Fall Series
Choreographed by Ohad Naharian, Mats Ek,
Robyn Mineko Williams and Alejandro Cerrudo
at Harris Theater, 205 E. Randolph (map)
thru Oct 13 | tickets: $52-$94 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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A beautiful blend of thought and feeling
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago presents
Fall Series
Review by Lauren Whalen
Dancing involves thinking. Not only does every piece of choreography tell a story, but it goes deeper than that: every step, pattern and music cue are deliberate. While the audience may interpret a dance in different ways, choreographers want them to feel something, to have a unique experience – and the latter is challenging when the company has performed the piece before. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Fall Series boasts a world premiere, a Chicago premiere, and two previously-showcased dances. Each is different. All are a flawless testament to the powers of the brain and the body, and the artistic explosion that results when both are combined.
Cloudless, a world premiere by Hubbard Street’s resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, is Cerrudo’s first pas de deux for female dancers. Never straying far from one another, Jacqueline Burnett and Ana Lopez explore and wind around the stage, a testament to physical strength and human emotion. Cerrudo is a true artist, his signature meticulous choices on display here. From the clusters of stage lights dangling like bulbous chandeliers to the breathy piano-based score, Cerrudo knows how to create an effect. Here, it’s pure feeling. My mind stopped thinking and simply flowed along with the dance. It’s a sharp contrast to Fluence, and a smart juxtaposition: the marriage of thought and feeling to a completely different effect.
Next comes Passomezzo, a pas de deux with the more traditional male-female setup. Rising company stars Kellie Epperheimer and Johnny McMillan flawlessly execute Ohad Naharian’s odd, jerky movements with quirkiness and style: trademarks of the choreographer. Traditional music and a fiddle-based soundtrack illustrate a dysfunctional relationship: oddly funny at times, borderline uncomfortable at others. It’s a comic piece with a river of gravity running just under the surface, and the dancers are a perfect blend of silly and serious.
 
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Casi-Casa comprises the evening’s entire second act. Mats Ek’s cerebral look at domestic drama was first performed by Hubbard Street last December, and hasn’t lost any of its intellectual energy. If anything, it’s become stronger, a chance for the dancers to shine in solos, duets and group segments. The women have some fun with vacuum cleaner props, and couples entangle in various fascinating ways. Quinn Wharton has some phenomenal moments as a disillusioned suit, Meredith Dincolo effortlessly mingles brute strength with fluid grace, and Jonathan Fredrickson and Jacqueline Burnett dance a lovely, romantic interlude. Resident choreographer Cerrudo makes a treat of an appearance in the piece’s second movement. For Cerrudo, dancing appears as natural and organic as walking. He doesn’t dance so much as he exists, and every breath is a wonder.
Dance is an art: one that requires as much planning and philosophy as the penning of a classic novel. Dancers and choreographers express solely with their bodies, but much intellect goes into every move. Hubbard Street’s 2013 Fall Series is a painting of thought processes mingled with pure passion, coming together to create an exciting, thoroughly satisfying program.
Rating: ★★★★
Fall Series continues through October 13th at Harris Theater for Music & Dance at Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph (map), with performances Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday 3pm. Tickets are $52-$94, and are available by phone (312-850-9744) or online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at HubbardStreetDance.com. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
Photos by Todd Rosenberg and Quinn B Wharton
artists
dancers
Note: Cast varies according to performance.
Garrett Patrick Anderson, Jesse Bechard, Jacqueline Burnett, Alejandro Cerrudo, Meredith Dincolo, Kellie Epperheimer, Jonathan Fredrickson, Jason Hortin, Alice Klock, Emilie Lereche, Ana Lopez, Johnny McMillan, Andrew Murdock, Bryna Pascoe, David Schultz, Kevin J. Shannon, Jessica Tong, Quinn B. Wharton
behind the scenes
For Hubbard Street Dance Chicago:
Glenn Edgerton (Artistic Director), Jason D. Palmquist (Executive Director), Lou Conte (Founder), Alejandro Cerrudo (Resident Choreographer), Terence Marling (Director, Hubbard Street 2), Lucas Crandall (Rehearsal Director), Kristen Brogdon (General Manager), Claire Bataille (Director, Lou Conte Dance Studio)
For “Fluence”:
Robyn Mineko Williams (Choreographer), Robert F. Haynes (Original Music), Burke Brown (Lighting Design), Hogan McLaughlin (Costume Design), Lucas Crandall (Assistant to the Choreographer)
For “Cloudless”:
Alejandro Cerrudo (Choreographer), Nils Frahm (Music), Burke Brown (Lighting Design), Branimara Ivanova (Costume Design)
For “Passomezzo”:
Ohad Naharian (Choreographer, Lighting Design), Mari Kajiwara (Costume Design), John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch (Music)
For “Casi-Casa”:
Mats Ek (Choreographer), Fleshquartet (Music), Mariko Aoyama and Ana Laguna (Choreographer’s Assistants for Staging), Peder Freiij (Costume and Set Design), Erik Berglund (Lighting Design)
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