HSDC Receives a Joyce Award

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) has been named as a recipient of the 2011 Joyce Award by The Joyce Foundation.  The honor includes a monetary grant, as well as the prestige and recognition that comes with being not only the only dance recipient, but the only arts organization in Illinois to receive the award this year.

The $50,000 award will aid in the upcoming cross-company collaboration with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet.  The first performance of this new partnership will be during HSDC’s Summer Series at the Harris Theater this May with the Chicago premiere of King’s Following the Subtle Current Upstream.  The HSDC/LINES collab will ultimately produce an entirely new work from King, his first to premiere in Chicago in over ten years with the San Fran-based company and Chicago troupe sharing the stage in 2012.

“It’s really fun for me to set something up and have it follow through,” says Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton from HSDC’s West Loop studios.  The idea came about while Edgerton was watching King rehearse his company.  “I was fascinated by what he was getting out of his dancers,” he says.  The differences in the choreographic styles and the type of dancers had him intrigued.  “They are long, ethereal creatures; my dancers are very earthy and grounded.   I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to put these two groups together.”  And King agreed.  The two companies had a short workshop and started the socialization process of getting to know each other.  Eventually a place will be decided for a residency where King and the dancer will work on creating the new piece.

Congratulations to the critically-acclaimed company!  “The recognition is really terrific,” Edgerton says.  “With our Israeli program coming up, the Summer Series with Alonzo, then that snowballs in to next season…it’s exciting.  We have a lot happening.”

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