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Dance for Life 2021: Celebrating 30 Years

August 3, 2021 by 4dancers

Stephanie Martinez’s kiss., with dancers Chris Bloom and Gabrielle Sprauve,
photo by PC Michelle Reid Photography

August is a special time in the Chicago dance community–because that is when Dance for Life takes place. This annual event is celebrating its 30th year in 2021, and now more than ever we’ll gather in true appreciation for the sense of community we have grown here over the three decades this performance has been running.

For those who don’t know what Dance for Life is, it’s a performance/benefit that takes place each year. Funds raised will benefit Chicago Dancers United, an organization that administers The Dancers’ Fund; premium bowl seating is available with a $300 minimum donation. The fund provides short-term financial assistance to Chicago dance professionals that have health and wellness needs. This year free seating will also be available in both the bowl and the lawn area.

Each year various dance artists/companies/groups are selected to perform at this event. Performers this year include: DanceWorks Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Joffrey Ballet, Movement Revolution Dance Crew, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, and a finale choreographed by Randy Duncan. The program also includes a film by Winifred Haun & Dancers.

Stephanie Martinez’s PARA.MAR has also been chosen to perform this year. We caught up with Stephanie to learn more about her choreography for the evening’s show, as well as her long-standing involvement with Chicago’s dance community.


Can you briefly share the basic history of PARA.MAR Dance Theatre?

While my vision for creating a platform that empowers and elevates diverse artistic voices in contemporary ballet had been growing in me since the moment I first stepped into a studio, the timing of PARA.MAR‘s inception was activated by the pandemic. I saw incredible artists without work, displaced, and some even leaving the field. I felt compelled to create art and employment at a time of such scarcity and deep insecurity. 

Would you also talk about how you became involved with this year’s Dance for Life program, and your ties to the Chicago dance community?

From training with Giordano and Lou Conte to becoming a founding member of River North, I’ve spent my life in this community. I’m pretty sure I was in the first Dance for Life! I’m humbled and honored that PARA.MAR was accepted into this year’s line-up alongside some of Chicago’s best. It’s really motivating to have such encouragement and to feel like we belong here. There truly couldn’t be a better way for P/M to round out our first year in existence than performing in such an iconic evening of Chicago dance. 

Stephanie Martinez, photo by Cheryl Mann

Your piece, kiss., explores intimacy. How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it?

The piece was created while we were still coming to grips with quarantine, and was heavily influenced by it. There was more time in isolation and time for reflection that anyone could have been prepared for. 

The piece is an exploration of the human need for connection as we were grappling with what it meant and felt like to be without it.

You’ll see the characters go through the universal feelings of loneliness, loss, and love. Hopefully, watching the piece makes you realize that in any experience, you aren’t really alone. 

You chose the music of Johann Sebastian Bach to choreograph this to – what drew you to it?

Bach, Mozart, and Schubert were perfect companions to the new, more abstract compositions that are featured in the work – three of which were created by the excellent Chicago-based/NY-born composer Darryl J. Hoffman and one by our multifaceted rehearsal director and creative force, Noelle Kayser. Throughout the creation process, we explored the difference between our private and public self. Bach, Mozart, and Schubert are so delicious…luxurious and grand. They were the perfect soundtrack for who we outwardly project ourselves to be and provide an interesting contrast to the more isolated and intimate realities we may feel inside.

Can you shed a little light on your choreographic process for this?

It remains astounding to me that the entire first half of the process took place over Zoom. The way it went is that the dancers were taught various phrases that I created. Then the dancers used the phrases and a series of physical and emotional prompts to manipulate the material. When we were finally able to be in the studio together, I placed and expanded upon the puzzle pieces that were created over Zoom to support the narrative of the piece.

Dance for Life has always been a time of coming together for the Chicago dance community. What does it mean to you personally?

Dance for Life is always an evening of celebration and community. The support you feel in the wings extends well beyond the once a year performance. Over the years, I’ve seen Chicago Dancers United assist my friends and colleagues in times of crisis and feel lucky and grateful to have resources like these available to the dance community in our city.


Dance for Life takes place Thursday, August 26th at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago. The gates will open at 5:00 p.m. and the performance runs from 6:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Premium seating benefiting Chicago Dancers United is available here for a donation of $300 or more. Please note that this year there will also be free seating available in both the bowl and the lawn area.

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: Chicago Dancers United, dance for life, dance for life 2021, dance for life chicago, Dance Works Chicago, giordono dance chicago, hubbard street dance chicago, Movement Revloultion Dance Crew, PARA.MAR, randy duncan, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Stephanie Martinez, the joffrey ballet, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Visceral Dance Chicago, Winifred Haun & Dancers

10 Questions With Alice Klock

April 28, 2018 by Rachel Hellwig

Alice Klock. Photo by Quinn Wharton.

1. How did you first become involved in dance?

I’ve been dancing as long as I can remember.

After having seen me improv my way through the living room for years, my mother asked if I’d like to try a ballet class. I was eleven and I’ve been at it ever since.

2. When/how did you realize you wanted to become a professional dancer?

I attended the San Francisco Ballet’s summer program at 13 and would watch the company work and rehearse whenever I could find a moment to sneak to their studio door. It was thrilling.

There was something so beautiful about the way the dancers interacted, the sense of company life, and I decided it was something I wanted to experience.

3. Was there ever a time when you thought of quitting dance or second-guessed your decision to pursue a professional career? If so, what helped you through that time?

Honestly, no. My commitment to this field has been pretty unwavering.

My path was tumultuous at times, but through set backs, injuries, and disappointments, I’ve never felt like quitting. I’ve felt the need to shift my environment, or my role within the profession, but that to me is an exciting evolution.

I would recommend to any struggling dancer who is wondering if they should quit to ask themselves if perhaps they are just in the wrong place, or if they are trying to be something they are not. The dance world is vast! There are more options than we sometimes suppose.

I am now at a point where I am transitioning out of dancing full-time so that I can choreograph more, but even that feels like an evolution rather than a departure.

https://vimeo.com/218059438

4. When/how did you realize you wanted to pursue choreography?

It is hard to say when/how, I’ve always loved choreographing!

I have been super lucky to have the support of my choreographic work that I have received at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and from my amazing boss Glenn Edgerton. I believe that Glenn has been instrumental in my journey to becoming a choreographer as he gave me the space, encouragement, and opportunities to truly nurture and find my voice. I’m incredibly grateful for that.

5. What inspires you as a choreographer?

Everything.

6. How would you describe your choreographic process?

My process is quite random, but always focuses on really using the dancers in the room.

I always strive to find the individualism in each artist, and unlock as much of their “personal genius” (something I believe each of us has) as I can. This means I seldom come in with too many preconceived notions about the piece I will make.

That being said, my movement is highly conceptual at its source, and is often directly derived from words or ideas. For example, I might ask a dancer “what is your favorite word?” or “what is the most amazing thing you have ever seen?” and then I shall construct a movement phrase out of their answer.

7. What’s the best advice you’ve received about choreography?

“Don’t hold anything back”

https://vimeo.com/218062887

8. What are some things you’d like to explore in your choreography career and dance career in the future?

I would like to work with a vast array of dancers, artists, and institutions. I love the unexpected and being put into contact with the unusual.

I would like to work with huge groups, with ballet dancers, with competition dancers, with non-dancers. I’d like to experiment with it all and to push the boundaries of what we think dance is.

I believe that as a creator it is paramount to create work that is inclusive and socially conscious and that breaks out of the often inappropriate antique norms that still exist in the art form.

As a dancer, I would like to continue to explore performing new and different work. Last year, Florian Lochner (a fellow Hubbard Street dancer and Choreographic Fellow) and I formed “Flock” which is a project in which we co-choreograph pieces that we then perform.

I am interested to grow this further and to see what that can open up for me as a performer. Dancing in our work is a particularly wild and satisfying experience and very different from the years I have spent in a rep company.

I also look forward to expanding “Flock” out further into the world and to see what that leads to.

9. You’re headed to Utah in May for SALT Contemporary Dance’s inaugural LINK dance festival. How did you first become connected with SALT?

SALT has been on my radar for some time as a place where I would love to create work. Their dancers are beautiful and varied and their mission is strong and inspiring. I was honored and excited to be asked to participate in their LINK festival.

10. What are you most looking forward about LINK?

The dancers! Like I said, I love being thrown into a studio with new dancers and this will be a particularly exciting process as our creation time is only a week! I am looking forward to see what we concoct!

https://vimeo.com/226251438


Disclosure: Rachel Hellwig serves as marketing director for SALT

Filed Under: 10 Questions With... Tagged With: 10 questions with, Alice Klock, career, chicago, choreographic process, choreography, contemporary dance, Contemporary Dance Choreography, hubbard street dance chicago, LINK Dance Festival, SALT Contemporary Dance, SALT Contemporary Dance LINK Dance Festival, Utah

Dance For Life Chicago 2017

August 16, 2017 by 4dancers

On August 19th, Dance for Life Chicago will once again take place at the Auditorium Theatre, and anyone who has attended in the past knows that this performance isn’t one to be missed. The atmosphere is always highly charged, as an enthusiastic audience comes together to support the dance community in our city. It’s a night like none other in terms of the variety of Chicago dance talent gathered together on stage.

Each year the performance is preceded by a Gala Celebration at Hilton Chicago, located nearby at 720 South Michigan Avenue. The show itself begins at 7:30, featuring performances from Giordano Dance Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, as well as Visceral Dance Chicago and Jessica Miller Tomlinson Choreography. Add to that a collaboration between Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, and Trinity Irish Dance, and you have a full evening of dance – topped off by a finale choreographed by Randy Duncan. Carisa Barreca and Kevin Sciretta of The Second City will be the emcees for the night, adding a lighthearted touch to the festivities.

As if such a gathering of Chicago dance companies isn’t enough in and of itself, the proceeds from Dance for Life Chicago 2017’s benefit performance will be contributed to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Chicago Dancers United’s Dancers’ Fund, which provides financial support to dance professionals experiencing critical health and life issues. This yearly event has raised more than 5.5 million dollars since it began in 1992.

Visit Chicago Dancers United to learn more about the performance, the Dancers’ Fund, or to get tickets for this special event.


4dancers is a media sponsor for this event. We have supported Dance for Life for many years, and are proud to stand behind this cause and do our part to give back to the Chicago dance community.

Filed Under: 4dancers Tagged With: aids foundation of chicago, chicago dance, Chicago Dancers United, chicago human rhythm dance project, dance for life, Dane for Life Chicago, Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater, Giordano Dance Chicago, hubbard street dance chicago, Jessica Miller Tomlinson Choreography, joffrey ballet, randy duncan, Trinity Irish Dance, Visceral Dance Chicago

Expect The Unexpected: Hubbard Street’s Evening Of Cerrudo

June 12, 2015 by 4dancers

Alejandro Cerrudo's Still in Motion
Hubbard Street Dancers Jacqueline Burnett, foreground, Jonathan Fredrickson and Ana Lopez in Still in Motion by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

by Catherine L. Tully

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Season 37 Summer Series takes place at the Harris Theater, featuring three works from resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. This is only the second time the company has presented a program that focuses on a single artist, and taking in an entire evening of this gifted choreographer’s work is truly a luxury to experience.

White feathers cascade slowly to the stage floor in preparation for the beginning program piece, Extremely Close. One of Cerrudo’s earliest works for the company, it’s perfectly bookended with his more recent Little mortal jump, showing the evolution of his choreography from one piece to the other. Both make ample use of large sliding panels, which add intrigue and energy throughout. The cinematic quality that is so often a hallmark of Cerrudo’s work is present here, along with the poignant moments he creates using unusual imagery. Hubbard Street dancers were meant for this choreography and they execute it confidently with both vigor and ease.

Hubbard Street Dancers
Hubbard Street Dancers Andrew Murdock and Jessica Tong in Extremely Close by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg. Hubbard Street Dance Technical Rehearsal of Extremely Close by Alejandro Cerrudo © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2015

The second item on the program is Cerrudo’s world premiere, Still in Motion, which offers a marked departure from his previous style. Even so, the highly edited and pared-down choreography still displays signature traits: a spectacular circular fluidity, moving from silence to sound, quick vignettes.

The set consists of a light-colored tarp that stretches long across the floor and up onto the back wall–with a strip of neon blue marking the top. Visually it resembles a strange sort of wave, something almost confirmed by two women stretching out on the ground undulating gently–as if floating under water. The set and lighting design by Michael Korsch offer a quiet, subtle compliment to the choreographer’s work.

Hubbard Street Dancers Alice Klock, foreground, and Garrett Patrick Anderson in Still in Motion  by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.
Hubbard Street Dancers Alice Klock, foreground, and Garrett Patrick Anderson in Still in Motion
by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

While many of Cerrudo’s previous pieces display an urgency that tends to hold or build throughout, Still in Motion feels more relaxed, more refined. Movements here are simple, even at times, almost pedestrian. Three male dancers breathing deeply in unison. An exaggerated walk. Postures that are held. Slight gestures.

Rather than a watered-down version of his own work, however, Still in Motion instead has a clarity and streamlined sophistication previously unseen in Cerrudo’s choreography. It moves in a new direction without totally reinventing his style or abandoning the beauty of it. And the Hubbard Street dancers, chameleons to the core, adapt effortlessly to whatever they are asked to do.

Little mortal jump
Hubbard Street Dancers Jesse Bechard, left, and Ana Lopez in Little mortal jump by Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Closing the program is Little mortal jump. This was Cerrudo’s tenth creation for the company, and it highlights the athletic skills of the dancers as well as the choreographer’s ability to amuse, entertain and evoke emotion. A lighthearted, fun approach at the beginning of the piece gives way to a swirling, thrilling duet–a riveting end to a triumphant program.

Hubbard Street’s Summer Series runs through June 14th at the Harris Theater. Tickets are still available.

Filed Under: Performance Reviews Tagged With: alejandro cerrudo, choreography, extremely close, harris theater, hubbard street dance chicago, little mortal jump, performance review, still in motion

Inside Of “In C”

June 17, 2014 by 4dancers

Hubbard Street 2 Apprentice Adrienne Lipson reviews notes in a rehearsal at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, for collaboratively devised choreography to “In C” by composer Terry Riley. Photo by Andrea Thompson.
Hubbard Street 2 Apprentice Adrienne Lipson reviews notes in a rehearsal at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, for collaboratively devised choreography to “In C” by composer Terry Riley. Photo by Andrea Thompson.

by Andrea Thompson

On Friday, June 6, I had the unique pleasure of performing a work’s world premiere and closing show within a nine-hour span. These were vastly different experiences — and that was the point.

For the past two months, my fellow Hubbard Street 2 dancers and I had been knee-deep in creation, collaborating with the Citizen Musician Fellows of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. The focus was “In C,” a piece by composer Terry Riley that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It’s an unusual work to learn, requiring both its sheet music and a set of instructions for playing — and I mean “play” quite literally. Its structure is improvisatory in nature: Each musician is allowed to play the 53 musical phrases or “cells” of “In C” as many times as he or she pleases, dropping out and reentering the score at will. Riley’s instructions contain goals and guidelines, but outside of these each musician has freedom to decide in the moment what and when to play.

In the spirit of game-playing, listening, and the ephemeral nature of performance, we created — with the help of choreographer and Hubbard Street 2 director Terence Marling — our own approach to this ever-changing music. From early on, we knew we would perform an outdoor show to a recording of “In C” prior to an evening show accompanied live by the Citizen Musician Fellows.

In other words: One show would have a predetermined length, while the other could last anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Gulp.

We embarked on our choreographic journey by studying the cells, picking out landmarks we could identify regardless of how the score was interpreted. Cells of whole notes became our best, most recognizable friends. After familiarizing ourselves with the score, we had to figure out what the nature of our choreographic content would be. Games and improvisation seemed a natural fit given the structure of this music, so we set to work brainstorming new and favorite improv tasks, sharing visual images we wanted to achieve, and developing movement phrases inspired by the music.

Notes for choreography
Scan of notes made by Hubbard Street 2 Dancers and Director Terrence Marling, for their collaboratively devised choreography to “In C” by composer Terry Riley. Courtesy of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Sequencing all that material was like putting a puzzle together. Certain ideas fell naturally in line with specific cells and became markers — assuming we’d be able to hear them in live performance — and then it was a matter of filling in the blanks with tasks that linked together logically. Like the musicians, we could stretch ideas out longer to challenge each other, or speed through them when it felt right. We developed a long string of cues and signals to indicate to each other when it was time to progress. We ended up with around 43 tasks, which spanned Riley’s 53 cells as a kind of roadmap. Our director Terry used a giant chronometer to denote each change of cell he heard in the music, so we would always know approximately where we were.

Of course, with our piece tied to spontaneity, every time we practiced our structure we landed somewhat differently on the recorded music. Terry rehearsed us to several different recordings of the piece in the week leading up to our shows, so that we wouldn’t be thrown off by unpredictable variations in the live music. And although we rehearsed a few times at Symphony Center’s Buntrock Hall with the musicians as well as every day in our West Loop studios, taking our piece outside meant encountering a whole new set of elements we could do nothing to prepare for indoors.

Our debut of “In C” kicked off the inaugural Living Loop Festival (produced by Chicago Loop Alliance and High Concept Laboratories). It was a gorgeous morning downtown when we arrived, with blue skies and warm temperatures. Our stage was in the shade at first, but by noon the sun was beaming down, warming our bodies and our marley as we adjusted to all the sights and sounds around Federal Plaza. Some people sat with their lunches just a few feet away from us, while others stayed further back and watched from a distance. Many stopped to catch just a few minutes of the piece; I even saw people across the street stopping to take in the scene.

Hubbard Street 2 performing outdoors
Hubbard Street 2 Dancers perform to “In C” by Terry Riley in Federal Plaza, to open The Living Loop’s inaugural, summer-long performance festival. From left: Adrienne Lipson, Katie Kozul and Andrea Thompson. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

All the outdoor elements lent themselves beautifully to the nature of the music and the choreographic structure we created to it. “In C” is about paying attention to your surroundings, and deciding to either counter them or let them inform you. Each spectator of our performance became a part of “In C” as they strolled by. The dancers tuned into each other, the music, the clock — and simultaneously took cues from passersby, the Alexander Calder sculpture sharing our plaza, buildings, and the perfectly blue sky above. All told, the performance was an exhilarating experience I won’t soon forget.

The evening performance was an equally memorable, though entirely different occasion. Buntrock Hall was set with a marley in the center of the space, while audience seating and musicians surrounded it on all sides. The piece began with a xylophone — the only constant element involved — setting the tempo, after which the musicians walked to their places and one by one, began playing the first cell. A few seconds later we followed to the edges of the space to enter one at a time as well.

Hubbard Street 2 performing
Hubbard Street 2 Dancers perform “In C” by Terry Riley with the Citizen Musician Fellows of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, June 6, 2014 in Buntrock Hall at Symphony Center. Center: Hubbard Street 2 Dancer Andrea Thompson, with, from left: Lissa Smith, Jules Joseph, Richard Walters and Odbayar Batsuuri. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Musician and dancer alike shared a palpable sense of anticipation. Everyone was open to informing and being informed by what we heard and saw — the backbone and the beauty of our collaboration — and I could sense that cooperative atmosphere as soon as I entered the room. Though we’d rehearsed together before, I was never more cognizant of the musicians’ eyes than during the show. In performance I was acutely aware that how I danced could have an impact on the upright bass, or the trumpet, or the viola — which could in turn affect how other musicians made their sounds. The unpredictable nature of “In C” became even more exciting knowing that I was part dancer, part listener and part co-conductor. Performing the piece with brilliant, enthusiastic live musicians brought it to life in a way completely different from performing outside earlier that day, yet equally fascinating.

It’s hard to believe the project we spent nearly two months on is now over, but the experience has certainly impacted me for the long term. Every member of HS2 contributed to the creation of our structure in a significant way, and I think we all came to realize the value of “just throwing ideas out there.” As a group, we tried every single proposal and held each other to refining what was unclear. We tried to create a work true to Terry Riley’s musical guidelines and appropriate to the playful, unpredictable nature of his piece. I think we not only succeeded in that, but also succeeded in opening ourselves up to new possibilities of how to choreograph, how to work together and how to collaborate with artists of other genres. Our “In C” may be over, but it has left an eternal eighth note–playing xylophone in my head and with it, an eagerness to enter the next cell.

Andrea Thompson enters her second year with Hubbard Street 2 at the start of the company’s 2014–15 season. During Hubbard Street’s satellite Summer Intensive Program at the University of Iowa, Thompson will teach ballet technique and HS2 repertoire to pre-professional dancers ages 14–17 from across the country. For a complete HS2 touring schedule, artist profiles and more, visit hubbardstreetdance.com.

________________________________

Andrea Thompson photo by Quinn WhartonContributor Andrea Thompson (Maplewood, NJ) trained at the New Jersey School of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and the Ailey School in New York City. Thompson has also studied at the Juilliard School, Northwest Professional Dance Project, Springboard Danse Montréal, Nederlands Dans Theater and Batsheva Dance Company, which brought opportunities to perform choreography by Gregory Dolbashian, William Forsythe, Natalia Horecna, Jessica Lang, Marina Mascarell, Idan Sharabi, Robyn Mineko Williams, Paul Lightfoot and Sol León. At the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, under the direction of Summer Lee Rhatigan, she trained with and performed works by Christian Burns, Alex Ketley, Thomas McManus, Robert Moses, Ohad Naharin, Alessio Silvestrin and Bobbi Jene Smith. Thompson joined Hubbard Street 2 in August 2013, following work in San Francisco and New York with Zhukov Dance Theatre, Chang Yong Sung, LoudHoundMovement, Backwoods Dance Project and the Foundry.

 

Filed Under: 4dancers, Making Dances Tagged With: andrea thompson, buntrock hall, chicago dance, choreography, civic orchestra of chicago, hs2, hubbard street 2, hubbard street dance chicago, In C, living loop festival, making dances, Terence Marling, Terry Riley

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