As our White Bird subscribers know by now, we all were disappointed with the news that Lyon Opera Ballet had to cancel their North American tour--which meant having a sudden hole in our schedule on Feb. 23. We checked on the availability of other companies, and to our enormous relief and delight, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago made itself available to us.  The last time we presented Hubbard Street was in Fall 2005, and we had been planning to bring the company back very soon anyway. So one of our favorite companies--as well as one of our audience's favorite companies--is finally returning, and exactly on the same date as Lyon--Tuesday, Feb. 23.

The program is an incredibly exciting one.The featured work is called "Walking Mad," by Johan Inger, former Artistic Director of Stockholm's Cullberg Ballet and one of Europe's most exciting choreographers. It dates back to 2001 and was created for Nederlands Dans Theater, and Paul and I saw the work for the first time last May when we attended a NDT performance in their hometown of The Hague. We both were riveted by the extraodinary skill of the dancers as they interacted with a huge set piece (which will not be divulged here). The music?-- Ravel's "Bolero" We guarantee that you won't hear "Bolero" again without thinking about "Walking Mad."  

The rest of the program is equally thrilling. Ohad Naharin is a name well-known to White Bird audiences, who have seen his company Batsheva twice-- remember the circle of chairs and audience members being invited on stage to perform? That was Naharin's "Minus 16"--which actually was performed three times by three different companies for us: Hubbard Street, NDT2 and Batsheva.  Hubbard Street will be performing his 1986 masterwork "Tabula Rasa," set to Arvo Part.

The third choreographer on the program is again well-known at White Bird: Finland's Jorma Elo, now Resident Choreographer at Boston Ballet. Aspen Santa Fe Ballet closed their program this past October with his stunning "Red Sweet".   Equally compelling is the work that Hubbard Street commissioned Elo to create, "Bitter Suite," set to Mendelssohn and Monteverdi.

A very interesting development with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is the recent appointment of Glenn Edgerton as Artistic Director.  Glenn was a star of Joffrey Ballet--as was Tom Mossbrucker, now Artistic Director of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet-- and then Glenn became Artistic Director of the main company of Nederlands Dans Theater-- while Jim Vincent, formerly a dancer with NDT, was appointed Artistic Director of Hubbard Street. Now they've switched companies! Jim is now Artistic Director of NDT, and Glenn is A.D. of Hubbard Street. 

The linkages between NDT and Hubbard Street are strong indeed. And to complete the circle, Lyon Opera Ballet shares similar repertory with NDT and Hubbard Street. The first time we presented Lyon in 2002, the program featured Nacho Duato's "Remansos."   That same season we first presented Hubbard Street, featuring Naharin's "Minus 16." The next season we presented NDT2 with Naharin's "Minus 16" and Johan Inger's "Gaspard."  When Lyon returned in 2004, they performed Nacho Duato's "Jardi Tancat". When Hubbard Street came in 2005, they performed Duato's "Gnawa." And now Hubbard Street returns with Duato's "Tabula Rasa." and Inger's "Walking Mad."

Oh yes--don't forget that we've also presented Nacho Duato's own company Compania Nacional de Danza, and when CND2 came last spring, they performed "Gnawa" again. 

Lyon Opera Ballet-- Nederlands Dans Theater--Ohad Naharin's Batsheva-- Nacho Duato's Compania Nacional de Danza. These are among the world's greatest contemporary dance companies. As is Hubbard Street Dance Chicago! We can't wait to have them back in two weeks!