Photo Flash: Hubbard Street Youth Dance Program Enjoys Record Growth; Offers Open House, 9/7

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Youth Dance Program, for children ages 18 months to 16 years and focused on the choreographic process, will offer an Open House on September 7, 2013, from 9 am to 3 pm at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard. Scroll down for photos from last year's open house and more!

Twenty-one trial classes, 30 minutes each, will be offered free of charge to allow children, parents and caregivers the opportunity to meet faculty, ask questions and determine which program offerings are right for them. Those who register during this Open House for the program's 2013 Fall Session will save 10 percent.

Hubbard Street's Youth Dance Program enjoyed record growth during the 2012-13 school year. Construction is currently underway on a third studio primarily dedicated to these classes, to be complete by the September 7 event. Enrollment in summer 2013 Youth Dance Camps increased by 58% over 2012, for 17 camps relative to nine total offered last summer. (Youth Dance Camps continue through August 23 and registration is still open.) Dance presentations and interactive family experiences led by Youth Dance Ensemble members have been held at the Chicago Children's Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the UIC Theatre, as well as at Ellen Mitchell Elementary School, part of the Focus Schools Initiative (FSI) of Hubbard Street's Education Programs. More than 60 classes will be offered per week during the coming Fall Session, which runs 31 weeks beginning September 16, 2013. An audition for the Youth Dance Ensemble, for ages 11-16, will be held September 21 at the Hubbard Street Dance Center.

"We're delighted by the growth we've seen," says Kathryn Humphreys, Director of Hubbard Street's Education, Youth and Community Programs. "It's inspiring to see so many young dancers in the building, creating and learning alongside our professionals. We look forward to supporting these dancers' growth in our first studio created specifically for them, as well as to continued growth in our Community programs and the Youth Ensemble's interactions with Chicago families. Our program offers a unique approach to dance education, allowing students to study all aspects of dance, and explore connections between improvisation, choreography and technique."

Youth Dance Program students begin their education with Creative Movement classes in the Early Childhood and Primary programs, where they investigate universal dance concepts as they relate to choreography and prepare for further study of various dance forms. In the Secondary Program, students work within specific dance techniques, developing proficiency in a supportive, open environment while developing a sophisticated understanding of how these techniques are used in the choreographic process. Interactions between students and members of Hubbard Street's two world-renowned performing companies provide inspiration and access to expertise.

The schedule for the Youth Dance Program Open House is as follows and subject to change:

9:15 am 9:30 am 10:00 am 10:15 am 10:45 am 11:00 am 11:30 am 11:45 am 12:15 pm 12:30 pm 1:00 pm 1:15 pm 1:45 pm 2:00 pm 2:30 pm

to 9:45 am to 10:00 am to 10:30 am to 10:45 am to 11:15 am to 11:30 am to 12:00 pm to 12:15 pm to 12:45 pm to 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm to 1:45 pm to 2:15 pm to 2:30 pm to 3:00 pm

Parent and Tot Yoga
Creative Movement (ages 3-5), Yoga for Parents, Tap A
Ballet A
Creative Movement (ages 1.5-3), Hip-Hop
Ballet C
Creative Movement (ages 5-7), Jazz A
Yoga
Creative Movement (ages 3-5), Creative Movement (ages 7-9) Dance Composition (ages 10 and up)
Jazz C, Family Workshop (Creative Movement)
Hip-Hop
Modern A
Modern C
Family Hip-Hop
Tap C

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 36th season in 2013 and 2014. Among the world's top contemporary dance companies and a global cultural ambassador, Hubbard Street demonstrates fluency in a wide range of techniques and forms, and deep comprehension of abstract artistry and emotional nuance. The company is critically acclaimed for its exuberant and innovative repertoire, featuring works by master American and international choreographers. Hubbard Street's artists hail from four countries and 12 U.S. states, and comprise a superlative ensemble of virtuosity and versatility. Since its founding by Lou Conte in 1977, Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms. Each is dedicated to the support and advancement of dance as an art form, as a practice, and as a method for generating and sustaining communities of all kinds.

Hubbard Street 2, directed by Terence Marling, cultivates young professional dancers, identifies next- generation choreographers, and performs domestically and abroad, in service of arts education, collaboration, experimentation and audience development.

Extensive Youth, Education & Community Programs, directed by Kathryn Humphreys, are models in the field of arts education, linking the performing company's creative mission to the lives of students and families. Hubbard Street also initiated the first dance-based program in the Midwest to help alleviate suffering caused by Parkinson's disease. Youth Dance Program classes at the Hubbard Street Dance Center include Creative Movement and progressive study of technique, open to young dancers ages 18 months to 16 years.

At the Lou Conte Dance Studio, directed by founding Hubbard Street Dancer Claire Bataille, workshops and master classes allow access to expertise, while a broad variety of weekly classes offer training at all levels in jazz, ballet, modern, tap, African, hip-hop, yoga, Pilates and Zumba.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is located at 1147 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60607. Call 312-850-9744 or visit hubbardstreetdance.com, Facebook.com/HubbardStreetDance, Twitter.com/HubbardStreet, and Pinterest.com/HubbardStDance.

Photo Credit: Todd Rosenberg