Category Archives: Alejandro Cerrudo

Sneak Peek: HSDC’s Little mortal jump

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Last week I sat in on rehearsal at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s (HSDC) West Loop studios.  The well-respected group is prepping for a spring run of shows at the Harris Theater, March 15 – 18. Two of the three pieces they are presenting are audience favorites (and two of my favorites) from last season that pushed the dancers to new limits.  Alonzo King’s Following the Subtle Current Upstream takes classical technique and tilts it off balance, skewing lines and testing the boundaries of center.  Sharon Eyal’s Too Beaucoup challenges detail, sensory and memory capacity while stripping away virtually any sign of individuality.  They are a study in contrast.  It’s the third work on the program that proves to be an enigma.  HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, always a man of mystery, presents the world premiere of Little mortal jump at the top of the show.  He will then dance in the remaining two pieces.

His new work for ten dancers has little bits of his older works Off Screen (2008), Extremely Close (2007) and Lickety Split (2006) and is set to an eclectic score that pieces together a collage of musical ranges from Tom Waits to Max Richter.  “I think the piece has a twist,” Cerrudo said before a run-thru at rehearsal.  “It starts one way and finishes in a completely different world.  I tried to do that as smooth as possible.  To me, the mood of the piece starts very theatrical and finishes…more dance, more intense.”  Although he begins every new work with a fresh perspective, Little mortal jump shows glimpses of his evolution as a choreographer, while also proving he is a master of both extremes – humorous theatricality to intense beauty.  Incorporating interactive set pieces adds an intriguing touch that will surprise all.  A duet with Ana Lopez and Jesse Bechard includes a slow-motion sequence that is a tender, private moment in a fast-paced piece.

It’s an exciting time for Cerrudo.  In late February, it was announced that HSDC’s 35th anniversary season would open with a full-length work by Cerrudo inspired by Marc Chagall’s America Windows at the Art Institute of Chicago.  After this week’s premiere, he has a week off then travels to Milwaukee for final rehearsals of Extremely Close, then to set a new work on Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.  The rest of the summer will be working on the Chagall piece in the studio. He, of course already is planning it in his head.  “I’ll try to make it fun,” he said.  “I know what I want a full-evening to look like or feel like, but it doesn’t mean I can make it work that way.  I’m going to try my best.”  If his past work is any indication, his best will surely delight and enthrall.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at the Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph.  Tickets are $25-$94. Call 312.850.9744 or visit hubbardstreetdance.com

Thursday, March 15 at 7:30 pm, Friday & Saturday, March 16 & 17 at 8 pm and Sunday, March 18 at 3 pm.

 

Hubbard St to open 35th Anniversary Season with World Premiere

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Hubbard St's Alejandro Cerrudo speaking at the Art Institute of Chicago in front of Marc Chagall's "America Windows".

Chicago’s own Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) hits the 35-year mark next fall.  At a press conference this morning at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC), HSDC Executive Director Jason Palmquist, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, along with AIC’s Associate Director of Performance Programs Mary Sue Glosser told a small gaggle of press about the exciting collaboration that will open the anniversary season next fall.  HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, a rising international choreographic star, will create the company’s first evening-length work on a central theme inspired by Marc Chagall‘s permanent exhibit, America Windows.  Glosser talking about the seven-year partnership with HSDC says, “seeing works of art come to life in their choreography…is a joy beyond measure”.

Chagall’s stained glass masterpiece imbeds themes of music, painting, literature, architecture, theater and dance in a royal and cerulean blue swirl celebrating freedom of expression.  The work made to commemorate the Bicentennial was given to the City of Chicago in 1977, the same year Lou Conte started HSDC, in honor of the memory Mayor Richard J. Daley.  In turn, this new work will be given to the City of Chicago in honor of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his commitment to making Chicago “a worldwide destination for dance”.  Commissioner for the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Michelle Boone accepted the honor on the Mayor’s behalf joking that everyone knows he’s “crazy about dance”.  Edgerton took the mic telling us how all the connections came together to make this “a monumental season”.

Cerrudo’s new piece, set to music by Philip Glass, will premiere during the company’s fall series at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, October 18 – 21, 2012.  The shy Spaniard took the opportunity say how grateful he was for the honor of creating this new work “in honor of the city that has become my home” and declared it a big challenge.  Taking inspiration from Chagall, he will take the “magic, colors and emotions” from the windows to create a non-literal interpretation focusing on how all the pieces and people (dancers) come together.  He suggested a working title of “A Thousand Pieces” for the full-company piece.

The rest of the 35th Anniversary season will be announced later. Subscription tickets go on sale in May.

Thoughts on HSDC’s danc(e)volve – for real!

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Johnny McMillan in "Never was" by Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Over the weekend on the MCA Stage, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) presented nine new works created by HSDC dancers/choreographers and the winners of HSDC’s 2010 National Choreographic Competition. danc(e)volve – preview here – proved to be an interesting and intimate look into what makes HSDC tick: its artists.  Tickets for the four shows were sold out early, but there are tickets still available for the upcoming shows this weekend except for Saturday, which is already sold out.  (Hint: get your tickets now!)

Unlike most HSDC programs, this new works festival serves up multiple shorter pieces averaging 15-minutes a pop.  It’s like going to your favorite restaurant for a five-course chef tasting.  You aren’t sure what you’re going to get, but you’re confident you’re going to like it.  Unlike a big, gluttonous meal like an Ohad Naharin work, with a number of smaller pieces, you get varying tastes:  an amuse bouche, a palette cleanser, complex notes, sweet and light and the one course that wow’s you.  If you don’t like one course, something completely different is coming next.  (Hmm…note to self:  remember to eat before the show!)

Each work in danc(e)volve looked remarkably like the dancers that choreographed them, which is testament to their honesty as an artist.  The natural way they move embedding itself into their art.  Many took the opportunity to play with traditional conventions, pushing the definition of what the audience is used to seeing.  Lighting effects – shout out to lighting designer Matt Miller! – (downstage footlights creating shadows on the back wall), entrances and exits (utilizing the side door in the audience), even starting/ending points (music beginning in darkness or the dance ending in darkness, while the music still plays).  Some were greeted with tentative applause (is it over?), others with a murmur of surprised approval.

Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s duet Never was, at seven minutes one of the shortest pieces, served as the main course of each program.    Placed in the middle of Programs A and B, his newest work takes trademark moves (a quick sauté in second, a perky parallel pop up like a pencil, a partnered promenade slide in plié) and distills them into their purest essence.  You see moments of Cerrudo’s previous works woven in and watch as he hones his craft before your eyes.  Straight up props to Emile Leriche and Johnny McMillan (two of the younger dancers in HS2) for their strong showing in this dense, intense piece.

Other pieces of note:  Robyn Mineko Williams’ Recall,  a techno-infused meditation on memory with some breaking tossed in for fun; Penny Saunder’s humorous and slightly creepy Vaudevillian  Bonobo; and Terry Marling’s thrice, which completely transformed from its previous incarnation, twice (once) that premiered last December.   Many of the works used the dancers from HS2.  It was nice to see the younger dancers perform at home (they tour a LOT) and in challenging works made by their HSDC mentors.

Hubbard Street presents danc(e)volve, Jan 26 – 29

MCA Stage, 220 E Chicago, 312.397.4010

Thoughts on HSDC danc(e)volve – Program A…ish

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If I’m covering a performance or intending to post a review, I take notes throughout the show of impressions or the name of a dancer or whatever catches my eye. Thankfully, a word or drawing usually sparks my memory, because the notes – since they’re written in the dark, while I’m eyeballing the stage – are a hot mess.

For example, this image is of the notes I took last night at Hubbard St‘s danc(e)volve performance for Alejandro Cerrudo’s Never was.  I’ll decipher:  the number three indicates the order in which it appeared in the program; AC, the choreographers initials; the word duet, self-explanatory; drawings (and I use the term loosely) of lighting design; and then…nothing.  I was so transfixed on what was happening on-stage that I didn’t/wouldn’t/couldn’t write anything down.  After bows, I wrote “wow”.

Needless to say, I need a little more time to sort my thoughts (hint: I liked it!), so I’m going to chill at my friend Josh’s in Racine by the fire, with a glass of wine, watching it snow, and ponder.

More thoughts coming soon…

Hubbard Street Evolving

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HS2 dancers Johnny McMIllan & Nicholas Korkos in Clébio Oliveira's "The Fantastic Escape of the Little Buffalo". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

The West Loop studios housing Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) were bustling last week when I stopped by in preparation for dance(e)volve, a two-program, two-weekend set of performances showcasing in-house choreography opening tonight on the MCA Stage.  Bad news up front:   this weekend’s show are already SOLD OUT!  Tickets are still available, but going at lightening speed, for next week’s run (Jan 26 – 29).

As a natural evolutionary step from HSDC’s Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop that is held every summer, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton picked certain pieces from last year to be expanded, reworked and presented in the MCA’s intimate theater.  Along with the HSDC and HS2 choreographers, two National Choreographic Competition winners from 2011 will show new works.  HSDC company member Penny Saunders takes inspiration from Vaudeville traveling shows, while Clébio Oliveira ponders the human/animal connection.  New dances from Jonathan Fredrickson, Alice Klock, Johnny McMillan, Robyn Mineko Williams, Taryn Kaschock Russell, Terence Marling as well as a duet by HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo also appear on the programs.

Williams’ and McMillan’s works are featured on Program A (Jan 19,20 & 28,29).  I sat in on rehearsals for these very different pieces.  Williams showed her choreographic chops by teaming up with Marling for last year’s hit Harold and the Purple Crayon.  Her new work, Recall stems off the concept of memory.  “I’m fascinated by how different memories work and from one scene people have a similar memory, but a different perspective.”  Set to a driving beat by The Chromatics and an original score by Chris Menth (parts are reminiscent of Canadian band Men Without Hats classic song Safety Dance), the 15-minute piece combines walking in a maze-like patterns and shifts in tempo where some dancers move in slow motion.  It reminded me of the inner workings of a clock, only with Williams’ smooth dance style and personality showing through.  “Glenn wanted me to try something different from Inside/Out,” she says.  “I walked into the studio with no ideas, no music…nothing.  I worked like that for three days.  It’s amazing what starts to develop in such a short time.  With these dancers, they bring so much to the table that it’s much easier for the choreographer.”  Williams’ piece has a techno rewind vibe, but McMillan’s new work Path and Observations takes a more earthy, grounded path.  With a soundscape of Sami folkloric music (Pekka Lehti, Mari Boine), he incorporates autumnal leaves and emotional movement with moments of stillness.  “The first 40 seconds of the piece are two people on stage in stillness,” McMillan (who just turned 20 on Tuesday) tell me.  “It allows the audience to take in everything, to sit there and think, maybe go off in their own thoughts before they have to watch the dancing.”  Promoted from apprentice to HS2 this season, he’s always been interested in choreography and created his first dance at age 16.  “It was a ballet piece with 21 girls.  It wasn’t very good.  There were a lot of bourrés.”  He’s excited to see his new work on the stage this week and is a perfect example of the creative evolution from Inside/Out to danc(e)volve.

Hubbard Street presents danc(e)volve: Jan 19-22 & 26-29

MCA Stage, 220 E. Chicago, 312.397.4010, Tickets are $35

 

 

Thoughts on HSDC 2011 Fall Series

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Dancers Jesse Bechard & Penny Saunders in "Arcangelo". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Last night was the big night!  Hubbard Street Dance Chicago‘s (HSDC) season opener at the Harris Theater with the world premiere of SCARLATTI by Twyla Tharp.  A packed house (they even had to open up the balcony) full of Chicago dance enthusiasts, including our favorite fan-in-chief Mayor Emanuel and his family, was virtually vibrating with anticipation for a great show.  As usual, HSDC did not disappoint.

Tharp’s SCARLATTI, set to the music of Domenico Scarlatti, opened the show.  Extremely musical; lightening fast, vivid footwork; carefree, fun attitude and work-your-tail-to-the-bone difficult.  In other words, quintessential Tharp.  The dancers made it look easy.  It isn’t.  Not by a long shot.  To say it is simply about the music and the dancing (although it is) is misleading.  There is nothing simple about it.  Using her evil genius mind and savant-like musical knowledge, Tharp creates a dizzying whirlwind of dancers entering and exiting the stage in a nanosecond.  Part of the dizzying effect was due to the costumes, designed by Norma Kamali.  White, black, neon yellow, stripes, leopard spot, headbands, arm bands…too much.  Quite frankly, the costumes were distracting.  The thirty-minute piece was non-stop, balls-to-the-walls dance finishing with a cute wave from new company member David Schultz as if to say, “hi, I’m here!”  Standing ovation.  The audience ate it up and Tharp postponed her bow to hug each of the dancers.

Nacho Duato’s Arcangelo, the next work on the program, is one of my favorite pieces in HSDC’s rep.  A reflection on heaven and hell danced by four couples is set to the music of Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti, who was the father of Tharp’s composer.  HSDC brought the work into it’s rep last fall and is the only US company to perform it.  (You can read my interview with Duato from last fall here.)  It is gorgeous and the dancers performed it seamlessly.  One audience member stood up to applaud at the curtain before everyone else.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  Too cool.

Dancers Kellie Epperheimer & Kevin Shannon in "Walking Mad". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Walking Mad by Swedish choreographer Johan Inger closed the show.  Quite a few people had been talking about this piece, trying to convince me I had seen it before.  I hadn’t.  This is something you have to see to believe and you won’t soon forget it.  (Note to Alejandro: party hats, wall, Bolero…now I know!)  An ingenious mix of silliness, heartbreak, passion, despondency, acrobatics, strength and talent, set to the driving force of Ravel’s Bolero.  Originally created ten years ago for the Nederlands Dans Theater, the work utilizes a wall set piece that has the dancers moving through four doorways, around, over and on the wall which also lowers to the floor, raises and folds to create a shadowy corner.  I loved it.

Once again, to name stand outs would be to list every single performer.  New company members Schultz and Garrett Anderson (Alice Klock was not in this cast, but I’m hoping to see her on Sunday) fit in like they’ve been here forever and are definitely where they belong.  The show runs through Sunday and it is a must see.  HSDC just gets better and better.

Moving Up

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Dancers David Schultz & Alice Klock in "I Can See Myself in Your Pupil". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

For two of the three new dancers added to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago‘s (HSDC) roster this season, it was a new road traveled.  Alice Klock and David Schultz – 23 and 24 respectively – are the first two dancers to move up the HSDC chain from summer intensive students to members of HS2 to being promoted to the main company.  All in two years.

Both dancers hail from Michigan, but the similarities in dance beginnings end there.  Schultz stated dancing at five taking tap (he wanted to be Donald O’Connor), then began taking ballet classes with his older brother Nick.  Once hooked, he took numerous summer workshops that eventually led to an apprenticeship (while still in high school) and then a full-time position with the Grand Rapids Ballet, where he danced for over four years.  Klock didn’t start dancing until age 11 with ballet classes.  She quickly took to the form and three years later attended a summer program at San Francisco Ballet, where she decided she wanted to be a professional dancer.  She went to Interlochen Center for the Arts for high school and after two years at Dominican University, figured it was time to start her professional career.

Here’s where there stories come together.  Both attended the HSDC summer intensive in 2009 and were asked to join the second company HS2.  Landing here happen almost by accident, but now they couldn’t be happier.  “I’d known a little bit about the company, but once I got here, I realized how much I really loved the whole philosophy and the rep,” says Klock.  Schultz agrees.  “Just learning the rep I thought ‘this is it’!  This is what I want to do.”  Their success ties into the larger HSDC mission of nurturing the next generation of artists.  “David and Alice are great examples to a bigger mission of mine, which is to mentor young dancers and prepare them for a profession in dance rather or not they continue with Hubbard Street or not,” says Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton.  “They’ve matured so quickly in all ways, both in their dancing and also in their understanding of how to approach their work creatively and practically.  I feel we have been able to tap into their talents and start to challenge them toward their potential.”  That potential will be challenged this season with having to learn the previous repertoire that includes masters like Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato and Jirí Kylián, as well as new company works by a range of choreographers from Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo to the legendary Twyla Tharp (her world premiere hits the stage this Thursday, Oct 13th).

Alice Klock & David Schultz in "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

No one is more proud of these two dancers than HS2 Director Taryn Kaschock Russell, “I’m so proud of them!”  After thriving under her guidance in the second company, Klock attributes much of their success to her.  “Taryn is amazing,” she says before class last Tuesday morning.  “She’s such a caring and passionate leader.  Taryn really looks at each dancer in the second company and finds what exactly it is that will take them to the next step.  Because of that, we progressed really quickly.”  With this close bond, Kaschock Russell was the perfect person to ask what it is about these two that impressed her.  On Schultz:  “He is a never-ending ball of energy and curiosity.  He is willing, always.  He has grown exponentially over the course of two years and added texture and versatility to his already dynamic stage presence.  He soaked up every bit of information that he could get his hands on from me and all of the choreographers and colleagues he worked with.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s also a handful – in a wonderful way.  You have to keep your eye on that one.”  On Klock:  “Alice has an intelligence that often stops me in my tracks.  When I first began working with her, I was taken by her physical beauty and long lines.  When she attended the summer program, she was very timid and a bit like a young fawn on those beautiful legs of hers.  During her two years with HS2, she went from that understated shy presence, unsure of her place in the room, to eating up the stage with her every movement.  She commands attention, her stance is strong and her gaze unyielding. ”

Come see Klock, Schultz, along with new HSDC company member Garrett Anderson this week (Oct 13 – 16) at the Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph)as Hubbard Street presents their Fall Series.  On the program, a world premiere SCARLATTI by Twyla Tharp, Nacho Duato’s Archangelo and Walking Mad by Johan Inger.  Tickets can be purchased by calling 312.850.9744, 312.334.7777 or by visiting the Harris Theater box office.

CDF11 Muses

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Hubbard St dancers Ana Lopez & Benjamin Wardell in Cerrudo's "Maltidos". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Dance writer/critic/historian Lucia Mauro opened Chicago Dancing Festival‘s (CDF) Muses program (Friday, Aug 26 on the MCA Stage) by distinguishing the difference in meanings of the term muse.  In ancient Greek mythology, the work referred to “beings who imparted knowledge.  They were empowered beings, the sources of greatness”.  But today, we refer to a muse as someone who inspires artistic creation.  After giving a brief list of famous choreographic partnerships (Balanchine and Farrell, Tharp and Baryshnikov, etc.) Mauro set the stage for the discussion to follow with Lar Lubovitch, Alejandro Cerrudo, Janet Eilber and Bettie de Jong that dealt with the artist/choreographer relationship.  Is it “control or collaboration”?  And how has that relationship been defined historically and is it being redefined now?

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago‘s (HSDC) resident choreogher Alejandro Cerrudo subscribes to the “two brains think better than one” theory and tends to use a collaborative approach with his dancers.  After praising the HSDC dancers many talents, he says, “anything the dancers give me is valid” and states simply, “I became a choreographer to become a better dancer.”  HSDC dancers Ana Lopez and Benjamin Wardell (frequent muses for Cerrudo) danced the final duet that was created on them from Cerrudo’s 2010 work Deep Down Dos.  Wardell is leaving HSDC to pursue independent projects.  I’m really going to miss these two artists dancing together.  They seem to have a kinetic ESP that drives their duets.

Janet Eilber, Artistic Director of the Martha Graham Dance Company told stories about working with the iconic choreographer in the 70s.  Eilber took over many of Graham’s roles once she was retired from dancing and said the best advice she ever gave her was to always create an internal monologue.  “You have to talk to yourself the whole time,” Graham advised her. Eilber also talked of how Graham had changed after a leave of absence from the company (depression and an extended hospital stay).  Once back, the way she choreographed changed to “visually instead of viscerally”.  Clips were shown of Eilber dancing in Graham classics Frontier and Clytemnestra.

Bettie de Jong, Rehearsal Director for Paul Taylor Dance Company brought her considerable personality and humor to stories of working with Mr. Taylor.”Unlike Martha, he doesn’t like to talk about the dances he’s making…maybe two words”, she says.  “His dances had an animal instinct, a dark side, a musical side, a funny side.”  Clips of her dancing with Taylor were shown including Esplanade and Big Bertha.

CDF co-founder Lar Lubovitch came last and promptly rearranged the two chairs on stage into a more pleasing configuration (he admitted it had been bothering him the entire program).  Once settled, he explained that his approach to choreographing is to tell the story of the music.  The dancers need to embody the music.   “My relationship with my dancers is based on who they present themselves to be,” he says adding, “there has to be a bond of trust in the room.  We trust and therefore can be free and therefore can create.”  An excerpt from HISTOIRE DE SOLDAT, Three Dances:  Tango, Waltz, Ragtime (2011) with three of his dancers followed telling a story with dark humor of a soldier, a princess and the devil.  Mauro opened the floor up to questions from the audience before wrapping up a lovely discussion on dance, history and the choreographic process.

CDF Opening Gala

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Joffrey Ballet's Victoria Jaiani & Temur Suluashvili in White Swan pas. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

Last night was the opening night gala kicking off the fifth year of the Chicago Dancing Festival (CDF). A short 5-piece program on the MCA Stage was followed by cocktails, a buffet with three ballroom dance couples interspersed upstairs at Puck’s Restaurant and outside on the terrace.  The $250-a-head evening was co-chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who stayed to mingle after the show along with his wife and daughter.  A few short speeches preceded the performance. MCA Director of Performance Programs Peter Taub opened the fest saying, “We are here to celebrate the best of dance from across the country”.  CDF co-founder Jay Franke gave some impressive stats including that in the past five years the festival has presented over 35 companies and over 400 dancers and proudly announced that this year CDF sold out approximately 10,000 seats for this week’s performances.  Franke turned over the mic to Mayor Emanuel, who celebrated his 100th day in office by attending the gala.  The Mayor, a former dancer and huge fan, declared that he wants to double the size of the fest and make sure Chicago is the dance destination for the entire country. He added there are 19 companies performing this week to an estimated 19,000 audience members.  Co-founder Lar Lubovitch said, “One cannot describe dance in words, no matter how eloquent,” but then went on to read the most eloquent essay (written by him) on duets, five of which we were about to see.

HSDC's Penny Saunders & Alejandro Cerrudo in Following the Subtle Current Upstream. Photo by Cheryl Mann.

The program of duets featured choreography from 1895 to present and while they represented divergent styles, there was a through-line of choreographic evolution.  A pristine classical white ballet to a fluid neoclassical ballet with a contemporary twist.  An emotive classic modern offering to a postmodern minimal feat.  Then an avant garde performance art work that evoked musical and choreographic themes from the first duet.  A mini-history of dance in 60 minutes or less…sort of.  Joffrey Ballet‘s husband and wife team, Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili began with Lev Ivanov’s traditional White Swan pas (1895) from Swan Lake.  On a small, bare stage it is difficult to bring the audience into the magical place that is needed for the dance, but what it lacked in mood and setting was made up for by technique.  Jaiani’s extraordinary extensions and limberness were on full display.  (I’m fairly certain her back is made of a flexible pipe cleaner.)  Just as they disappeared into the wings, Hubbard Street‘s (HSDC) Penny Saunders and Alejandro Cerrudo oozed onto the stage in an excerpt from Alonzo King’s Following the Subtle Current Upstream (2000).  While similar to the previous pas in technique, flexibility and master partnering (and similar promenades in penché), this duet was the opposite in feel.  Fluid, continuous and rich.

Martha Graham's Xiaochuan Xie & Tadej Brdnik in "Snow on the Mesa". Photo by Cheryl Mann.

An excerpt from *Robert Wilson‘s Snow on the Mesa (1995) brought a display of control and drama with Martha Graham Dance Company dancers Xiaochuan Xie and Tadej Brdnik’s gorgeous interpretation.  Strong, yet delicate with minimal, but heartbreaking gestures, I found myself holding my breath through the piece.  The all white costuming and loving touches again reminded me of the first duet.  Brian Brooks Moving Company changed things up with a male duet titled MOTOR (2010).  Clad only in black briefs, Brooks and David Scarantino embarked on a thigh-killing, synchronized chugging spree.  Set to a driving beat with ominous overtones, MOTOR had the men hopping, jumping and chugging, foward, backward, in changing formations around the stage.  It was an exercise in stamina and focus.  There were more than a few moments, however, that took me back to the swan theme.  Precise chugs in attitude devánt (four cignets) and chugs in fondue arabesque (white swan corps).  A stripped down off-kilter Swan Lake.

The final piece Compression Piece (Swan Lake) was a commission by Walter Dundervill , created specifically for CDF this year.  If the previous piece was off-kilter, this was Swan Lake on crack!  Dundervill (who Lubovitch said could be ” a lunatic”), along with partner Jennifer Kjos, creates a white landscape of distorted beauty in his choreography (warped fouetté turns and bourré sequences), sets (a fabric installation that serves as back drop and eventually part of the choreography) and costumes (interchangeable pieces – they changed on and off stage – layered from baroque to bridal).  The soundscape featured swan riffs from Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns, but funked it up with Diana Ross and Sonic Youth.  This world premiere proved that the black swan has nothing on the white swan when it comes to crazy (in a good way).

Maybe I have Swan Lake on the brain (a strain of avian flu?), but I caught a definite thread of similarity in the pieces.  As if all of the works were distilled from choreography from 120 years ago and ended up being all of these unique moments on stage…and maybe they were.  Example:  Look at the photos on this page.  From very different styles and eras, yet all are an interpretation of a standard supported arabesque.  Technical issues prevented Faye Driscoll from performing on the program as scheduled, but I’m looking forward to seeing it later in the week at the MCA Moves program to see how it would’ve fit into this program.  As it was presented last evening, it was a testament to the brilliant artistic direction of Lubovitch and Franke.

*This has been updated.   I originally had the piece choreographed by Martha Graham.  Oops!

HSDC Announces 2011-2012 Season

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HSDC dancer Jessica Tong in Sharon Eyals "Too Beaucoup". Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) announced its 2011-2012 season today. Some Twyla, some Nacho, some Forsythe, some old, some new, a little Harold, LINES and a lot of Cerrudo. On paper, it already looks amazing. On stage, it is not to be missed. Under the direction of Glenn Edgerton, HSDC has continued to show an international audience why they are one of the best. Flawless technicians, intuitive artists, open and honest performers and consummate professionals.

Next season opens with the company at the Harris Theater in October. Nacho Duato’s gorgeous Arcangelo (if you were lucky, you saw it last fall), Johan Inger’s Walking Mad and a world premiere from Twyla Tharp (working with the company again after a 15 year absence) launches the new season. HSDC switches it up for the Winter Series in January, by performing a slew of new works on the MCA Stage and presenting danc(e)volve: New Works Festival. Edgerton will curate the show featuring pieces picked from the company’s Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop, two winners from the annual National Choreographic Competition and HS2 will perform a world premiere from HSDC Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo.

Springtime brings HSDC back to the Harris for a power-packed program bringing back Sharon Eyal’s techo-intense Too Beaucoup (a huge hit from this year’s Spring Series), Alonzo King’s Following the Subtle Current Upstream (which audiences will see in the upcoming May Summer Series) and another world premiere by Cerrudo, his 10th in four years as Resident Choreographer (keep them coming please!).

In December, HS2 bings back the delightful children’s program Harold and the Purple Crayon: A Dance Adventure. Choreographed by HSDC dancer Robyn Mineko Williams and HSDC Artistic Associate Terrance Marling, Harold wowed the sold-out crowds at its premiere, enthralling parents and kids alike. (Case in point: I’m not sure who enjoyed it more – me or my 6-year-old goddaughter!) Rounding out the season, the company revisits Cerrudo’s Maltidos and Ohad Naharin’s THREE TO MAX (which just had its premiere in March) and presents the much-anticipated company premiere of William Forsythe’s Quintett. Of course, this is just the Chicago concert series. The company is always busy touring, cultivating the collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (now in its 9th year) and the Art Institute of Chicago and doing community outreach through the Chicago Public Schools.

Merde to HSDC for what will undoubtedly be another outstanding season of dance!