February Footnotes

Creative collaboration.
Extraordinary support. 

Next weekend, see two remarkable dance companies share the stage for a revolutionary premiere, thanks in large part to support from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation.

Through its prestigious Joyce Award program, the foundation made possible Hubbard Street's multi-year creative partnership with Alonzo King and his LINES Ballet.

We asked Culture Program Senior Officer Angelique Power why the foundation chose Hubbard Street's collaboration with Alonzo King for Award funding in 2011.

"What was impressive to us was that it was not a 'drop-in' project between Alonzo King and Hubbard Street, but a couple of years of in-depth partnership and learning," Power says. "It gave [Hubbard Street] this experience of working with others outside the company, of stretching ideas across time zones and geographies. It’s a wonderful project, and we’re honored to have supported it."

In addition to receiving a Joyce Award, AZIMUTH is a commission by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Both celebrate their 10-year anniversaries this year, and we're honored to be part of their important, ongoing work.

» Read more of the interview with Angelique Power below.
» Get tickets at hubbardstreetdance.com/spring.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Alonzo King LINES Ballet in Alonzo King's AZIMUTH. Photo by Margo Moritz.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Alonzo King LINES Ballet in Alonzo King's AZIMUTH. Photo by Margo Moritz. Banner photos: Hubbard Street in Little mortal jump by Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg. LINES Ballet in Rasa by Alonzo King. Photo by RJ Muna.

Spring Series:  Hubbard Street + Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Thursday, March 14 at 7:30 pm Get tickets
Friday, March 15 at 8 pm Get tickets
Saturday, March 16 at 8 pm Get tickets
Sunday,  March 17 at 3 pm Get tickets

Tickets are available online and by phone at 312-850-9744.

Performances at Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph St. [MAP] Chicago, IL 60601
HarrisTheaterChicago.org 312-334-7777

PLUS: JOIN US for Bold Moves for Bold Women, an evening celebrating ten years of bold women in the arts and benefiting Hubbard Street, Thursday, March 14 before the performance.
» More info

Logos

AZIMUTH  was commissioned by The Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park,
in celebration of its 10th Anniversary.

This project is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Q&A with Angelique Power, Culture Program Senior Officer, The Joyce Foundation  
Angelique Power
Angelique Power, Culture Program Senior Officer, The Joyce Foundation. Photo by Mark Randazzo.

What does The Joyce Foundation do, and what role do you play in its work?
At the Joyce Foundation, we focus on quality of life for residents of the Great Lakes region.  We break that down into basic tenets such as education, employment, and gun-violence prevention. I run the Culture program here, which also looks at quality of life issues, ones that revolve around cultural equity.

We're honored that the foundation chose Hubbard Street’s collaboration with Alonzo King LINES Ballet to receive a 2011 Joyce Award. What types of projects do Joyce Awards support?
The beauty of the Joyce Award program is that it’s about commissioning new work by artists of color, in partnership with organizations. It’s investing in new ideas and the chemistry experiment that all commissions are. That to me is what’s unique, and really what’s exciting about the Joyce Award.

How in your view does King’s work touch the foundation’s quality of life concerns?
He instills in everyone he works with the importance of expressing yourself in a way that’s larger than you, than your movement, that’s about affecting people in some way. He talks about how dance is a constant negotiation between complete control and complete release, about when you do one and when you do the other. His meta-analysis of dance in this way is really about life lessons, and I think that’s really compelling. Just last week, I was in Detroit for an information session around the Joyce Award, and a curator at the Detroit Institute of Arts remarked that she’d once had an opportunity to dance for Alonzo King. She told me that he said to her class, “I want you to dance as if all the children of the world are watching you.”

What’s your first memory of Hubbard Street?
In the late ’90s, I worked for Marshall Field’s, in its Public Affairs department. I saw a Hubbard Street performance and remember it being…transformative. It was dance not done in the expected ways, in terms of how it began, how it closed, the music that was used, and it was moving and relevant, theatrical and emotional. The dancers were obviously professional, highly skilled, and yet in one piece, a person onstage was wearing clothes that could’ve been what I was wearing. That I found intriguing — I felt how dance can really be a dialogue with the audience.

TwitterOVERHEARD ON TWITTER
Hubbard Street and LINES performance next week... CAN'T WAIT @HubbardStreet

Lou Conte Dance Studio Open House – Sunday, March 10, 11 am to 3 pm 
Ballet at LCDS. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Ballet at LCDS. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

"The energy at LCDS on Open House Sundays is contagious. It’s a great time to try something new or just spend the day going from studio to studio taking all your favorite classes. All classes are at a beginner level. Join our teachers and accompanists for four hours of dance, music and fun!"

 —Claire Bataille, LCDS Director and founding member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Take FREE beginner classes in ballet, modern, jazz, tap, yoga, Pilates, hip hop, African, BeMoved®, Zumba® and more starting at 11 am. No pre-registration is required. Open House attendees receive a 2-for-1 Class Pass to come back and take more classes at LCDS.

Enter a drawing to win a 10-class card, Hubbard Street T-shirt and tickets to the spring series.

» View March 10 Open House Schedule
» View Winter Schedule of Classes. 
Please note, regular Sunday classes are not held during Open House events.
» MORE INFORMATION or call 312-850-9766

Lou Conte Dance Studio at Hubbard Street Dance Center [MAP]
1147 W. Jackson Blvd. Chicago, IL 60647

Master Class for Intermediate and Advanced Dancers with Benjamin Wardell March 15, 4-6 pm 

Celebrate our groundbreaking collaboration with Alonzo King LINES Ballet with a master class focusing on King’s technical approach. Former Hubbard Street and LINES Ballet dancer Benjamin Wardell leads the class, teaching excerpts from King’s work Following the Subtle Current Upstream

To register call 312-850-9766.

Hubbard Street in Residence at the Art Institute of Chicago: Why Cubism? March 21, 6 pm 
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s HS2 dancers Emilie Leriche and Lissa Smith with Picasso’s Man with a Pipe, 1915. The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Mrs. Leigh B. Block in memory of Albert D. Lasker. © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s HS2 dancers Emilie Leriche and Lissa Smith with Picasso’s Man with a Pipe, 1915. The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Mrs. Leigh B. Block in memory of Albert D. Lasker. © Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Why cubism?

On cubism and Picasso’s methods of “flattening space”

Did you know that the Art Institute of Chicago was the first museum in the U.S. to present the work of a certain up-and-coming Spanish artist named Pablo Picasso?

This year marks the 100th anniversary of that historic debut.

Join us Thursday, March 21 as Hubbard Street 2 Dancers explore Picasso's methods of "flattening space" as part two of a four-part miniseries of events dedicated to the artist and the Art Institute's collection of his work.

Thursday, March 21, 6 pm

Free with museum admission
Griffin Court
Art Institute of Chicago [MAP]

See more throughout the spring, inspired by and in response to the exhibition Picasso and Chicago:

On Picasso’s modern responses to classic artworks
Thursday, April 18, 6 pm

On Picasso’s impact on art and culture
Thursday, May 9, 6 pm

 

Q&A with Chicago Athletic Clubs Personal Trainer Kris Jennings  
Kris Jennings, Personal Trainer at Chicago Athletic Clubs
Kris Jennings, Personal Trainer at Chicago Athletic Clubs. Photo provided by CAC.

As the official health club for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Chicago Athletic Clubs provides outstanding fitness services to the company. We asked Kris Jennings, a personal trainer at Lakeview Athletic Club, to answer a few of questions about getting and staying fit.

What are some tricks you have to stay motivated now that we’re out of “resolution season?”

  • Schedule your workouts as you would any other appointment. 
  • Reward yourself: If you make to the gym three times per week for a month without fail, then you get the new pair of jeans or the book you've wanted! 
  • Make your workout fun.  If you're working out with a friend it can be a source of playful competition, accountability, and a great way to catch up and connect.
  • Hire a personal trainer. A few sessions can set new habits, address accountability, and give you some creative workout ideas! 

What kinds of workouts should dancers do to supplement their studio work? Strength training? Pilates? Yoga?  Yes!  All of it!  In any sport, there can be a lot of repetition in certain movement patterns, especially in dance. Making sure you balance that movement with other modalities is essential.  Yoga is good for flexibility and breath connection, Pilates for focusing on movement originating from the core, and strength training for muscle power, control, agility and longevity through bone density.

Is it better to train in the morning or in the evening?
I am a big believer in working out in the morning for a few reasons: 

  • You get it done!  There's less chance to talk yourself out of it later. 
  • You maximize your calorie burn for the day.  Some strength training in the morning will boost your metabolism for hours after your workout.
  • You start your day right.  Working out gets you clear and focused and will help you be more productive for the day.

If you can only work out in the evening, do it!  Even more important is how much you move throughout the day. Our bodies are designed for and crave movement. We were not made to sit in chairs for extended periods of time. If you work out in the morning, then sit at a desk for eight hours, you have effectively killed your workout. Make sure you are getting up at regular intervals to walk and move.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization
supported in part by contributions.

Mission: to bring artists, art and audiences together
to enrich, engage and change lives through the experience of dance.

Donate today to support Hubbard Street's mission.

 

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