Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Partners with Illinois Institute of Technology's

In an unprecedented collaboration between professional dance artists and students of architecture, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), the internationally acclaimed contemporary dance company, is working with students from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) College of Architecture to create environments for three new works by HSDC choreographers Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucas Crandall and Brian Enos. Students and artists are working closely together throughout the fall, culminating in a January presentation of the three new works, including a public performance on Sunday, January 27, 2008, in S.R. Crown Hall on the IIT campus.

Under the joint direction of HSDC Artistic Director Jim Vincent and architect and IIT faculty member Dirk Denison, the 12 undergraduate and graduate students are meeting weekly with the three choreographers, HSDC dancers and technical and production staff. To learn more about the art of dance, the students are taking movement classes, observing company rehearsals and attending performances, most recently HSDC’s 2007 Fall Series at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, and upcoming performances on tour in the Midwest.

This project is part of Vincent’s overarching goal for HSDC to contribute to the evolution of dance by collaborating with artists in other genres. “The lines between dance, music, theatre, visual art and architecture are not as rigid as they once were,” said Vincent. “Developing new works in partnership with artists from other disciplines emphasizes the intrinsically collaborative nature of all art. With this project, the idea is to move dance out of the limitations of the traditional stage and begin thinking about our performance spaces more freely. It is our hope that, as we move forward with the project, future designs will be adaptable to both alternative and traditional performance spaces.”

Another of Vincent’s goals has been to cultivate choreographic work from HSDC’s own artists in order to activate and nurture new talent while developing repertoire exclusive to the company. Each of the three HSDC choreographers has created past works for HSDC to great critical and popular success. Dancer Alejandro Cerrudo, whose work Extremely Close, to music by Philip Glass and Dusin O’Halloran, has been commissioned by the Joyce Theater in New York, created Lickety-Split (2006); Artistic Associate Lucas Crandall, whose new work is set to Bach, created Atelier (2003) and Gimme (2005); and dancer Brian Enos, whose B-Sides (12” Mix), set to a score by British electronic duo Hybrid, received its world premiere October 3 during HSDC’s 2007 Fall Series at the Harris, created Diphthong (2004) for the main company and two works for Hubbard Street 2: Whip (2001) and Hallaig (2006). He also is the youngest choreographer ever commissioned by Houston Ballet.

Dirk Denison FAIA, an educator at IIT leading this project and principal of Dirk Denison Architects, is recognized both nationally and internationally through awards and publications for his outstanding residential and commercial design work. In addition to encouraging the students and dancers to think about space and how to occupy it, Denison maintains, “Dance is the most conscious way that we occupy space. Both performing and observing dance heightens our individual and collective understanding of the relationship between our bodies and the space in which we exist.” He expects the collaboration will showcase the flexibility of S.R. Crown Hall, one of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s greatest masterworks, a National Historic Landmark and the centerpiece of IIT’s master campus plan designed by Mies in 1940. The recently restored building is famous for its clear structural expression, the varying qualities of transparency in its ultra-thin steel and glass façade and the free flowing interior of the “universal space.”

The public performance takes place Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 5 p.m. at S.R. Crown Hall, 3630 S. State Street on the IIT campus. Tickets are $35 general admission and are available by calling HSDC at 312-850-9744. Two additional invitation-only performances will be under the aegis of IIT’s Mies van der Rohe Society, a group formed to help preserve Mies’ legacy and restore his masterpieces at IIT.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC), under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Jim Vincent, is celebrating 30 years as one of the most original forces in contemporary dance. Critically acclaimed for its exuberant, athletic and innovative repertoire, HSDC presents performances that inspire, challenge and engage audiences worldwide. The company’s ensemble of dancers displays unparalleled versatility and virtuosity, allowing HSDC to expand its eclectic repertoire continually with works by master American and international choreographers. HSDC also contributes to dance’s evolution by developing new choreographic talent and collaborating with artists in music, visual art and theatre. Since Lou Conte founded the company in 1977, HSDC has expanded beyond its main company to include Hubbard Street 2, which cultivates young professional dancers and choreographers, serves as the foundation of HSDC’s education initiatives and performs nationally and internationally with a diverse and engaging repertoire; extensive Education & Community Programs, under the direction of Kathryn Humphreys, which offer city- and state-accredited professional development for teachers to incorporate movement into curriculums and expose young people to dance; and the Lou Conte Dance Studio, under the direction of Lou Conte and original HSDC dancer Claire Bataille, which offers a wide variety of classes weekly in jazz, ballet, modern, tap and hip-hop at levels from basic to professional, as well as workshops and master classes. For more information, visit hubbardstreetdance.com.

IIT’s Mies van der Rohe Society is dedicated to preserving Mies’ legacy, restoring his renowned IIT buildings to enhance educational programs for students, and reinforcing Chicago’s international reputation for architectural distinction.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,300 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.