Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is just about midway through itsthree-week engagement at the Auditorium Theatre, and two conclusionscan be drawn. First, the company's dancers are among the mostuniformly accomplished and attractive anywhere. Second, HubbardStreet's major recent additions to its repertoire are bold, beautifuland unusual.
I've caught several programs since opening night - each offeringan intriguing and expertly balanced mix of styles and moods. Onemoment the dancers were exploring the lush, rapturous blend of balletand modern dance in Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato's "Na Floresta"and "Jardi Tancat"; the next they were throwing themselves into thewild, erotic playground antics of Daniel Ezralow's "Read My Hips," orspinning with breathtaking agility through his witty and beguilingplay on Scottish-Irish themes, "Lady Lost Found." Invariably, thedancing was breathtaking. (Laura Haney Gomez, Krista Ledden, GregorySample, Joseph Pantaleon and Ayman Aaron Harper, flying high in akilt, were the bravura performers in "Lady.")Duato is a richly musical and original choreographer who bringsout the Hubbard Street dancers' lyricism. The cast of "Na Floresta"was superb, including Mary Nesvadba, Shan Bai, Christine CarilloSimpson, Meredith Dinicol, Leisa Beemer, John Ross, Ron De Jesus,Joseph P. Pantaleon, Josef Patrick Pescetto and Jamy Meek.Wednesday night's program was a dazzling retrospective ofHubbard Street's progress through its 20-year-long history.It opened with the exquisitely danced "And Now This" (1988), byMargo Sappington. Set to Leonard Bernstein's jazzy, seductivetheater music, the piece showcases the company's precision ensemblework. Another work, the romantic idyll "Mirage" - with a dreamyscore by Ralph Vaughan Williams - reveals Sappington at her sensual,sculptural best. The duet was ravishingly danced, with Bolshoi-likeextravagance, by Simpson and Pescetto.Twyla Tharp's "The Golden Section," an ode to contemporary urbangladiators - set to a score by David Byrne - also was brilliantlydanced. But ironically, Tharp's frenzied pop style can feel dated.Also on the bill were early works by Hubbard Street's artisticdirector Lou Conte. "Georgia," sung by Willie Nelson, was deftlydanced by Cheryl Mann and De Jesus. And the company's longtimesignature piece, "The 40s" - a playful homage to big band mastersRalph Burns and Sy Oliver - was as zestfully danced as ever.Seen on the same program as a new acquisition - Jiri Kylian's"Sechs Tanze," an antic, rapid-fire spoof set to Mozart - Conte'sdances offered a telescoped view of how much this company has grownin its two decades. It is a true marvel.
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