Hubbard Street Kicks Off DANC(E)VOLVE Festival Today

Responding to popular demand, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago announces the addition of an eighth performance during its danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, today, June 6-16, 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA, 220 East Chicago Avenue in Chicago).

Tickets are $35 and on sale now for the added show, at 3 pm on Sunday, June 16. Seven performances previously announced - on June 6 at 7:30 pm, June 8 at 8 pm, June 9 at 3 pm, June 14 at 8 pm, and June 13, 15 and 16 at 7:30 pm - are nearly sold out.

This second danc(e)volve program at the MCA's Edlis Neeson Theater features six World Premieres, choreographed by Hubbard Street dancers Jonathan Fredrickson and Penny Saunders, Hubbard Street 2 (HS2) dancer Andrew Wright, HS2 Director Terence Marling and former company member Robyn Mineko Williams. Each danc(e)volve performance also includes a special presentation by Hubbard Street dancers and staff who recently toured Algeria, Morocco and Spain through DanceMotion USA, a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music.

Premieres for danc(e)volve: New Works Festival are created through Hubbard Street's Choreographic Development Initiative. This project is partially supported by a grant from the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation and by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. At the heart of Hubbard Street's vision is an ambition to advance contemporary dance, requiring experimentation and innovation. The three programming components of Hubbard Street's Choreographic Development Initiative are the Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop, the National Choreographic Competition (NCC) and danc(e)volve: New Works Festival.

Inside/Out returns for a 12th year with two performances on July 6, 2013, at 5 pm and 8 pm, at the UIC Theatre (1040 West Harrison Street in Chicago). Tickets for Inside/Out - $35 (preferred "VIP" seating) and $20 (general admission) - will be available beginning Tuesday, June 4, online at hubbardstreetdance.com or by phone at 312-850-9744.

• Hubbard Street 2 initiated the National Choreographic Competition in 1999 as part of its mission to identify and nurture young choreographers. Each year, the competition provides residencies allowing choreographers the opportunity to create original works for Hubbard Street 2 and conduct master classes for the community. The NCC has gained an esteemed reputation and international recognition, and has produced nearly 30 World Premieres.

• Hubbard Street launched its Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop in 2001, to provide a yearly opportunity for its company dancers and artistic team members to develop their choreographic skills and their understanding of all elements of dance production, including rehearsal management, marketing, creative rights, and costume and lighting design.

Works and choreographers identified through both programs above are eligible for inclusion in each danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, which opportunity provides artists with still more production support and rehearsal time. From danc(e)volve: New Works Festival, selected works are brought into active repertoire for the main company and/or Hubbard Street 2, and performed during domestic and international touring engagements.

Hubbard Street believes this three-pronged model of selecting works for its repertoire can be a national model for artistic development, while proactively diversifying contemporary concert dance.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, will celebrate 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 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 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 • 312-850-9744 or visit hubbardstreetdance.com. Find Hubbard Street on: Facebook.com/HubbardStreetDance, Twitter.com/HubbardStreet • Pinterest.com/HubbardStDance.

Pictured: Hubbard Street Dancers in "ManRouge" by Robyn Mineko Williams, from left: Jesse Bechard, Garrett Patrick Anderson, Jonathan Fredrickson and David Schultz. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.