By Walter Rutledge
The second week of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago began Tuesday March 31 and runs thru Easter Sunday, April 5th at the Joyce Theater. The two-week run offered two programs each running for six consecutive days and seven performances. Week two features choreography by Aszure Barton, Bob Fosse, James Gregg and Matthew Rushing.
The company presented another well curated audience friendly evening of dance. The wide-ranging diverse program exemplified Hubbard Street’s reputation for offering eclectic and engaging performances. And again, the production value was par none.
The evening opened with Within the Frame a quartet by choreographer James Gregg. The curtain rose with Dominick Brown and Cyrie Topete sequestered in a yellow square of light. The ensuing duet replaced the traditional male/female role playing. The dominative Topete physically manipulating Brown and initiating partnering and transitions. At times she appeared to be more of an antagonist than the traditional submissive partner.
The work was buoyed by the movement inspiring music of Ben Waters. Gregg capitalized on the driving score but wisely did not compete with the energy. He didn’t need to; the dance has created its own inner music, its own rhythm, and cadence.
A true movement vocabulary allows the artist greater freedom and personal exploration. Greg has developed a very distinct signature movement style, which has absorbed traditional/established disciplines with hip hop/street dance. The result is a codified amalgam of port de bras and movement passages with an urban brogue.
“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and its music. Bodies never lie,” stated Agnes de Mille. Due to the ephemeral nature of dance preserving and sharing dance works from the past should be part of every repertoire company’s mission.
Percussion IV by Bob Fosse was choreographed for the 1978 Broadway musical Dancin. The plotless, dance-driven revue earned four Tony awards including best choreography for Fosse. Percussion IV is in total contrast to last week’s Hubbard Street Fosse offering, Sweet Gwen Suite. Void of Fosse’s trademark comedic touches and witty innuendoes the solo is a technical tour de force, which requires a strong theatrical base.
In past revivals the work has been an impressive showcase for male performers; that is until Hubbard Street. Bianca Melidor gave a performance best described as “wow”. A true “I am woman hear me roar” moment her attack was visceral, technically articulate and fiercely focused.
Matthew Rushing’s Beauty Chasers was a dance with a fashion twist. The trio begins as three solos unfolding in down spots from stage right, stage left then center. Each dancer, Dominick Brown, Morgan Clune and Michele Dooley, appeared is flesh toned tights and leotards (on Clune and Dooley). As the worked progress the dancers returned multiple times adding an item of clothing or an accessory with each reappearance.
An expansive and willowy upper body accompanied by a supple, yet sensual undulating spine gave the work a sense of antiquity. While modern day tension-based staples such as hinges and deep contractions on floor work grounded the dance.
Although Rushing gave each performer “equal” stage time Brown’s solo passages seemed to have the largest impact. His last solo iteration had a command and eroticism that propelled the vignette’s rising action into the culminating group section. The final tableau projected a regal air from a bygone diasporic era.
The evening concluded with Aszure Barton’s Blue Soup. As previously describe in the O&A NYC Magazine’s critique of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s first Joyce Theater week (link below) the everything but the kitchen sink ballet took us on a roller coaster of dance imagery. The high camp drag opening digressed into a double-entendre for laughing in public to mask your private tears. Kudos to Aaron Choate who performance garnered first laughter, then empathy.
The full ensemble followed, and Barton immediately began to establish the ballet look and humorous undertones. The ballet consisted of a series of non-sequential vignettes that were connected through a shared movement quality and choreographic style. The oversized short cropped blue jackets recalled images of David Byrne’s 1983 Talking Heads tour and provided an additional quirky element.
Throughout the work small group sections were interspersed between larger ensemble movement which anchored the ballet and solidified the works pacing. David Schultz was a standout in a solo that had him dancing through four separate down spots placed side by side downstage. His infectious smile and exuberant delivery came full force over the footlights and garnered an enthusiastic response from the audience.
We look forward to the now annual Hubbard Street Dance Chicago New York City season at the Joyce Theater. The strong dancers, engaging choreography and excellent production value made the two-week New York City engagement almost feels not long enough. For those who share this sentiment we came always catch their spring concert May 14th,15th, and 17th at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chitown.
3/29/26 O&A NYC DANCE BY WALTER RUTLEDGE: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago – Week One
In Photo: Aszure Barton’s Blue Soup, Cast 2 James Gregg’s Within the Frame, Dominick Brown and Cyrie Topete 3. Matthew Rushing’s Beauty Chasers, Bianca Melidor, Cyrie Topete and Shota Miyoshi 4. Matthew Rushing’s Beauty Chasers Shota Miyoshi 5. Aszure Barton’s Blue Soup, Aaron Choate
Michelle Reid photographer
As usual Walter well expressed and Thoroughly explained. Thanks my friend, Brother.