January 07, 2005 -

OTTAWA -- The WOW factor will be in overdrive when Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) struts across the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall stage on Saturday, January 15 at 20:00. Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Jim Vincent, Chicago's internationally acclaimed dance company is one of the most innovative forces in contemporary dance. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago showcases exuberant and athletic eclecticism, incorporating influences from ballet to musical theatre to cutting-edge choreography. This evening’s four pieces throw a welcome spotlight on the company’s talented dancers as they perform -- with extreme precision, limitless energy and passionate emotional directness -- works by both American and international choreographers.

This performance by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is part of the NAC’s Dance Series A, which is generously sponsored by Casino du Lac Leamy. AIM Trimark is the evening’s Performance Sponsor.

PRE-SHOW CHAT
Join Artistic Director Jim Vincent for a free pre-show chat in Le Salon at 19:00 on January 15.

Choreographer and HSDC dancer Brian Enos’s riveting Diphthong (influenced by the music of Belgium’s Zap Mama) is a mysterious and intriguing work for six dancers. The syncopated beat evokes power and beauty and is about the dancers getting swept away and moving through space. New York-based choreographer Susan Marshall’s Kiss, an ethereal duet, uses the idea of flight and suspension to evoke the state of grace achieved when lost in a luscious lip-lock. The dancers, suspended in harnesses, fall and hover, swing and drift, twisting and intertwining to music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Lar Lubovitch celebrates his return to his native Chicago with Love Stories. The piece is set to five classic love songs performed by Kurt Elling, and includes “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, “Nature Boy”, and “Prelude to a Kiss”. Lubovitch says that his creative aesthetic has been informed by the architecture of Chicago, as “choreography is architecture infused with motion.” The evening concludes with Rooster, a sharp, sexy celebration of the 1960s. This flamboyantly funny battle of the sexes is a high-energy crowd-pleaser choreographed by Christopher Bruce and set to eight hard-rockin’ tunes by The Rolling Stones. Evoking popular dances of the early 1960s, guys in pastel shirts, ducktails and skinny ties strut around, vying for gals in short skirts and tight sweaters. The dancers invest it with all the brio and zest that makes HSDC such a stellar ambassador for modern dance.

“Hubbard Street sashays in with sparkling variety …one would be hard pressed to have more out-and-out fun at a dance concert … the company is dazzling to watch.”

“Rooster sent the audience into ecstasies”

“Take a deep breath, because Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is going to take your breath away.”

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performs in Southam Hall of the National Arts Centre on Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 20:00. Tickets are $50, $46.50 and $37, and $26, $24.25 and $19.50 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card). Tickets are available at the NAC Box Office (in person) and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at (613) 755-1111; Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca. Last-minute tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students are $9.50 at the Live Rush Centre in the NAC Foyer after 18:00 on the day of performance only, upon presentation of a valid `Live Rush’ card. Groups of 20 or more save up to 20% off regular priced tickets; for reservations, call (613) 947-7000 x384 or toll free 1-866-850-2787, x384 or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca

Photos for all dance events can be viewed and downloaded at: www.nac-cna.ca/media/

Information:
Gerald Morris
Marketing and Media Relations,
NAC Dance Department
(613) 947-7000, ext. 249
gmorris@nac-cna.ca

HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO
Founded in 1978 as a 4-woman progressive dance company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s twenty-one culturally diverse dancers are at the forefront of innovative, contemporary dance in America. The company’s bold, powerful, and entertaining works thrill audiences worldwide. As one of the only professional dance companies to perform year-round, HSDC is continually touring across the United States and internationally. In its 25+ years, the main company has appeared in celebrated dance venues in 42 states and 17 countries. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is also a noted training centre, boasting over 300 students a year at founder Lou Conte's dance studio. Hubbard Street 2 (HS2), comprised of six dancers between the ages of 17 and 25, performs works by some of the nation's most promising young choreographers in schools, community centres, and theatres all over the United States. According to Dance Magazine, "this power-house Chicago company is rapidly building up the most varied repertory of any company in contemporary dance."

JIM VINCENT, Artistic Director
Jim Vincent joined HSDC in August 2000 following an extensive career as a dancer, teacher, ballet master and choreographer. His dance training began at the age of five and continued through his childhood with Mercer, Burlington and Princeton Ballets in New Jersey. He studied on scholarship at the Washington School of Ballet in Washington, D.C., Harkness House of Ballet in New York City and North Carolina School of the Arts at the University of North Carolina. Vincent's distinguished career as a professional dancer includes a 12-year tenure with Jirí Kylián's Nederlands Dans Theater, a guest appearance with Lar Lubovitch and two years with Nacho Duato's Compañía Nacional de Danza in Spain. As a dancer, he worked with many choreographers, including Kylián, Duato, Lubovitch, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Hans van Manen, Christopher Bruce and Ohad Naharin.

Vincent has served as Ballet Master for Nederlands Dans Theater II, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Opéra National de Lyon, where he rehearsed repertoire by renowned choreographers Kylián, Duato, Forsythe, Ek, Balanchine, Preljocaj and Bill T. Jones, among others. He has restaged choreographies for Nacho Duato, including Jardi Tancat, Synaphai and Na Floresta, and for Jirí Kylián, including Return to the Strange Land and Stamping Ground. Jim Vincent has choreographed a number of works for Nederlands Dans Theater I and II, Quebec's Bande à Part and Switzerland's Stadt Theater in Bern. At Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, he has recently choreographed counter/part, his first work for the company as Artistic Director. His teaching experience includes Holland's Royal Conservatory of the Hague, Australia's Victorian College of Art, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Opéra National de Lyon. He served as Assistant Artistic Director of Compañía Nacional de Danza from 1990-94.

In October 1997, Vincent joined the creative team of Disneyland Paris as a concept designer and show director. He specialized in creating original concepts for corporate entertainment, press and gala events. Born in New Jersey, Vincent is both a U.S. and French citizen, speaks four languages and is married to France Nguyen, a former dancer with Nederlands Dans Theater, Compañía Nacional de Danza and Lyon Opéra Ballet. They have three daughters, Léna, Claire and June.