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Dance is life for some students. The six performers of the Hubbard Street 2 (HS2) dance company are no exception. As a youth-training company based on the established school, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, HS2 is a dance group focused on discovering new choreographers and developing young dancers. The result is a diverse mix of pioneering performance.
Saturday night’s opening piece was “Hallaig,” a Scottish poem set to music by Brian Eno featuring Celtic pipes with varying percussion that edged on quick dance rhythms at times. Four dancers moved with fluidity through a sequence of floor work and spins and succeeded in portraying a sense of liquid.
Next up was “I Wantchu Kool, Cuz U Blow My Mind,” a fun creation that explored two couples’ relationships. Set to The Beatles song, “With Love from Me to You” sung a capella by renowned jazz singer Bobby McFerrin. The piece concentrated on the use of space and spatial awareness between the dancers.
“The Restless” ended the first half of the show and was an intricate piece set to Bach’s Allegro from the Sonata No. 2 for Violin. Scuttling quickly while dressed in black, the dancers created images with, almost spider-like movements. It was a captivating piece that choreographer Christian Spuck said “strives to make Bach’s music subtly visible.”
“Sight Unseen” subsequently created a beautiful image through the symmetry of a couple divided by light onstage. Soft lighting and smoke complemented Eastern music and voices of The Tsinandali Choir. The separated couple met in blue-lit silence and then danced together to violins.
The show closed with the premier for this company of dancers of “Blues for Ann,” a Chicago music medley featuring a variety of 1940s swing and jazz numbers in memory of Ann Barzel, a famous Chicago dance reviewer.
“It has been performed one other time in Germany, but a lot of these dancers started in January and so it [was] their first time performing it tonight,” explained HS2 artistic associate Whitney Moncrief.
The final pieces ranged from upbeat full-cast swing dances to sultry jazz numbers with a woman seducing three different men in their spotlights.
All of the HS2 dancers are students aged between 17 and 25, who Moncrief described as “in training to be artists.” As effortless as the dances may look, however, she hastened to add, “They do work Monday through Friday and this is their full-time job.”
The Hubbard Street 2 Company has also played an important and prominent role in encouraging emerging talent within the contemporary dance industry. The company established the National Choreographic Competition, which is currently running in its ninth year and is designed as an opportunity to identify and showcase brand new work. According to their Web site, http://www.hubbardstreetdance.org, the contest aims “to create new, fresh, and innovative choreography.”
Those on campus who skipped over the UMaine men’s hockey victory were rewarded by Hubbard Street 2 with a delightful hour and a half of diverse dance from committed students.
