If you happened to catch Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at its most recent engagement at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance — where the company performed works by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Alejandro Cerrudo and Lucas Crandall – you already know it is in its usual sublime form. In addition, you may have noted that even before the company remounts “The Art of Falling,” its acclaimed collaboration with The Second City, it has extended the engagement, so that it will now run June 9 – 19.
And there is more good news: Hubbard Street was named one of three companies nationwide to benefit from the arrival of the Harris Theater’s first ever Choreographer in Residence project. New York-based dance-maker Brian Brooks has been commissioned by the Harris Theater (by way of the Jay Franke and David Herro Choreographer in Residence Fund through the “Imagine” campaign), as part of a three year-long residency (funded by a total of $600,000 that will underwrite choreographer compensation, commissioning, and production support). He will make works on Hubbard Street, followed by Miami City Ballet and his own Brian Brooks Moving Company.
Now, Hubbard Street, under the artistic direction of Glenn Edgerton, also has announced its complete 2016-2017 season, which will include four programs at the Harris Theater, as follows:
+ Fall Series (Nov. 17-20): Two world premieres – by Brooks and HSDC’s own resident choreographer, Alejandro Cerrudo – will be complemented by a reprise of two powerhouse, erotically charged classics by Jiri Kylian, the Czech-born, Holland-based dance-maker. Kylian’s “Sarabande,” for six men, is set to J. S. Bach’s second partita for solo violin, with electronically manipulated live vocals and body percussion, while “Falling Angels” is for eight women, and set to part of Steve Reich’s phased-percussion composition, “Drumming.”
+ Spring Series (March 16-19): Devoted entirely to the work of Nacho Duato, the internationally admired Spanish choreographer with whom Hubbard Street has had a two-decade relationship, this program will include revivals of two of his masterworks (“Jardi Tancat,” danced by three couples, and set to Catalan music recorded by vocalist María del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer, and “Rassemblement,” for a cast of ten dancers, set to recordings by the late Haitian actress and singer Marie Clotilde “Toto” Bissainthe). It also will feature two Duato pieces new to Hubbard Street’s rep – “Multiplicity. Forms of Emptiness and Silence,” a two-act tribute to composer J. S. Bach; and the complete work, “White Darkness,” described as a requiem for the choreographer’s sister, who died following struggles with drug abuse.
+ Chicago Series (May 12 and 13): This new venture will feature work by Chicagoans Robyn Mineko William (a Princess Grace Award-winner and former Hubbard Street dancer), and Julia Rhoads (founding artistic director of Lucky Plush Productions), with additional works to be announced at a later date. (Note: Subscribers with Thursday and Sunday ticket packages will attend their choice of either the Friday, May 12 or Saturday, May 13 performance, both at 8pm.)
+ Summer Series (June 8–11, 2017): This program will kick off Hubbard Street’s planned yearlong 40th anniversary season celebrations and will reprise favorite works representing all four decades of the company’s history. Founding artistic director Lou Conte’s full-company homage to swing, “The 40s,” a longtime HSDC signature work, will be among the lineup, as will his beloved duet, “Georgia,” set to Willie Nelson’s “Georgia on My Mind.” There also will be pieces by Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, Crystal Pite, Lucas Crandall, Alejandro Cerrudo and former Hubbard Street artistic director Jim Vincent.
Subscriptions to the 2016-2017 season ($90–$306) and on sale now by phone at (312) 850-9744; online sales begin May 1 at hubbardstreetdance.com/subscribe. Single tickets for these four series will be available in late summer 2016.
