Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Announces SPRING SERIES: ELEMENTS

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) will present the second programs of its 45th anniversary season: Elements, featuring several World and Company Premieres and acclaimed revivals. The 2022/23 Season 45: Sapphire Season continues with HSDC's Spring Series at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (220 E. Chicago Ave.) which will run March 23-April 2 with two mixed repertory performances, each performed four times.

Returning to the MCA's intimate Edlis Neeson Theater for the second year, the programs feature works by long-time and new collaborators. Program A (March 23-26) features the world premiere of Nevermore by celebrated choreographer Thang Dao alongside the Company premiere of Coltrane's Favorite Things by Lar Lubovitch, the captivating solo Show Pony by Kyle Abraham, and the return of audience favorite BUSK by Aszure Barton. The following week, Program B (March 30-April 2) includes the world premiere of on a PATH by Guggenheim Works & Process Artist Hope Boykin, the return of Osnel Delgado's The Windless Hold, Spenser Theberge's stunning duet Ne Me Quitte Pas; plus Aszure Barton's BUSK. Show Pony replaces the previously announced The Bystander (solo excerpt).

The opening night performance of Program B on Thursday, March 30 is a special one-night-only event, Bold Moves for Bold Voices, celebrating choreographer Hope Boykin and Dr. Suzet M. McKinney, the inaugural Bold Moves Award recipient. Learn more about Bold Moves for Bold Voices at hubbardstreetdance.com/boldmoves.

"The Sapphire Season is a love letter to fans of Hubbard Street, celebrating 45 years of company excellence and our cutting-edge repertoire," said Artistic Director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell. "Spring Series: Elements represents the fusion of the company's past, present, and future with revivals of company and audience favorites and World Premieres by some of the most exciting and prolific choreographers working today."

Tickets to Spring Series: Elements are available by calling the MCA Box Office at 312-397-4010 or visiting hubbardstreetdance.com and range from $15 to $95. Midseason Subscriptions for the 45th Anniversary Sapphire Season are now available by calling the MCA Box Office at 312-397-4010 or visiting experience.mcachicago.org/overview/5752 and using promo code SUBSCRIBEHS.

Hubbard Street is grateful to the Season 45: Sapphire Season partners Athletico Physical Therapy, Chicago Athletic Clubs, and the Illinois Arts Council for their continued support.

The Season 45 Sapphire Season: Elements performance schedule is as follows:

SPRING SERIES: Elements

Thursday, March 23 - Sunday, April 2, 2023

At the Edlis Neeson Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

PROGRAM A Featuring:

Coltrane's Favorite Things by Lar Lubovitch (Company Premiere)

Show Pony by Kyle Abraham

Nevermore by Thang Dao (World Premiere)

BUSK by Aszure Barton

Thursday, March 23 at 7:30pm

Friday, March 24 at 8pm

Saturday, March 25 at 8pm

Sunday, March 26 at 3pm

Curtain Talk feat. Thang Dao: Immediately following the Thursday, March 23 performance

PROGRAM A ASL-Interpreted performance: Sunday, March 26 at 3pm

PROGRAM B Featuring:

The Windless Hold by Osnel Delgado

Ne Me Quitte Pas by Spenser Theberge

on a PATH by Hope Boykin (World Premiere)

BUSK by Aszure Barton

Thursday, March 30 at 7:30pm (Bold Moves for Bold Voices)

Friday, March 31 at 8pm

Saturday, April 1 at 8pm

Sunday, April 2 at 3pm

Curtain Talk feat. Hope Boykin: Immediately following the Friday, March 31 performance

PROGRAM B ASL-Interpreted performance: Sunday, April 2 at 3pm

Kyle Abraham is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow who began his dance training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase and an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Washington Jefferson College, and is currently serving as a visiting professor in residence at UCLA. In November 2012, Abraham was named the newly appointed New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist for 2012-2014. Just one month later, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater premiered Abraham's newest work, Another Night, at New York's City Center to rave reviews. That same year, Abraham was named the 2012 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient and 2012 USA Ford Fellow, before serving as a choreographic contributor for Beyoncé's 2013 British Vogue cover shoot. Abraham received a prestigious Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show, and a Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2010. The previous year, he was selected as one of Dance Magazine's 25 To Watch for 2009, and received a Jerome Travel and Study Grant in 2008. His choreography has been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most recently at Fall for Dance Festival at New York's City Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Joyce Theater, The Los Angeles Music Center, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Théâtre de la Ville, Maison de la Danse, Tanz Im August, On The Boards, Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop, Bates Dance Festival, Harlem Stage, Montreal, Italy, Germany, Sweden, France, Jordan, Ecuador, Dublin's Project Arts Center, The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum located in Okinawa Japan, The Andy Warhol Museum, The Byham and The Kelly-Strayhorn Theater in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. In addition to performing and developing new works for his company, A.I.M, Abraham recently premiered Untitled America, a 3-part commissioned work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and finished touring The Serpent and The Smoke, a new pas de deux for himself and acclaimed Bessie Award-winning and former New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Wendy Whelan as part of Restless Creature and choreographed for the feature-length film, The Book of Henry with acclaimed director, Colin Trevorrow. Abraham recently premiered a solo work for American Ballet Theater principle, Misty Copeland in October 2019.

Artist and choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with celebrated dancers and companies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Misty Copeland, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, and Teatro alla Scala, among many others. She is a Bessie Award Honoree and has received numerous honors including the prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the ranks of Oscar Peterson, Karen Kain, and Margaret Atwood. She was the first Martha Duffy resident artist at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and is an official ambassador of contemporary dance in Canada. She is the founder of Aszure Barton & Artists, an inter-disciplinary international dance project.

Two time Bessie Award winner, Hope Boykin was an original member of Complexions, danced with Philadanco, and most recently completed her 20th and final year with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Hope has choreographed for numerous dance companies including Philadanco, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Minnesota Dance Theater, Ballet X, Ballet Black of London, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, and has created three works for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, along with commissions ranging from contemporary dance to ballet by Damian Woetzel, the Kennedy Center, and Vail Dance Festival. Hope has garnered much acclaim with her virtual work for Carolina Performing Arts, Guggenheim Works And Process Virtual Commissions initiative, and the National Black Theatre. As a motivator, Hope has been an annual keynote speaker for Lincoln Center Activate, a national education forum, which has included a special Weekend With Hope, a series of talks with friends and dance industry professionals, discussing crucial topics in our dance world. Hope serves as Artistic Advisor for Dance Education for the Kennedy Center and Artistic Lead for the Kennedy Center Dance Lab. She is Artist-In-Residence at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and was advisor for the Howard University Department of Dance for their 2021 spring semester. Hope continues to build on her work, as a writer; blending her words and cadence as the foundation of her developing movement-language. As a director and dance-maker Hope received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for her own COVID-safe residency #BoykinBubble and in the fall of 2021 premiered a full evening of her choreography, An Evening of Hope at 92nd Street Y in New York City to much acclaim. Most recently she released Beauty Size & Color, a short film commenting on what has changed in the first twenty years of the 21st century on AllArts.org. As an educator, creator, mover, and motivator, Hope firmly believes there are no limits.

Thang Dao resides between Los Angeles and New York City where he works as a freelance choreographer, educator, and coach. He is a graduate of Hollins University (MFA' 21) and New York University (MA' 09). Dao received his formal dance education from the Juilliard School and Boston Conservatory (BFA' 01). Dao has choreographed for Ballet Austin, Ballet Austin II, Ailey II, Ballet X, Philadanco, Taiwan National University of the Arts, Jacob's Pillow Contemporary Program, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Kennesaw State University, Troy University, Michigan State University, and the Boston Conservatory along with many universities and performing arts schools nationally and internationally. His works have toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia with acclaimed reviews. His ballet Stepping Ground, choreographed for Ballet Austin for the 1st Biannual New American Dance Talent, received the Audience Choice Award all four nights. Dao was the recipient of the 2008 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship, the 2009 Special Project Grant, and the 2012 Vilcek finalist for Creative Promise in choreography. In 2012, his work Waiting Women was featured at NYCDAF Gala: Destiny Rising at The Joyce Theater in New York. Dao was part of the creative team for the James Brown Project: Get On The Good Foot commissioned and produced by the Apollo Theater in collaboration with Philadanco under the artistic direction of Otis Salid. In 2017, Dao garnered 1st Prize for his choreography at the DAP Festival in Pietrasanta, Italy. Dao was the recipient of the 2022 #launchPAD residency, an initiative of Works & Process at the Guggenheim. Dao is ecstatic for the opportunity to work with the artists of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago under the incredible direction of Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell. Follow Dao on Insta@tawndu. www.thangdaodancecompany.com.

Osnel Delgado danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba from 2003 to 2011 before founding Malpaso Dance Company, where he serves as Artistic Director and choreographer. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth Kvarnström, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando, and George Cespedes, among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan, and Ebony Dance of Cuba. Delgado is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance studies.

Lar Lubovitch is one of America's most versatile and widely seen choreographers. He founded the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company in 1968. Over the course of 53 years, it has gained an international reputation as one of America's top dance companies, produced more than 120 dances and performed before millions across the U.S. and over 40 countries. Many other major companies throughout the world have performed the company's dances, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, and more. Lubovitch has created ice-dancing works for Olympians John Curry, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Brian Orser, JoJo Starbuck, and Paul Wylie, and he has created feature-length ice-dance specials for TV: The Planets for A&E (nominated for an International Emmy Award, a Cable AceAward, and a Grammy Award) and The Sleeping Beauty for PBS and Anglia TV, Great Britain. His theater and film work includes Sondheim/ Lapine's Into the Woods (Tony Award nomination), The Red Shoes (Astaire Award), the Tony Award-winning revival of The King and I (on Broadway and in London's West End), Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame in Berlin, and Robert Altman's movie The Company (American Choreography Award). In 2016, he premiered The Bronze Horseman, based on the Pushkin poem, for the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Russia. In 1987, he conceived Dancing for Life, which took place at Lincoln Center. It was the first response by the dance community to the AIDS crisis, raising over one million dollars. Together with Jay Franke, in 2007 Lubovitch created the Chicago Dancing Festival, in collaboration with the City of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art. It presented 10 seasons entirely free to the public. Recent awards: 2007 named Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune; 2008 named similarly by Chicago Magazine; 2011 designated a Ford Fellow by United States Artists and received the Dance/USA Honors Award; 2012 his dance Crisis Variations awarded the Prix Benois de la Danse for outstanding choreography at the Bolshoi Theatre; 2013 honored for lifetime achievement by the American Dance Guild; 2014 awarded an honorary doctorate by The Juilliard School; 2016 received the Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement and the Dance Magazine Award, named one of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures by the Dance Heritage Coalition and appointed a Distinguished Professor at UC/Irvine. In honor of his company's 50th anniversary, in 2018 he was presented with the Martha Graham Award for lifetime achievement.

Spenser Theberge is a multi-hyphenate performer and creator, working across the fields of choreography, dance, movement direction, and pedagogy. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and a former company member with the Nederlands Dans Theater I & II and The Forsythe Company, as well as a guest artist with Kidd Pivot, the Goteborgs Operans Danskompani, the ARIAS Company, and RGWW. Spenser's creations are multi-disciplinary and genre-defying, continuously exploring identity, authenticity, and spectatorship. His individual work, as well as his work with partner Jermaine Spivey, has been commissioned and presented by LA Dance Project, The Broad Museum, The Philip Glass Days & Nights Festival, The Korzo Theater, Gothenburg Opera Dance Company, Place des Arts, Hollins University, PACT Zollverein, Reed College, and NAVEL. As a movement director and performer, Spenser has worked with artists, brands, and organizations such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna's Savage x Fenty, Ben Platt, Gwen Stefani, LANY, UGG, Rami Malek, Ryan Pfluger, the Tune-yards, and the New York Times Magazine. He has also designed costumes for Andrea Miller, the ARIAS Company, and performing artist Frances Chiaverini, and is the text writer behind Alexander Ekman's award-winning Cacti and Hubbub. Spenser is a former dance faculty member at California Institute of the Arts, as well as guest faculty at The Juilliard School and USC Kaufman School of Dance, and at conservatories, schools, and programs across America, Europe, and Asia. Spenser is a YoungArts award winner, a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and a Princess Grace Award winner.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's mission is to bring artists, art, and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate and change lives through the experience of dance.

For 45 years, Hubbard Street has been one of the most original forces in contemporary dance

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