There are no words.
Well, obviously that’s not true cos I’m about to say a whole bunch of words – they can pretty much all be found in the thesaurus under glorious, magnificent, gorgeous … you get the idea. The only bad news is that it’s a short run, just May 17-19, but don’t despair: HUBBARD STREET DANCE is Chicago-based, and they’ll be back. Get on their email list so you can get tickets to their next show. Pricey? maybe. Value for the money? inestimable!
I’m unabashedly biased: I’ve been watching and loving HUBBARD STREET DANCE for almost forty of their forty-six years, but despite that familiarity, OF JOY blew my socks clean off. OF JOY is the third and final series in HUBBARD STREET DANCE’s 2023/24 Season: OF ABUNDANCE. The 47th season will kick off in November, so start watching your inbox in October.
The program included four pieces with two intermissions. The dances made the need for the intermissions clear: the company needed to recuperate, recover, regain, rehydrate, rebound, and rally. OMG the amount of pure energy expended!
First was Echoes of Our Ancestors, choreographed by the world-renowned Maria Torres and danced by the entire company to music by Philip Hamilton. Its narrative choreography connected with the traditional Caribbean Latino rhythms, and Luis Razo’s costumes used the brilliant colors characteristic of Afro-Latino culture, with enormously wide skirts that became wings and striped shawls swept with the rhythms. One dancer described Echoes of Our Ancestors as ‘a melting pot’, and Torres agreed that she intended the work to form a bond between Afro-Latino and other cultures. The dance was a whirling turbulence with dancers all over the stage – I’d like to watch it several more times to catch the action in other realms of the stage.
After intermission the show resumed with a solo, Show Pony, danced on the night I attended (5/18/24) by Cyrie Topete (she/they) [on other nights the dancers were Alysia Johnson (Alysia/she/her) and Aaron Choate (they/them)]. Kyle Abraham choreographed, and Fritz Masten costumed Topete in a full leotard of gleaming gold, which took on other tones under Dan Scully’s lighting. Cyrie says she danced Show Pony with “spontaneous and playful choices … I feel powerful and confident, and I feel safe to roar!” – all of which was wholeheartedly evident in her dancing. The music, Hatshepsut, was written and performed by Jlin and was equally spontaneous and playful. The music and choreography were truly one, not simply complementary but reciprocal, interchangeable.
A Duo was choreographed by Resident Artist Aszure Barton (she/her), working with dancers Abdiel Figueroa Reyes (he/they) and Aaron Choate (they/them). I adore M/M pas de deux, and I believe it was subtly enhanced by both dancers being nonbinary. Another augmentation was the collaborative choreography: Barton continually evolved it in response to each dancer’s strengths and virtuosity, as well as the chemistry between the dancers, which was palpable. Choate says Barton’s work is so difficult that performing it gives a dancer fresh insight into their capacity and potential. Two words used in reference to A Duo were curiosity and playfulness. Yup, two in a row, Show Pony and A Duo, with ‘playful’ intrinsic to the choreography and performance. The music was amazing as well: “Miu” and “Shaolin Mantis” composed, produced, and recorded by Maria Herlop. Performing on electric bass was Oscar Garrobe; Mix James Ginzburg and Marina Herlop. I needed the intermission myself to get my breath back after this!
The final selection was Impasse, choreographed by Swedish Johan Inger, who also did the Scenic Design, with Fernando Hernando Magadan as Stager. This was a complex piece, very energetic, with fourteen dancers: Alexandria Best (she/her), Jacqueline Burnett (she/her), Michelle Dooley (she/her), Aaron Choate (they/them), Elliot Hammans (he/him), Jack Henderson (he/him), Alysia Johnson (she/her), Shota Miyoshi (he/him), David Schultz (he/him), Matt Wenckowski (he/him), Simone Stevens (she/her), Cyrie Topete (she/they), and Craig D. Black Jr (he/they; also Rehearsal Director).
It was astonishing to witness some of the incredible contortions a human body can tangle itself into! Dancers reported being initially dubious about some of the choreography, not completely sure a human body could do that … but it could, and they did! The erstwhile impossible configurations were achieved, then passed into muscle memory and were embraced. Aggregates of dancers formed patterns and enactments, working together to weave storylines then unravelling into new compositions. The music included Diagnostic by Ibrahim Maalouf, distributed by Harmonia Mundi – Lily (is 2), Will Soon be a Woman, Maeva in the Wonderland, Your Soul, and Never Serious. Original composition by Amos Ben-Tai.
I have only one criticism: the volume of the music. It was excessive for me, even with my rock band-hardened eardrums. My companion has sensory processing issues and was at times in pain, even with their fingers in their ears. The music was gorgeous, all of it, and absolutely perfect with the choreography, but it was almost too loud to hear – kind of like being too tired to sleep y’know? Neither are pleasant.
I wish I could tell you to see HUBBARD STREET DANCE perform OF JOY, but the run is over … was over before I had this review written. But some individual dances will be repeated, and additional ones performed, in the 47th season. And just think: the 2027/28 season will be HUBBARD STREET DANCE’s 50th, so there’s bound to be an extravaganza of dance that year!
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
