(BECKET, Mass) – Popular contemporary company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will present a program featuring global influences at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Ted Shawn Theatre in an extended seven-show engagement from Wednesday, July 2, through Sunday, July 6, 2014. Dances include the dramatic Mediterranean-inspired Gnawa, by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato and featuring North African music; Falling Angels, a stark all-female work danced to “Drumming” by contemporary composer Steve Reich by Czech choreographer Ji?í Kylián; and two works by Madrid-born Alejandro Cerrudo, Hubbard Street’s resident choreographer.

Directed by Glenn Edgerton, the 18-member company performs the dramatic Mediterranean-inspired Gnawa, choreographed by Nacho Duato, and Ji?í Kylián’s vivid Falling Angels, a stark all-female work danced to “Drumming” by contemporary composer Steve Reich. The company’s performance of Falling Angels earlier this year was called “a gorgeous combination of energetic and hypnotic, a celebration of what the body can do” by Lauren Whalen of Chicago Theater Beat. Hubbard Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s latest work for the company, The Impossible, is a bold and theatrical work centered around themes of memory, mortality, and the human spirit. PACOPEPEPLUTO, also by Cerrudo, features choreography “rich in circular turns, jumps and dashing Olympian form” for three male dancers set to the sweet songs of Dean Martin (Sid Smith, The Chicago Tribune). Hubbard Street performs in the Ted Shawn Theatre in an extended seven-show engagement, July 2-6.

“Hubbard Street continues to feature some of the most exciting, versatile dancers performing anywhere in the world today,” comments Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff, adding: “Hubbard Street also sets a standard for contemporary dance in the U.S. by performing the works of emerging and great master choreographers.”

Noted for its “striking group patterns, infused with echoes of flamenco and various earthy folk-dance touches” (Claudia La Rocco, The New York Times) Gnawa was created for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005 by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato. Set to a variety of North African and Spanish music provided by such musicians as Hassan Hakmoun, Adam Rudolph, Juan Alberto Arteche, Javier Paxariño, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Velez, and Kusur y Sarkissian, Gnawa pays homage to the vibrant culture of the Mediterranean region with joyous ensemble sections as well as poignant duets showcasing intricate partnering. Gnawa was performed at the Pillow in 2010 by CND2, when Janine Parker of The Boston Globe called the work “a vision of mysterious beauty.”

Ji?í Kylián’s 1989 Falling Angels, for an all-female cast of eight, is a formal work replete with “contorted movements and sheer intensity” (John Rockwell, The New York Times). Danced to Steve Reich’s propulsive score, Falling Angels is one of Kylián’s six “black and white ballets” and highlights rigorous precision with simple costumes and clean lighting design. Falling Angels was created for Nederlands Dans Theatre in 1989 and has been performed by classical and contemporary companies alike; in 2010, Nina Ananiashvili’s State Ballet of Georgia brought it to the Ted Shawn Theatre.

Alejandro Cerrudo contributes two works to the program. The visually rich, theatrical The Impossible, his thirteenth work for the company, premiered this month and has been described as a “dark fairy tale…punctuated by great humor and warmth, as well as truly ingenious movement” (Hedy Weiss, The Chicago Sun-Times). PACOPEPEPLUTO is a suite of technically astounding solos for three men of the company performed to the smooth soundtrack of Dean Martin hit songs “In the Chapel in the Moonlight,” “That’s Amore,” and “Memories Are Made of This.” Cerrudo has been Resident Choreographer of Hubbard Street since 2009 as well as a member of the company since 2005. Claudia La Rocco wrote of his work: “Mr. Cerrudo threads deft, mysterious arm gestures throughout his easy, generous choreography, which is also marked by touches of humor and muscular but nonshowy partnering” (The New York Times). An accomplished dancer, Cerrudo performed at the Pillow during Festival 2013 as part of Wendy Whelan/Restless Creature, in a duet he choreographed for Whelan.

Dancer/choreographer Lou Conte founded Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 1977 and directed the company until his retirement in 2000. The relationship between the company and the Pillow has been a close one, encompassing over a dozen engagements since 1983 including a two-week run in 1990. The company has been led by Glenn Edgerton since the fall of 2009 and features a high-caliber roster of dancers from across the U.S., Canada, and Spain. Hubbard Street members have performed with companies such as Trey McIntyre Project, San Francisco Ballet, Richmond Ballet, the Limón Dance Company, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza 2 (CND2), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, [bjm danse] (formerly Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal), Gallim Dance, Aszure Barton & Artists, and others.

 

Performance and ticket information

Ted Shawn Theatre

Wednesday, July 2-Saturday, July 5, 8pm

Thursday, July 3, Saturday, July 5, & Sunday, July 6, 2pm

Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob’s Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe are offered in Blake’s Barn 30 minutes before each performance

A Free Post-Show Talk with artists from Hubbard Street Dance Chicago will take place onstage immediately following the performance on Friday, July 4

Tickets $39-75. Now on sale online at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, via phone at 413.243.0745, or in person at the Jacob’s Pillow Box Office.

Box Office hours: Sun, Mon, Tues, 11am-5pm; Wednesday- Saturday, 11am-8pm