Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Announces 2019-20 Season Programming

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton proudly announce a remarkable 2019-20 season featuring a world premiere by Kyle Abraham, a world premiere by Robyn Mineko Williams, audience favorite Decadance/Chicago by Ohad Naharin, and innovative works from Hubbard Street's repertoire by Crystal Pite, Rena Butler, and Peter Chu.

"We are proud to present a varied group of unique choreographers to our dancers and audiences for our 42nd season. To have such in-depth work that progresses the art form of dance to new heights is a hallmark of Hubbard Street," said Artistic Director, Glenn Edgerton.

The Fall Series, November 7, 9 and 10 at the Harris Theater kicks off Season 42 with an imaginative new work by Kyle Abraham, Artistic Director of Abraham.In.Motion (A.I.M.). The award-winning New York based choreographer, called "one of the hottest names in dance" by the Dallas News, brings this new creation to Chicago next fall. The company will spend three weeks in September at Dancer's Workshop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for an Artistic Residency with Abraham before the premiere in Chicago. Also included in the Fall Series is the return of Grace Engine, Crystal Pite's "highly cinematic full company work" (Chicago Sun-Times), and a world premiere by Hubbard Street Choreographic Fellow and Chicago native Rena Butler, based on her 2018 piece III. Third hailed as "heady, sexy, funny, brilliantly conceived and executed," by Splash Magazine.

In conjunction with the residency in Wyoming, Robyn Mineko Williams will be creating Undercover Episodes, Williams' site-specific dance performances, with Dancer's Workshop to be performed in various locations in Jackson Hole throughout September.

Decadance/Chicago, choreographed by world-renowned Israeli choreographer and former Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company Ohad Naharin, returns for the Season 42 Spring Series, March 12, 14 and 15 at the Harris Theater. Called "spectacularly immersive" by the Chicago Tribune, and "a journey that you want to experience over and over" by the New York Times, the evening-length work, curated specifically for Hubbard Street, features excerpts from Naharin's most popular pieces including Sadeh21, Naharin's Virus, and the iconic Minus 16.

Season 42 concludes with the Summer Series, May 14, 16 and 17 at the Harris Theater with a world premiere by Robyn Mineko Williams highlighting the company dancers as individuals, bringing out their character and personality in this full company piece. The Summer Series also features an excerpt from Peter Chu's innovative site specific work, Space, In Perspective, choreographed on Hubbard Street in 2017, that will be re-created for the traditional proscenium stage, and The Windless Hold, created for Hubbard Street in 2019 by Malpaso Dance Company's Artistic Director Osnel Delgado.

Tickets to the three engagements at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park located at 205 East Randolph Street, are now on sale as a Season 42 subscription; single tickets will go on sale following the Season 41 Summer Series, June 6, 7 and 9, 2019.

2019-20 season subscriptions are $90-$264 and can be purchased at the Hubbard Street Ticket Office, by phone at 312-635-3799 and online at hubbardstreetdance.com/subscribe. Thursday performances begin at 7:30pm, Saturday performances begin at 8pm, and Sunday matinée performances begin at 3pm. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's 2019-20 extensive domestic and international touring engagements, special projects, residencies, and additional collaborations will be announced at later dates. Programming is subject to change.

The Dancer's Workshop is a commissioning sponsor for Kyle Abraham's world premiere work for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The Fall Series is generously supported by Conagra Brands Foundation and Elizabeth Ynetma. The Summer Series is generously supported by Pamela Crutchfield.

Athletico and Chicago Athletic Clubs are 2019-20 Season Partners. Theater rental and services have been generously underwritten through the support of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance.

About the Choreographers

Kyle Abraham is a 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award recipient, 2015 City Center Choreographer in residence, and is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow. Previous awards include being named a 2012 USA Ford Fellow, a Creative Capital grantee, and receiving a 2012 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. In 2010, Abraham received a prestigious Bessie Award for Outstanding Performance in Dance for his work in The Radio Show and a Princess Grace Award for Choreography in 2010. The previous year, he was selected as one of Dance Magazine's 25 To Watch for 2009. In 2011, OUT Magazine labeled Abraham as the "best and brightest creative talent to emerge in New York City in the age of Obama".

Rena Butler hails from Chicago. She has danced in companies such as Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, David Dorfman Dance, Manuel Vignoulle/M-Motions, The Kevin Wynn Collection, and Pasos Con Sabor Salsa Dance Company. She has also starred in Director Yara Travieso's live musical film 'La Medea', and has worked with visual artists Carrie Mae Weems and Nick Cave. She has been featured in Dance Magazine's 'On the Rise', as well as The Dance Enthusiast, Refinery29.com, Chicago Magazine, The Artists Cove, and Jordan Matter's 'Dancers Among Us'. Butler began her studies at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, studied overseas at Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan, and received her BFA from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. She has acted as repetiteur for Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. Butler's choreographic work has been presented at The Ailey School/Fordham, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, The New Orleans Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Grammy award-winning jazz composer Terrence Blanchard, Taipei National University of the Arts, The Joffrey Ballet School in New York, the Young Choreographer's Festival in NYC, CHTV Stories television series in Switzerland, The Dance Division at Loyola University in Chicago, and more. Butler currently serves on The Consortium for Chicago Dancemakers Forum, a panel member for Black Girls Dance, and was named Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Choreographic Fellow in March 2018.

Peter Chu began training as a competitive gymnast before nurturing his artistry at Dussich Dance Studio on Florida's Merritt Island. Chu pushed further into his study of technique while making his first forays into choreography under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy at the Juilliard School in Manhattan, where he was awarded the Hector Zaraspe Prize for Choreography upon completion of his BFA. He has performed and toured internationally with Edgar Zendejas' ezdanza, Crystal Pite's Kidd Pivot, and BJM Danse, formerly Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; his commercial work includes A New Day in Las Vegas, starring Celine Dion, and the lead role in singer Christina Perri's music video for "Jar of Hearts." In 2008, Chu formed the Las Vegas project-based company, chuthis., and recently presented his works Face Herand Smile Masking at Festival International de DansEncore, through a residency partnership with the West Las Vegas Library Theatre. Recipient of the prestigious 2010 Capezio A.C.E. Award for Choreography, his choreographic credits include two seasons of So You Think You Can Dance on Fox TV and the ARTV series Meneuse de Claques in Québec; original works for New Dialect, Orlando Ballet Theatre, Houston Met Dance Company, Nederlands Dans Theater's Summer Intensive, the Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival and others; and Naomi Stikeman's Çaturn, consulted by Robert Lepage. Through chuthis. he has launched an annual Movement Intensive for technical and artistic development, also implementing chuthis. moves: customized workshops spanning two or three days. Chu has guest-taught and served as faculty for numerous programs and organizations throughout Canada and the U.S. including BODYTRAFFIC, Harvard University, Western Michigan University, the Movement Invention Project, the Dance Teacher Summit, and Springboard Danse Montréal. Visit chuthis.net to learn more.

Osnel Delgado danced with Danza Contemporanea de Cuba from 2003 to 2011 before founding Malpaso Dance Company, where he serves as Artistic Director and choreographer. He has worked with choreographers Mats Ek, Rafael Bonachela, Kenneth Kvarnström, Ja Linkens, Itzik Galili, Samir Akika, Pedro Ruiz, Isidro Rolando, and George Cespedes, among others. Delgado has created works for DCC, Rakatan, and Ebony Dance of Cuba. Delgado is a 2003 graduate of the National Dance School of Havana, where he is also a professor of dance studies.

Ohad Naharin was born in Israel and was raised in an artistic environment - his mother taught dance and composition, and his father was a doctor of Psychology and an actor. Naharin began his training as a dancer with Batsheva Dance Company and continued his studies at Julliard. He danced for one season in the Martha Graham Company and with Maurice Bejart. Between 1980 and 1990 Naharin was active in the New York dance scene and worked with various companies. Jirí Kylián of the Nederlands Dance Theater (NDT) saw Naharin's work, which began a long partnership between the two and NDT. In 1990 Naharin became Artistic Director of Batsheva Dance Company and created KYR, a full-length work commissioned by the Israel Festival, Jerusalem, for which he composed the music with Israeli rock group The Tractor's Revenge. KYR was a first landmark in the succession of pieces which gave birth to the "new" Batsheva - bold, sweeping, and physically sensual. Naharin's work is also in the repertoire of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Cullberg Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Frankfurt Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Le Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, Compania Nacional de Danzade Madrid, and Opèra National de Paris.

Crystal Pite is a former member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC) in Vancouver, and William Forsythe's Ballett Frankfurt. Pite's professional choreographic debut was in 1990, at Ballet BC; since then, she has created more than 40 works for companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater 1, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, the National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (Resident Choreographer, 2001-04), Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, and Louise Lecavalier / Fou Glorieux. She has also collaborated with Electric Company Theatre and Robert Lepage. Pite is an associate choreographer at Nederlands Dans Theater, associate dance artist at Canada's National Arts Centre, and associate artist at Sadler's Wells in London. In 2002, she formed her own company in Vancouver, Kidd Pivot, which tours nationally and internationally, performing works such as Dark Matters and Lost Action. Its residency at the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt (2010-12) provided Kidd Pivot with opportunities to create and tour The You Show and The Tempest Replica. Currently touring is the Kidd Pivot / Electric Company Theatre production of Betroffenheit, co-created by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young.

Robyn Mineko Williams danced for River North Dance Chicago and was a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for twelve seasons. She began making her own work via Hubbard Street's Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop and has since created multiple premieres for Hubbard Street including The Art of Falling with Second City and two full length works for children, Harold and the Purple Crayon and Mariko's Magical Mix. She's been commissioned by Pacific Northwest Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet and more and has had her work presented at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Joyce Theatre, Jacob's Pillow, American Dance Festival and MCA Chicago. She was one of 2014 Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" and is a four time Princess Grace Foundation-USA grant recipient. Williams was selected as 2016's Best Choreographer in Chicago Magazine and, in 2016 and 2018, one of NewCity's Players: 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago. Her site-sensitive performance series, Undercover Episodes, currently tours the US. Visit www.robynminekowilliams.com for 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 42 in 2019-20, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton and Executive Leadership of David McDermott, 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.