Photo Flash: First Look at Hubbard Street Dancers

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton announce three artists joining the organization's 18-member performing company: Emilie Leriche, Andrew Murdock and Bryna Pascoe. "Each is highly accomplished in both classical and contemporary dance," says Edgerton, "and uniquely suited for Hubbard Street's active repertoire of works by major international choreographers." All are scheduled to perform during the company's Fall Series, opening Season 36 with new works by Robyn Mineko Williams and Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, plus repertoire by Mats Ek and Ohad Naharin, October 10-13, 2013 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

In addition, Hubbard Street 2 Director Terence Marling announces his 2013-14 season roster. Jules Joseph and Katie Kozul are promoted to the ensemble after successful 2012-13 apprenticeships, joining returning artists Brandon Lee Alley, Lissa Smith and Richard Walters, plus new company member Andrea Thompson of Maplewood, New Jersey. Joining as HS2 Apprentices are Odbayar Batsuuri of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Adrienne Lipson of London, Ontario, Canada.

Emilie Leriche enters her third season at Hubbard Street as a main company member, following one year as an apprentice and a one as a member of Hubbard Street 2, an ensemble for early-career artists ages 18 to 25. Prior to her apprenticeship, she attended Hubbard Street's Summer Intensive. A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Leriche began her dance training at the age of eight. In 2007 she began her formal dance training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, with additional summer study at Joffrey Midwest, Complexions Contemporary Ballet and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Leriche has performed alongside the dancers of zoe | juniper, and at the WestWave Dance Festival as a member of Maurya Kerr's tinypistol. Leriche made her debut with Hubbard Street's main company earlier this year, during its Joyce Theater season in New York City, May 14-26. During Hubbard Street's 12th annual Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop on July 6 at the UIC Theatre, she presented an original work for three dancers titled we can do this one of three ways.

Says Andrew Murdock: "I am extremely honored to be welcomed into the Hubbard Street family. I trust the professional vision that the company is pursuing and I'm inspired by its current and former members. I look forward to performing a balance of new works and repertory by masters of the art form - and also to be moving to Chicago. It's a great city." Murdock began dancing in his hometown of St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, and continued training at the Juilliard School, from which he received a BFA in Dance under the direction of Lawrence Rhodes. Prior to being a regular collaborator with Aszure Barton & Artists, Murdock performed with Gallim Dance and [bjm_danse], formerly Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal. Additional collaborators and colleagues include Cherice Barton, Joshua Beamish, Andy Blankenbuehler, Nina Chung, Joe Lanteri, Austin McCormick, Michelle Mola, Abdel Salaam and Edgar Zendejas. He has appeared at the Greenwich Music Festival, with Zack Winokur, and with at Just for Laughs and

Le 400e Anniversaire de la Ville de QuébecGrove near Minneapolis, Minnesota, Pascoe received her early training from Ballet Arts Minnesota, where she studied with Bonnie Mathis and Lirena Branitski. She attended the Juilliard School, earned her BFA in 2006, and received the . Her professional career began in Reggio Emilia, Italy, with Compagnia Aterballetto under the direction of Mauro Bigonzetti. In 2009, she joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, where she performed works by master choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Mats Ek, and originated roles in new creations by Stijn Celis, Stephan Thoss, Didy Veldman and others.

Hubbard Street 2 Dancer Andrea Thompson (Maplewood, NJ) trained at the New Jersey School of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and the Ailey School in New York City. Thompson has also studied at the Juilliard School, Northwest Professional Dance Project, Springboard Danse Montréal, Nederlands Dans Theater and Batsheva Dance Company, which brought opportunities to perform choreography by Gregory Dolbashian, William Forsythe, Natalia Horecna, Jessica Lang, Marina Mascarell, Idan Sharabi, Robyn Mineko Williams, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, under the direction of Summer Lee Rhatigan, she trained with and performed works by Christian Burns, Alex Ketley, Thomas McManus, Robert Moses, Ohad Naharin, Alessio Silvestrin and Bobbi Jene Smith. Thompson joins Hubbard Street 2 following work in San Francisco and New York with Zhukov Dance Theatre, Chang Yong Sung, LoudHoundMovement, Backwoods Dance Project and the Foundry.

HS2 Apprentice Odbayar Batsuuri (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) graduated from the Music and Dance College of Mongolia in 2004 and was a member of the Tumen Ekh National Song and Dance Ensemble, with which he toured to the Seattle International Children's Festival, Toronto International Children's Festival and the Alberta International Children Festival, as well as to Korea's Ulaanbaatar Cultural Day and Japan's Mask Dance International Festival. Batsuuri then followed his interest in contemporary dance to intensive training during the American Dance Festival's satellite programs in Mongolia in 2005 and 2006, and in the U.S. with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, the Chicago Moving Company, Joel Hall Dancers & Center and the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. In 2009, he was awarded an Honor Certificate from Mongolia's Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.

HS2 Apprentice Adrienne Lipson (London, ON) began her dance training in London, Ontario under the tutelage of Jennifer Swan, and continued her studies at Ryerson University, where she received the Theatre Dance Award, the Jack and Hedda Rothman Award, and a BFA with honors upon graduation in spring 2013. While in Toronto, Lipson performed with Typecast Dance Company and was a founding member of Rock Bottom Movement. Lipson attended the Proarte Danza Summer Intensive and Kenny Pearl's Emerging Artists Summer Intensive, in addition to training programs at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, LADMMI ( the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and Springboard Danse , where she performed works by choreographers Barak Marshall and Robyn Mineko Williams.

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, modern, tap, African, hip-hop, yoga, Pilates and Zumba.

To post a comment, you must register and login.