Hubbard Street Returns to the Museum of Contemporary Art for Season 39 danc(e)volve: New Works Festival

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic direction of Glenn Edgerton, announces today, programming for Season 39 danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, May 10-14, 2017 at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Highlighting the engagement are world premieres by Julia Rhoads, Artistic Director of Lucky Plush Productions, and Robyn Mineko Williams; and the main stage debuts of Berceuse by Penny Saunders and Alice's Klock's Clan(device).

Julia Rhoads, founding Artistic Director of MacArthur Award-winning Lucky Plush Productions, is creating a world premiere for danc(e)volve, her first work for Hubbard Street. She has been called "a choreographer with all the instincts of a born satirist," by the Chicago Sun-Times and "a humorist with a human touch" by Hubbard Street Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton.

In her new work for Hubbard Street, Rhoads will explore the interactions with the dancers that bring out their sense of play, humor, and individuality through movement. Rhoads will also incorporate dialogue, humming, singing, and live instrumentation, as well as integrating sound through collaboration with sound designer, Michael Caskey, and vocal specialist, Bethany Clearfield.

Three-time Princess Grace Award-winner, Robyn Mineko Williams, will also premiere her new work, Cloudline, for the danc(e)volve engagement. Williams has choreographed multiple premieres for Hubbard Street's main company as well as for Grand Rapids Ballet, Visceral Dance Chicago and The Nexus Project, and presented at the Kennedy Center, the American Dance Festival, and The Joyce Theater.

Named one of Dance Magazine's 25 to Watch in 2014, Dance Magazine says "There is a sophistication about Robyn Mineko Williams' works that many choreographers never quite attain. Her inventive movement phrases, compositional clarity and heartfelt emotion are informed by captivating simplicity."

Clan(device), Alice Klock's second creation for danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, is an exploration of the idea that we as people are far greater than we can imagine and that the inescapable trials of life can be overcome. Clan(device) first premiered in November 2016 in Germany by members of Hubbard Street 2 and will be performed this May by members of Hubbard Street's main company.

A duet set to excerpts from the opera Jocelyn (1888) by French composer Benjamin Louis Paul Godard, Penny Saunder's Berceuse sends its two dancers through tightly interconnected partnering, mutual observation, and fluid unison movements. Berceuse made its debut during Hubbard Street's 2011 Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop.

Says Glenn Edgerton: "The four choreographers in the danc(e)volve program were selected because they are incredibly creative and their hearts show through in each piece of choreography they create."

Hubbard Street's Season 39 danc(e)volve engagement is at the Museum of Contemporary Art, located at 220 E Chicago Ave, and the complete performance schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday May 10, 2017 at 7:30pm

• Thursday May 11, 2017 at 7:30pm

• Friday May 12, 2017 at 8pm

• Saturday May 13, 2017 at 3pm & 8pm

• Sunday May 14, 2017 at 3pm

Single tickets for the Season 39 danc(e)volve: New Works Festival are $65 and available now, online at hubbardstreetdance.com/dancevolve. Season 39 two-series subscriptions are also on sale by phone to the Hubbard Street Ticket Office at 312-850-9744. Patrons who purchased single tickets to the Season 39 danc(e)volve: New Works Festival can still upgrade to two-series subscriptions. Discounted rates are available for groups of 10 or more patrons; visit hubbardstreetdance.com/groups or call 312-850-9744 ext. 164.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago also extends special thanks to its 2016-17 Season Sponsors: Athletico, Official Provider of Physical Therapy; and Chicago Athletic Clubs, Official Health Club; and Media Sponsor, Crain's Chicago Business.

About Robyn Mineko Williams

Robyn Mineko Williams began her career at River North Dance Chicago, followed by twelve seasons as a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, during which she performed choreography by renowned artists including Ohad Naharin, Ji?í Kylián, William Forsythe and Johan Inger, and originated roles in new works by Jorma Elo, Sharon Eyal, Twyla Tharp and Lar Lubovitch, among others. She began making her own work in 2001 through Hubbard Street's Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop and has since created multiple premieres for Hubbard Street's main company and HS2. Williams has made work for Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Groundworks Dance Theatre, Thodos Dance Chicago, and Visceral Dance Chicago, presented at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the American Dance Festival, and The Joyce Theater. Named one of Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" for 2014, Williams was one of Northwest Dance Project's 2012 International Choreography Competition, received a 2013 Princess Grace Choreographic Fellowship, and was selected as an emerging choreographer for Springboard Danse Montréal the same year. In 2015 she completed a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Works In Progress Residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and received a Choreography Mentorship Co-Commission Award from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA in support of HS2 + Manual Cinema's Mariko's Magical Mix: A Dance Adventure. In 2016, Williams launched her independent project, Undercover Episodes, and was named among Newcity's Players 50 list of local leaders in the performing arts and Best Choreographer by Chicago Mag.

About Julia Rhoads

Julia Rhoads is the founding artistic director of Lucky Plush Productions, for which she has created more than 25 original works, several of which have toured extensively throughout the U.S., and has received competitive creation, residency, and touring grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Dance Project, and the National Performance Network. Additional choreography credits include Lookingglass Theatre Company's The Great Fire, Walkabout Theater Company's Mama: A Play for Voices, Redmoon Theater's Project Y, and Oasis and Between Three for River North Dance Chicago, among others. Rhoads is the recipient of the 2013 Alpert Award in Dance, a fellowship from the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC), a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Award, the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation's Choreography Award, two Illinois Arts Council choreography fellowships, a Jacob K. Javits fellowship for graduate studies, and a 2014 Fractured Atlas Arts Entrepreneurship Award for spearheading Creative Partners, an innovative nonprofit financial model shared by Lucky Plush Productions, eighth blackbird, and Blair Thomas & Company. Rhoads is a former member of San Francisco Ballet and ensemble member of XSIGHT! Performance Group. She received her BA in History from Northwestern University, her MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and she has taught in the dance and theater programs of several Chicago-area colleges and universities. She is currently a lecturer and dance advisor at the University of Chicago's Department of Theater and Performance Studies.

About Penny Saunders

Penny Saunders graduated from the Harid Conservatory in 1995, then began her professional career with the American Repertory Ballet under the direction of Septime Webre. She went on to join Ballet Arizona and MOMIX, was a founding member of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (then Cedar Lake Ensemble), and joined Hubbard Street's main company in 2004. She was selected as a guest choreographer for Hubbard Street 2 through its International Commissioning Project in 2011, advancing her creative career which now includes works for both of Hubbard Street's ensembles, Neos Dance Theatre, the Nexus Project, Owen/Cox Dance Group, SFDanceworks and Whim W'Him. In 2015 Saunders returned to Hubbard Street's main company, is honored to be choreographer in residence at Grand Rapids Ballet with support from the New York Choreographic Institute's Commissions Initiative, and she is the recipient of a 2016 Choreography Fellowship from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA.

About Alice Klock

Alice Klock began dancing at age 11. She trained at Interlochen Arts Academy from 2003-07, and in Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Dominican University of California's joint BFA program from 2007-09. Klock then joined Hubbard Street 2 in September 2009 and was promoted to the main company in September 2011. Klock creates original works in watercolor and mixed media as a visual artist; as a choreographer, she has contributed to the Nexus Project and Visceral Dance Chicago, in addition to premiering multiple pieces through Hubbard Street's danc(e)volve: New Works Festival and annual Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop. Visit klockonian.tumblr.com to learn more.

About Hubbard Street

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's core purpose is to bring artists, art and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate, transform and change lives through the experience of dance. Celebrating Season 39 in 2016-17, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, Hubbard Street continues to innovate, supporting ascendant creative talent while presenting repertory by internationally recognized living artists. Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms alongside the Lou Conte Dance Studio - now in its fifth decade of providing a wide range of public classes and pre-professional training - while extensive Youth, Education, Community, Adaptive Dance and Family Programs keep the organization deeply connected to its hometown. Visit hubbardstreetdance.com for artist profiles, touring schedules, and much more.

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