Hubbard Street dancers spark imagination

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, which is in its 38th year of transcending traditional boundaries of dance, will visit Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 2.

Hubbard Street, one of the only dance companies to operate year-round, performs in Chicago and tours nationally and internationally. The company works under the guidance of Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton.

Hubbard Street has commissioned and presented almost 200 new and acquired dance works of various genres including jazz, modern, ballet and theatrical styles. Since 2000, the company has also championed choreography from within the troupe.

Edgerton joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s artistic leadership team full-time as associate artistic director in 2008. Since 2009, he has guided the company forward as artistic director, building on more than three decades of artistic leadership from both Lou Conte and Jim Vincent, whose extraordinary work has established the company as a leader in dance performance, education and appreciation.

“Lou Conte was our founding artistic director, and he was just phenomenal in his ability to instill creativity in the company and a spirit of dynamics,” Edgerton said. “That was in 1977, so we’re looking toward our 40th anniversary coming up in 2017. It’s been an evolution throughout its 38 years, where it was considered more of a musical, jazz repertory company, to now being a contemporary dance company.”

On Feb. 2, the company will perform four works at Eisenhower Auditorium. The scheduled program includes “Out of Keeping,” a 2015 work choreographed by Hubbard Street dancer Penny Saunders to music by Ólafur Arnalds, Hilary Hahn and Volker Bertelmann; “N.N.N.N.,” choreographed by William Forsythe to music by Thom Willems; an excerpt of “Second to Last,” created by Hubbard Street resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo to music by Arvo Pärt; and “Gnawa,” choreographed by Nacho Duato to music by various composers.

“I’m very happy with the program — I think it’s very special,” Edgerton said. “We’re representing both emerging choreographers and established choreographers.”

According to Hubbard Street dancer Alicia Delgadillo, working with American choreographer Forsythe on “N.N.N.N.” was a turning point for the troupe.

“I don’t think anyone is the same dancer they were before this program,” she said. “It seems like we’ve all elevated.”

“ ‘N.N.N.N.’ is what I call a clockwork type piece with four dancers, where one dancer requires the next dancer’s movement, and they are playing off of one another and connecting in a great way,” Edgerton said. “One movement depends on the next, and they are constantly queuing one another throughout the piece. It’s somewhat of a game throughout the entire work.”

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago shows their mission by bringing up the next generation of choreographers virtually from within the company, but its also looking for choreographers who are coming up from around the country.

“We’ve been pulling together a variation on many pieces throughout the last couple of years to bring to our touring repertory,” Edgerton said. “We’re looking forward to Penn State. Not only do they have an incredible stage there but also a nice dance audience, and that’s always a pleasure to show our work.”

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Edgerton and Saunders, takes place in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.

With Hubbard Street, it’s Edgerton’s hope that the audience will walk away with something to take into their own minds — something emotionally impactful that they will walk away with and think about later.

“Hopefully it will spark their imagination in a way that creates conversation and discussion, and an artistic thought long after the program is over,” he said. “People write me all the time after a program to express their thoughts and how it impacted them; and I think that is our payback for what we do.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Hubbard Street dancers spark imagination."