Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Presents Four Works by Jirí Kylián This Spring

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, will present its first-ever mixed repertory program devoted to the work of a single choreographer during the Spring Series, March 13-16, 2014. This engagement's four works by Ji?í Kylián, celebrated international artist and former director of Nederlands Dans Theater in the Hague, will include Hubbard Street's first performances of Kylián's Sarabande (1990), for an all-male ensemble and set to Bach's second partita for solo violin with electronically manipulated live vocals; and Falling Angels (1989), for a cast of eight women and set to part one of Steve Reich's phased-percussion composition, Drumming, to be performed live by Third Coast Percussion, Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

The Spring Series continues Hubbard Street's longtime commitment to bringing Kylián's work to theaters across the U.S., starting with the company's April 1998 debut in Sechs Tänze (1986). 27'52'', made in 2001 for Nederlands Dans Theater 2 with an original score by Dirk Haubrich, returns, as does Kylián's signature masterpiece to music by Mozart, Petite Mort, created for Austria's Salzburg Festival in 1991. Kylián authorities Roslyn Anderson and Urtzi Aranburu (staging), Dick Schuttel (sound design and effects) and Joost Biegelaar (lighting) will produce these four works in partnership with Edgerton, himself a former director of Nederlands Dans Theater and Kylián expert.

"With Ji?í Kylián's choreography so widely seen now in the United States, it's easy to forget that, for many years, it was rarely presented here," says Edgerton. "I'm proud of Hubbard Street's long history of introducing his deeply moving, profoundly creative choreography to audiences from coast to coast, in both regional and national venues. It's fitting that Kylián is the first artist to receive such a singular programmatic focus from us, which we plan to replicate in coming seasons around other signature Hubbard Street choreographers.

These four works by Kylián on our Spring Series program will be a treat to his devoted fans, while providing a perfect introduction to his ideas for those newer to contemporary dance." Hubbard Street continues Season 36 with its Spring Series featuring four works by Ji?í Kylián at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Dr., Chicago, Illinois, 60601. Hubbard Street's Spring Series is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Performance schedule:

• Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 pm

• Friday, March 14 at 8 pm (plus, at 11 am, a special presentation for school students)

• Saturday, March 15 at 8 pm

• Sunday, March 16 at 3 pm

Single tickets, $25-$99, are available at hubbardstreetdance.com/spring or by phone at 312-850-9744. Season 36 concludes at the Harris Theater with the Summer Series (June 5-8, 2014), featuring Gnawa (2005) by Nacho Duato, Quintett (1993) by William Forsythe, and the 13th World Premiere for Hubbard Street by the company's Resident Choreographer, Alejandro Cerrudo.

About Ji?í Kylián

Choreographer Ji?í Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He enrolled in the School of the National Ballet Prague at age nine and, in 1962, was accepted into the Prague Conservatory, where he trained with Zora Semberova and other instructors, and created his first two works of choreography. In 1967, Kylián received a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London, where he met choreographer John Cranko, who invited Kylián to join Germany's Stuttgart Ballet. Kylián remained with the company as a dancer and choreographer through Cranko's sudden passing in 1973 and the subsequent direction of choreographer Glen Tetley, whose understanding of movement and its relation to space were revelations for Kylián. After creating three works for Nederlands Dans Theater as a guest choreographer, Kylián joined the company as co-artistic director, with Hans Knill. The creation of Sinfonietta for NDT to perform at the Spoleto Festival-USA in 1978 heralded Kylián's arrival as a major international artist; his Symphony of Psalms premiered the same year. In the early 1980s, Kylián's travels to Australia to study aboriginal dances inspired new ideas in his choreography and the works Stamping Ground and Dream Time. Kylián and NDT's founding managing director Carel Birnie created a second ensemble, NDT II, for early-career artists, which premiered major works including 27′52″ (2001). Between 1980 and 2000, NDT I commissioned Christopher Bruce, Mats Ek, William Forsythe, Ohad Naharin and many more, in addition to presenting masterworks by Hans van Manen, Glen Tetley and others. In 1990, he launched NDT III, for accomplished dancers over the age of 40. Kylián passed the artistic directorship of NDT's three ensembles to the next generation of leadership in 1999, while remaining choreographer for the company through 2009. Of his 98 works premiered to date, 74 were created for NDT. Recent projects include the film Car-Men (2006), made with Boris Paval Conen and choreographed on location in brown coal mines in the Czech Republic. Kylián's honors and recognitions include the ranks of Commander of the Legion of Honor (France) and Officer of the Order of Oranje Nassau (the Netherlands), a Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Venice Biennale, three Nijinsky Awards for Choreography (Monaco), two Prix Benois de la Danse prizes (Moscow, Berlin), two Sir Laurence Olivier Awards (London), a Knight's Cross from President Aleksander Kwa?niewski (Poland), a cultural award for Arts and Sciences from Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, a Golden Medal for Outstanding Merits from President Václav Havel of the Czech Republic, honorary doctorates from the Juilliard School (United States) and the Music Academy Prague (Czech Republic), La Medaille d'Or from the city of Lyon (France), an award for Exceptional Achievements in Choreography and Dance (Czech Ministry of Culture), an Angel Award from the Edinburgh International Festival, the First Cultural Award of the City of the Hague (the Netherlands), a Dance Magazine Award, a Carina Ari Medal (Stockholm), the Dvo?ák Award (Prague), the West End Theatre Award (London), the Hans Christian Andersen Ballet Award (Copenhagen) and the Prix Italia for Video (Torino). Visit jirikylian.com to learn more.

About Third Coast Percussion

Hailed by The New Yorker as "vibrant" and "superb," Third Coast Percussion explores and expands the extraordinary sonic possibilities of the percussion repertoire, delivering exciting performances for audiences of all kinds. Since its formation in 2005, Third Coast Percussion has gained national attention with concerts and recordings that meld the energy of rock music with the precision and nuance of classical chamber works.

These "hard-grooving" musicians (New York Times) have become known for ground-breaking collaborations across a wide range of disciplines, including concerts and residency projects with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, astronomers at the Adler Planetarium, and more. The ensemble enhances the performances it offers with cutting edge new media, including free iPhone and iPad apps that allow audience members to create their own musical performances and take a deeper look at the music performed by Third Coast Percussion.

Third Coast Percussion is the Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. They have the honor of being the first ensemble at the University of Notre Dame to create a permanent and progressive ensemble residency program at the center. The ensemble performs multiple recitals annually as part of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center's Presenting Series season. Third Coast Percussion assumed the position of Ensemble-in-Residence at Notre Dame in 2013.

The ensemble champions the awe-inspiring music of John Cage, Steve Reich, George Crumb, Arvo Pärt, Gérard Grisey, Philippe Manoury, Wolfgang Rihm, Louis Andriessen, Toru Takemitsu, and Tan Dun, among others. Third Coast has also commissioned and performed world premieres by many of today's leading composers, including Augusta Read Thomas, Timothy Andres, Glenn Kotche, David T. Little, Marcos Balter, TEd Hearne, and ensemble members Owen Clayton Condon and David Skidmore.

Third Coast's recent and upcoming concerts and residencies include Le Poisson Rouge (New York), Atlas Performing Arts Center (Washington, D.C.), the University of Chicago Presents, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Austin Chamber Music Festival, Millennium Park "Loops and Variations," the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, and more. Third Coast has introduced percussion to chamber music audiences in Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Illinois, securing invitations to return to many of these series.

Third Coast's passion for community outreach includes a wide range of residency offerings while on tour, in addition to a long-term residency with the Davis Square Park Community Band on Chicago's South Side. In addition to its national performances, Third Coast Percussion's hometown presence includes an annual Chicago series, with four to five concerts in locations around the city. The ensemble has collaborated in concert with acclaimed ensembles eighth blackbird, Signal, and the Garth Newel Piano Quartet, pianists Amy Briggs and Lisa Moore, cellists Nicholas Photinos and Tobias Werner, flautist Tim Munro, vocalist TEd Hearne, and video artists Luftwerk.

The members of Third Coast Percussion - Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore -hold degrees in music performance from Northwestern University, the Yale School of Music, the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory, and Rutgers University. Third Coast Percussion performs exclusively with Pearl/Adams Musical Instruments, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, and Vic Firth sticks and mallets. Visit thirdcoastpercussion.com to learn more.

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®.