Displaying items by tag: Alejandro Cerrudo

Returning to the Auditorium Theatre after a long 20-year absence is Hubbard Street Dance Chicago with its 40th Anniversary Spring Series. This edition spotlights Spanish born Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo, who joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005, and was named Choreographic Fellow in 2008 and became the company’s first Resident Choreographer in 2009. He’s a recipient of multiple awards, including prestigious Rudolf Nureyev Prize for New Dance.

The show is a progression of Cerrudo’s works, from old to new. It has a pleasant start with his earliest piece, Lickety Split, originally performed in 2006 at the Harris Theater as part of the Inside/Out Choreographic workshop. Celebrating athletic femininity and confident masculinity and set to music by renowned songwriter Devendra Banhart, Lickety Split is about modern love and romantic relationships. It’s very beautiful and has well balanced energies.
But then something completely unexpected happens. The spotlight is on a balcony where a captivating, extravagantly dressed and coiffed female (Rena Butler) is seated, casually talking to the audience about the nature of reality. She is smoking a pipe, while blowing our minds with [Alan Watts’] philosophical concepts. Amazing.

And so the drama begins. More new age philosophy is injected into the show when David Schultz walks out on stage, wearing a cane and delivering another serving of food for thought. The following piece, Off Screen, though highly theatrical, doesn’t take itself too seriously. Inspired entirely by film, it makes lighthearted mockery of Italian musicals and romantic European movies. The music is comprised of 16 passages from various movie scores. Off Screen features seven dancers layering gorgeous fluid movements as if in a dream, their dancing defying gravity and somehow helping to get across the spiritual points introduced earlier. Off Screen was Cerrudo’s third work created for Hubbard Street back in 2009.

After the intermission, it’s the energetic Silent Ghost that originally premiered in 2015 at the Aspen Santa Fe ballet. It feels tribal yet romantic, despite the monochromatic costumes.

The grand finale of the evening is the world premiere of Out of Your Mind. This piece brings everything together: the mysterious monologues earlier in the show, the flow and progression of the pieces, the dreamy dancing. What makes it futuristic is the pulsating energy, and the shapes and configurations of the dancers. At some point, orderly chaos ensues on stage, dancers moving in waves [and somehow particles]. Set to the soundtrack of the soothing voice of the contemporary philosopher Alan Watts, it’s a breathtakingly beautiful and uplifting experience. The piece was inspired by Alan Watts’ lectures called “Out of Your Mind”; Cerrudo borrowed the music that was used in the audio of the lectures and used it in this piece. I’d say contemplating God possibly never looked more spectacular.

Let’s welcome in summer and enjoy the history of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at the Harris Theater with a collection of eight dances of varying styles and intriguing music. Pieces old and new, reworked and original amazed one after another including Lucas Crandall’s (Imprint - Duet), William Forsythe’s (reproduction of One Flat Thing), Alejandro Cerrudo’s (One Thousand Pieces - Water Section), Jim Vincent’s (Palladio), Crystal Pite’s (A Picture of You Falling), Twyla Tharp’s (The Golden Section), and Lou Conte’s (Georgia and the 40’s).

This historical glance 40-year glance at the iconic dance company brings forth a walk through time and the growth of Hubbard Dance. Lou Conte’s romantic summer love of ‘Georgia’ was originally premiered in 1987 as part of “Rose from the Blues” and makes you ache for the loss of summer love. Even more history is bestowed upon the crowd with the happiness, creativity of the 40’s, also by Conte. Infusing big band music, 40’s style dance, jitterbug moves and the feeling of the celebrations of old Hollywood, the piece is truly a joy to watch.

“The Golden Section” choreographed by Twyla Tharp/Tharp Project, in its golden velour and unabashed 80’s energy that had originally been performed on Broadway in 1981, brought a liveliness and fun to the stage. The enthusiasm and vibrancy had audience members bobbing their heads and giggling along with the sheer fun of the dancer’s movement and energy.

Something for everyone, Hubbard Street’s Summer Series 39 will truly grab your attention with the loving duet of “Imprint” by Lucas Crandall and romantic “Palladio” by Jim Vincent. Theater goers will fall under the mesmerizing spell of the smokiness and ethereal beauty of ghostlike figures and sounds of water in “One Thousand Pieces” by Alejandro Cerrudo. Children and adults alike will be enthralled with the chaotic energy of “One Flat Thing”, in awe of the dancer’s abilities to move between, over, under and through the flat things with such speed, grace and fluidity.

Beautiful and graceful, “A Picture of You Falling” by Crystal Pite will capture the audiences’ attention from start to finish, leaving you out of breath, and wondering, if this is how it really will be in the end.

Through a night of innumerable feelings and experiences, this historical journey into the past of “Hubbard Street Dance at 40”, was a thrill for all families and fans of dance. So very few places can provide such a complete feeling of history and nostalgia while also inspiring all of us to see what the future will bring.

Hubbard Street’s Summer Series 39 was performed at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. For more information on this amazing dance company and to see future events, visit www.HubbardStreetDance.com.

Walking into the Harris Theater for the Hubbard Street Dance Summer Series, it is snowing on stage. Not real snow, of course, but feathers slowly fall, coating the stage with what resembles a light dusting of frost that we Chicagoans are so familiar with. The theater is filled with chatter as people are taking their seats, and as the feathers begin to slow, the theater becomes silent. And with a single feather that floats to the stage, the lights dim and the curtain rises.

Large black walls on wheels are the only stage props during the opening ballet Extremely Close.  The dancers push, pull, and move the walls while they dance, disappearing and reappearing behind them as they do so. During the first half of the ballet, the dancers are slightly out of sync. At times they would come together seamlessly, and other moments struggled to dance as one.

A pas de deux have an emotional exchange toward the end of Extremely Close. The couple continuously go back and fourth between passionate embraces and cold exchanges. It is only at the end, when the black sheet is pulled over the woman’s limp body that you wonder about the deep undertones of abuse.

The second act, Still in Motion, opens to the stage set as a white wave with a blue neon light at its crest. About a dozen dancers, ready to begin, frantically run off stage before the music starts, only to leave only one solo male dancer. There are times throughout the performance, as groups enter and leave the stage, where the music stops, but the dance continues. Showcasing pure movement, with only the sound of feet to the floor, is as intriguing as it is uncomfortable. The dancers are perfectly in time during the moments of silence, which makes it that much more mesmerizing.

The third, and by far most impressive ballet, Little Mortal Jump, starts with a French couple and their love story. The music is happy and light, the dancing uplifting and spirited. You almost don’t notice the change in tone as the narrative fades away, and the large black walls from the first act make their way back on stage. The classical music and passion on stage overwhelms. At one point, as the lighting becomes orange and hot, the dancers begin to move in slow motion, so controlled and smooth, you almost don’t notice this is happening right away. The moving walls once again let people appear and disappear as if out of nowhere, and make this piece hypnotizing. As the music, lighting, and dancing all come to a crescendo, and everyone is waiting for one last fouette or grand leap, the lights cut, and the audience, after taking a breath to gather what just happened, explodes into applause.  

Alejandro Cerrudo has proven himself as an amazing choreographer with this series. Cerrudo's background as a dancer only contributes to his understanding of stage presence and movement. The lighting by Michael Korsch should also be recognized in how it manipulates the emotion and power of this performance, as well.  Summer Series is an exciting must see this season.  For upcoming Hubbard Street Dance events, visit http://www.hubbardstreetdance.com/.