Hubbard Street Dance Chicago returns to the MCA with “Elements,” featuring world premieres, Chicago debuts and some of HSDC’s most requested repertory. March 23-26, Program A included work by Azure Barton, Thang Dao, Lar Lubovitch and Kyle Abraham; March 30-April2, Program B contained work by Osnel Delgado, Hope Boykin, Spenser Theberge and Barton. Both weeks sold out in advance, but See Chicago Dance was fortunate to attend Program A’s opening night performance.
Lar Lubovitch’s “Coltrane’s Favorite Things” uses the entirety of John Coltrane’s 1961 recording of his quartet’s take on the Rogers and Hammerstein classic. On the back wall, a projected image of Jackson Pollack’s “Autumn Rhythms.”
The dancers teach you how to view the painting by embodying the shapes and movements found in Pollock’s art. Several dancers in a tight formation twist and wiggle across the stage, arms and legs rolling loosely, mimicking a descending line of painted yellow and grey squiggles. Their bodies imitate different pathways hidden in the painting to the uninformed eye. A series of short hops perfectly connect to piano player McCoy Tyner’s capricious and dissonant “2 against 3” chords. Meanwhile, these hops match sporadic blots of paint up above—layers upon layers! In “Coltrane’s Favorite Things,” Lubovitch and HSDC answer the question asked by newcomers to Coltrane and Pollock, “What is going on here?” Simple… It’s all dancing!
Kyle Abraham’s “Show Pony” combines joint-articulated movement with science fiction elements set to a thumping electronic score by Jlin. Like the Maschinenmensch from Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis,” dancer Alysia Johnson is a gold-plated automaton. She moves like a machine yet exudes human sensuality. Every joint is independent; slow-motion waves ripple from foot to head to hands. Switching gears, Johnson moves downstage in a string of spinning tour jetés. She stops on a dime and rotates her head toward the audience, curling her lips in a chill-inducing, devilish grin. Abraham’s “Show Pony” is a fun and flirty reflection on humanity’s trepidation exploring a future with artificial intelligence.
The world premiere of Thang Dao’s “Nevermore” takes storytelling to the next level. Created in process with the HSDC dancers and Craig D. Black, Jr., the work juxtaposes two tales of forbidden love—Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and the two-centuries-old Chinese folk tale “The Cowherd and Weavegirl”—set to a grandiose orchestral composition by James G. Lindsay.
Atop a throne made of bodies sits the White King. He is surrounded by dancers, black crows with red feet who scrape and peck in search of carrion. A voice booms, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary…” Enter the object of the king’s obsession: The Red Queen, carried in by the crows, bobbing like a balloon on the wind. Later, they are transformed into the estranged couple from Chinese lore, both lifted off the ground and swirling in large elliptic circles, reaching out for each other, fingertips just missing the other’s hand. Dao’s “Nevermore” creates grand visualizations that bring the heart and horror of literature and mythology to life.
Hubbard Street Dancer Elliot Hammans in NEVERMORE by Thang Dao. Photo by Michelle Reid
Aszure Barton’s “Busk,” first set on the company in 2021, is a love letter to street performers—or buskers—throughout history.
The light comes up on a bashful vaudevillian in bowler hat and white gloves who surprises by diving headfirst into an upside-down spin on straight arms, then into a headstand where he lands back into his hat.
A hooded procession sulks onto the stage, performing “in-the-trenches” with heads down, arms and legs swinging in opposition. They fill a graded staircase, their faces shrouded in darkness but for their dissonant chanting, mouths open like demonic baby birds at dinner time. Later, they become an inky pool of bodies, lifeless, then shoot up as if hearing an inaudible call, like Dracula calling to a room full of Renfields.
The eye is then drawn to a lone hoofer doing a soft shoe tap dance to the sound of recorded metal taps under lamplight on a deserted city street corner. A duo of circus acrobats— à la Ringling Bros.—show off feats of daring-do as a violin scratches out a Klezmer-inspired ditty.
Barton’s “Busk” takes archetypes of “low-level” artists—jokesters, tap dancers, acrobats—and thrusts them into the spotlight with all the respect they deserve.
The program for HSDC’s “Elements” is delightfully curated, with elements of horror movies, science fiction, and a nod to history, with the uncanny ability to make both Pollock and Coltrane “legible” (no small feat!). Every work avoids being too abstract by including clear narratives and intentions, while still feeling larger-than-life and producing a sense of otherworldly wow. With HSDC’s upcoming Summer Series, “Facets,” and the announcement of Barton as new Resident Artist, there is good reason to pay attention to what this legacy company has to offer in the very near future.
