Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Announces Fall Session Add-on, Gaga Dance Technique, 11/1

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and its home in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, the Hubbard Street Dance Center, announced today the facility's first public classes in Gaga dance technique, to begin November 1, 2013.

Originally developed by renowned choreographer Ohad Naharin at the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel, Gaga technique has quickly grown in popularity and influence worldwide. Gaga classes include structured movement improvisations designed to heighten awareness of physical sensations, encourage exhaustive exploration of movement tasks, and engage the imagination in tandem with the body's muscle groups and biological systems.

Says Claire Bataille, Director of the Lou Conte Dance Studio: "Gaga offers innumerable benefits to dancers trained in any combination of other techniques, in addition to providing a body-friendly point of entry to structured dance study in general. We're delighted to add Gaga technique to our growing list of class types available to the public, and are proud to be part of the positive impact that Gaga is making internationally."

This first session also furthers the connection between Hubbard Street's professional company of 18 dancers and the Lou Conte Dance Studio, founded three years earlier in 1974. Gaga technique was previously available only to company dancers during their work with Ohad Naharin and other Batsheva personnel, such as choreographer Sharon Eyal and rehearsal directors Yoshifumi Inao and Adi Salant.

Six initial Gaga classes will be held Fridays from 12 pm-1:45 pm November 1 through December 13 at the Lou Conte Dance Studio, 1147 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago. Guest instructor Anna Long, based in New York City, completed the pilot Gaga Teacher Training Program in 2012. Regular LCDS class cards can be used for any and all Gaga session classes; the drop-in rate is $15. Space is limited. For more information, visit hubbardstreetdance.com/lcds.

Anna Long, born in Boston MA, is a freelance dancer, choreographer, and Gaga teacher based in the

United States. Long began dancing at age three at the New England Dance Academy, continuing her

studies with the Festival Ballet (Providence, RI) and Spindle City Ballet (Fall River, MA). She completed her

BA degree in dance and biology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and continues to perform and

teach contemporary dance in the U.S. and abroad. Long was first exposed to Gaga technique in 2010 and,

the following year, was chosen to participate in the pilot Gaga Teachers Training Program, completing her

certification in 2012. Long has since taught Gaga classes regularly around New York City, at Dance New

Amsterdam, the Mark Morris Dance Center, the Jewish Community Center of Manhattan and the 92nd

Street Y, in addition to guest-teaching the cast of acclaimed theater production Sleep No More. She is

currently a frequent collaborator with CircuitDebris, founded by Mersiha Mesihovic, and has premiered

choreography at InSight Dance's Summer Suites, the Undertoe Dance Festival and Bushwick Open Studios.

Long appears in two dance films by Victoria Sendra and is currently collaborating with Samantha Shay on a

dance-theater adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.

About Hubbard Street

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 and 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

1147 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois 60607 • 312-850-9744 • hubbardstreetdance.com