Launches 2015-16 Professional Development Institute for Dance Educators Today

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, and its Youth, Education and Community Programs department, under the leadership of Kathryn Humphreys, are pleased to offer a Professional Development Institute comprised of twelve diverse events throughout the 2015-16 academic year, designed for studio and classroom educators, teaching artists, undergraduate and graduate students.

The Professional Development Institute is one of many ongoing programs fostering knowledge-sharing and interaction among Hubbard Street's two performing ensembles, its on-site studio offering a variety of dance classes for children and adults, and its off-site programming for schools and community partners. Registration for each event is available "à la carte" and all events will be held at the Hubbard Street Dance Center in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood.

Says Kathryn Humphreys, Director of Hubbard Street's Youth, Education and Community Programs: "Over the past four decades, Hubbard Street has grown from a modest dance studio, to a performing ensemble, to a multifaceted arts organization serving a multitude of communities throughout Chicago. This expanded Professional Development Institute and other recent initiatives allow us to keep valuable discoveries, information and best practices flowing throughout our building, as Hubbard Street's teaching artists, staff members and faculty meet and engage with a broad spectrum of constituents. I'm excited to extend our 15 years of experience providing professional development to educators, and turn this knowledge base outward by inviting fellows and peers in the field to our home in the West Loop. I expect these experiences will spark all kinds of new relationships and surprising connections."

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The 12 events currently scheduled for the 2015-16 Professional Development Institute are:

Choreographer Spotlight: William Forsythe
October 16, 2015 from 9am-3pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$100 per person, $115 with boxed lunch
includes ticket to 8pm performance of Hubbard Street's Season 38 Fall Series
at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 East Randolph Street
Appropriate for dance teachers, teaching artists, and college students
International dancemaker and staging artist Ayman Aaron Harper leads an introduction to the work and creative process of renowned choreographer William Forsythe. This all-day seminar consists of a welcome session, a technique class, a workshop in Forsythe's strategies and practices for movement invention, exploration of Forsythe's repertoire, and discussions led by Kathryn Humphreys. The day concludes with the Friday evening performance of Hubbard Street's Season 38 Fall Series, which features the U.S. company premiere of N.N.N.N. (2002), the company's acclaimed production of Quintett (1993), and the Hubbard Street premiere of One Flat Thing, reproduced (2000).

Move Right Into Reading©
October 21, 2015 from 9am-3pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$50 per person, $65 with boxed lunch
Appropriate for all teachers
Hubbard Street's signature workshop for educators, Move Right Into Reading© offers participants an introduction to Hubbard Street's curriculum and dance-integration practices, through the lenses of reading and writing. This energizing workshop provides a wealth of ideas for accessible dance activities in the classroom.

Advanced Curriculum and Partnership Design
November 17, 2015 from 9am-3pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
Available to Hubbard Street Education Programs partners only
Veteran partners in Hubbard Street's Education Programs are encouraged to attend this full-day, intensive session to plan for the year together and share their recent discoveries, observations, effective practices, and strategies, using dance.

Introduction to Dance Writing
November 19, 2015 from 4:30-6:30pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$25 per person
Appropriate for dance teachers, teaching artists, and college students
Kathryn Humphreys and Zachary Whittenburg, Hubbard Street's Manager of Communication, lead this workshop in the process of translating observed movement into writing. They will share a variety of prompts and possible entry points to help students write about dance, share the elements of effective dance writing, suggest assessment methods, and provide resources for further, self-guided study.

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds, Healthy Dancers:
Incorporating Holistic Health into Your School's Dance or Physical Education Program
January 20, 2016 from 4:30-6:30pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$25 per person
Appropriate for dance teachers, teaching artists, and college students
Lauren Warnecke (MS, ACSM-CPT) shares creative ways to prompt and guide meaningful discussions about self-care, cross-training, and nutrition within dance curricula at the middle- and high-school level.

Introduction to Dance in the Classroom
Two sessions offered:
• January 21, 2016 from 9am-noon
• February 22, 2016 from 9am-noon
both at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$50 per person
Appropriate for all teachers
Utilizing the same participatory choreographic structures and the universal dance vocabulary of BEST (Body, Energy, Space, and Time) employed by Hubbard Street teaching artists in Chicago Public Schools, this session lays the groundwork for bringing dance into the classroom and fostering kinesthetic learning. Model units and activities shared during this introduction are appropriate both for general-education and dance teachers.

Curating Student Performance
February 11, 2016 from 4:30-6:30pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$25 per person
Appropriate for dance teachers and teaching artists
Learn how best to work with limited time and resources toward the sharing of student dance work in a performance. New strategies for creating and practicing will showcase students' creativity, learning and progress through any curriculum.

Science and Dance
March 10, 2016 from 9am-noon
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$50 per person
Appropriate for all teachers
Explore new ways to engage students within a science curriculum, using dance. Model units and activities shared during this session deepen understanding of such topics as Conservation, Force and Motion, and the Scientific Process.

Choreographer Spotlight: Crystal Pite
March 19, 2016 from 2-4pm
Location to be announced
$100 per person
includes ticket to 8pm performance of Hubbard Street's Season 38 Spring Series
at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 East Randolph Street
Appropriate for dance teachers, teaching artists, and college students
Hubbard Street Dancer Kevin J. Shannon leads an introduction to the work and creative process of renowned choreographer Crystal Pite, founding artistic director of Kidd Pivot. Participants will learn and practice her distinct movement by working with excerpted phrases, observe and discuss Pite's acclaimed and innovative choreography, then attend the Saturday evening performance of Hubbard Street's dance-theatrical Season 38 Spring Series, which features Pite's work A Picture of You Falling (2008) alongside a world premiere by Hubbard Street Rehearsal Director Lucas Crandall, The Impossible (2014) by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, and I am Mister B by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano.

Growing a Dancer: Early Childhood Dance
April 28, 2016 from 9am-noon
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$50 per person
Appropriate for all teachers
Explore effective strategies for introducing movement concepts to a curriculum using concept-based, developmentally appropriate dance activities, lessons and vocabulary. As they move, students will connect more fully and more quickly to their imaginations, as well as to their peers and the world around them.

Introduction to Adaptive Dance: The Autism Project
April 29, 2016 from 4:30-6:30pm
at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard
$25 per person
Appropriate for all teachers
Students on the autism spectrum can be highly successful in dance. This session explains how to build a highly structured dance class to support their learning; how to create and utilize visual supports, sensory supports and specific challenges; and how to better utilize aides and assistants in the dance classroom.

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The Hubbard Street Dance Center is located at 1147 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago, easily accessible via the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290), the CTA Blue Line (Forest Park branch to Racine) and numerous CTA bus routes including 7 Harrison, 9 Ashland, 20 Madison, 60 Blue Island and 126 Jackson.

Funding for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Professional Development Institute is provided by the Polk Bros. Foundation. Registration and further details regarding Hubbard Street's Professional Development Institute are available online at hubbardstreetdance.com/education; with questions, email education@hubbardstreetdance.com or call 312-850-9744 ext. 194.

2015-16 Professional Development Institute Faculty Profiles:

Kathryn Humphreys, Hubbard Street's Director of Youth, Education and Community Programs, develops and implements dance education initiatives designed to improve teacher and teaching artist practice and collaboration, to affect whole-school change and further the field's understanding of the role of dance in public education. With more than two decades of experience in arts education, she supports local and national groups as they work to understand and implement curricula for public schools utilizing the model developed by Humphreys at Hubbard Street. The organization's school programs have tripled in scale during her tenure, she created the Midwest's first Professional Development Institute for dance educators, launched Adaptive Dance Programs, and founded the company's studio program for young dancers, now serving more than 1,000 students per year. She holds an MA in Dance from Texas Woman's University and a BA in English Literature from the University of Arkansas.

Kelsey Allison earned her BFA in Dance and BA in Education, joined Hubbard Street's staff in 2011, and has taught dance in Chicago Public Schools for four years. She creates assessment tools and curriculum for Hubbard Street's studio programs for young dancers, for its year-long school partnerships serving students in grades Pre-K through 8, trains Hubbard Street teaching artists, and has coordinated after-school and short-term residencies for its Education Programs department. An emerging leader in the field of arts education in Chicago, she currently serves as Manager of Hubbard Street's Youth Dance Programs, and is chair of the associate board at Links Hall.

Ayman Aaron Harper was born in Houston, Texas in 1979 and trained in dance, choreography and gymnastics at Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre, while attending the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Harper began working professionally with Hubbard Street 2 at age 17 and, in 1999, joined Nederlands Dans Theater 2. Harper then worked as a dancer, stager and guest choreographer for William Forsythe at Ballett Frankfurt, beginning in 2001. Further developing his voice as an artist and choreographer, Harper has created works on The Forsythe Company, HS2 and NDT 2, Deutsches Nationaltheater, Bayerisches Staatsballett II and other companies, in addition to numerous university dance departments. His works draw from multiple creative media and include community-based projects, musical theater productions of West Side Story and Hair, and site-specific installations for unconventional dance spaces such as Rocket Park at NASA's Space Center Houston. His many collaborators have included musicians Arto Lindsay and Matmos, Alexander Ekman, Ivan Liska, Pierre Pontvianne, Tino Sehgal, Richard Siegal, and Mario Alberto Zambrano. Currently based in Berlin, Germany, Harper is a freelance choreographer, dancer, staging artist, teacher, and guest professor at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios (PARTS) in Brussels.

Sarah McCarty joined Hubbard Street's Education Programs department in 2007 and serves as its Senior Manager for School Partnerships. She works with schools and teaching artists to craft effective and engaging arts-integrated residencies, as well as implementing Hubbard Street's Teaching Artist Training Program and research practices. McCarty holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa, and a BA in Dance and Studio Art from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Her teaching practice ranges from university settings to park districts, schools, and studios.

Michelle Modrzejewski joined Hubbard Street's Education Programs department in 2014 and serves as its Community Programs Manager. She balances her time between teaching and managing Hubbard Street's diverse, in-school contracted partnerships; The Autism Project of its Adaptive Dance Programs; and community outreach. Prior to joining the Hubbard Street staff, Modrzejewski taught dance and movement in both public and private settings, for students ranging from early-childhood ages to adults. She has also worked with the Chicago-based wellness organization Mindful Practices, where she led professional development workshops for educators in and around Chicago, focused on classroom management and social-emotional learning. Modrzejewski graduated from Ball State University with a BA in Dance, is in her fifth year as a company member with Synapse Arts Collective, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Ballet 5:8.

Kevin J. Shannon, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, began dancing under the guidance of Lester Holmes. He graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts with additional training at the School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, Paul Taylor Dance Company and Parsons Dance. He earned his BFA in 2007 at the Juilliard School, toured nationally with the Juilliard Dance Ensemble and appeared in the "Live from Lincoln Center" broadcast television special The Juilliard School: Celebrating 100 Years. Shannon joined Hubbard Street in November 2007.

Lauren Warnecke is a Chicago-based dance writer, researcher, and educator, currently a faculty member and PhD candidate in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with an interest in qualitative research about dance injury, cross-training, and perceptions of aesthetic dance performance. Warnecke holds a BA in Dance and an MS in Kinesiology, is sole content creator for the dance-focused blog Art Intercepts, a columnist at the Windy City Times, and contributes to Dance Advantage, The Huffington Post, SeeChicagoDance.com and 4dancers.org. Her experience also includes work as a production stage manager, curator, choreographer, and grant writer, as well as administration within both small and large arts organizations. Warnecke is a certified personal trainer (ACSM) and functional training specialist (ACE).

Zachary Whittenburg spent ten years as a professional dancer with companies including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. He then returned to Chicago in 2005 to work as a freelance performer, choreographer and teacher. Dance Editor at Time Out Chicago from 2009-12, Whittenburg has written for numerous print and online publications, contributes regularly to Dance Magazine, is a panelist and guest speaker, and tweets @trailerpilot about contemporary culture and the performing arts. Manager of Communication at Hubbard Street since 2012, he represents the company on the Chicago Dancemakers Forum consortium, and is a member of the executive committee for the Chicago Dance History Project.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 38th season 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 18 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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