Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Names Internationally-Celebrated Choreographer Aszure Barton As Resident Artist

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) Artistic Director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell and Executive Director David McDermott announced today that award-winning, critically-acclaimed choreographer Aszure Barton will serve as the company's Resident Artist for the next three years, embarking upon a process-based period of collaboration, creation, and mutual growth.

Barton becomes the third choreographer in HSDC's history to establish a multi-year residency with the company, after Alejandro Cerrudo, Resident Choreographer from 2008-2018 and before that, Twyla Tharp in 1990. The company's "The Tharp Project'' went on to add six of Tharp's works to the repertoire through the 1990s.

The first chance to see Barton's work on the company following the announcement will be company and audience favorite BUSK, presented as part of both programs during the Season 45 Spring Series: Elements at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (220 E. Chicago Ave.), which will run March 23 through April 2. Tickets are now on sale at hubbardstreetdance.com or by calling the MCA Box Office at 312-397-4010.

"Aszure has choreographed on some of the most significant companies in dance. She could go anywhere she wants - so for her to say she wants to be here with us, well, it's a no-brainer!" said Fisher-Harrell. "I'm excited for Aszure to have this space, to feel like she can just dive in and create. And I'm excited for what this means for the organization and for Chicago audiences and beyond."

Canadian-American choreographer Aszure Barton began her career tap dancing at the age of three. While attending Canada's National Ballet School as a teenager, she sought out space and time to begin exploring her own work. These intimate processes with her classmates led to the inception of the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Showcase at NBS, and Aszure has continued to create ever since. Her works, described by the New York Times as "offer[ing] an entire world, full of surprise and humor, emotion and pain, expressed through a dance vocabulary that takes ballet technique and dismantles it to near-invisibility," have been performed on countless international stages, including the Palais Garnier, Mariinsky Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Alicia Alonso Grand Theater, and Lincoln Center.

"Making dances has always been about bringing people together to facilitate deeper connections, and during the last few years of Covid I recognized that trust lives at the center of creation for me. I feel that is present at Hubbard, and the support is mutual," says Aszure Barton. "I'm continually looking for new insight with collaborators that inspire and challenge me, and I've really enjoyed working with the Hubbard artists in the past, so I'm honored that Linda-Denise is interested in collaborating. I advocate for a collaborative-process-centered space, so it's really cool to see those roots expand into this relationship with this community in Chicago! The coming-together is just so exciting."

Aszure Barton made her Hubbard Street debut 20 years ago in 2003 with her piece I, created on and performed by Hubbard Street 2, after winning Hubbard Street's National Choreographic Competition. It was that triumphant moment that encouraged Barton to pursue a career exclusively in dance full-time. She then returned in 2010 for the World Premiere of her work, Untouched. Her latest and most notable collaboration with the company was in 2021 with the performance of her globally-praised piece, BUSK, which was made accessible to audiences everywhere via free limited-time-only online stream in 2022.

Barton is the founder of Aszure Barton & Artists and aims to cultivate a space where conscious creativity meets regeneration. Her work courageously explores the sensitivity and range of humanity in audacious and irreverent ways while simultaneously respecting and dismantling classical and contemporary forms. It is these themes and practices that have propelled Aszure Barton into the field as a ground-breaking, award-winning choreographer and now, Resident Artist at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

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 - bringing top choreographers and works to Chicago and beyond. Hubbard Street's ever-evolving repertory, created by today's leading choreographic voices, makes them a company that dancers aspire to join and performance venues all over the world are eager to host. To date, the main company has performed globally in 19 countries and 44 U.S. states.

At home in Chicago, Hubbard Street performs 20 times a year and delivers renowned education programs in 50 classrooms across 17 Chicagoland schools. HSDC Education utilizes the choreographic process to teach essential problem-solving skills, creativity, and collaboration - expanding our reach beyond traditional concert dance audiences, ensuring that everyone has access to world-class dance and instruction.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago grew out of the Lou Conte Dance Studio in 1977, and Conte served as Artistic Director for 23 years. Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell began her tenure at the company in March 2021. In January 2022, HSDC moved to their new home in Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com for more information.