Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 2 Hubbard Street Dance

HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO MARCH 2 + 3, 2019 | HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO & MALPASO DANCE COMPANY | 5 David McDermott (Executive Director) most recently served as the First Deputy Commissioner at the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. In this role, McDermott managed the day to day operations of the department and played instrumental roles in major initiatives, such as creating the Chicago Cultural Plan, revitalizing the Taste of Chicago, and ensuring the success of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Prior to his employment with the city, McDermott led Senator Dick Durbin’s Department of Community Outreach, served as the Senator’s Political Director, and managed political campaigns at the congressional, county, and municipal levels. McDermott recently completed a fellowship at the University of Chicago’s Civic Leadership Academy and holds a degree in Public Policy from Trinity College at the University of Dublin. Lou Conte (Founding Artistic Director) , after a performing career that included roles in Broadway musicals such as Cabaret, Mame, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, established the Lou Conte Dance Studio in 1974. Three years later, he founded what is now Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Originally the company’s sole choreographer, he developed relationships with emerging and world-renowned dancemakers Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Margo Sappington, and Daniel Ezralow as the company grew. Conte continued to build Hubbard Street’s repertoire by forging a key relationship with Twyla Tharp in the 1990s, acquiring seven of her works as well as original choreography. It then became an international enterprise with the inclusion of works by Jirí Kylián, Nacho Duato, and Ohad Naharin. Throughout his 23 years as the company’s artistic director, Conte received numerous awards, including the first Ruth Page Artistic Achievements Award in 1986, the Sidney R. Yates Arts Advocacy Award in 1995, and a Chicagoan of the Year award from Chicago magazine in 1999. In 2003, Conte was inducted as a laureate into the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, the state’s highest honor, and in 2014, was named one of five inaugural recipients of the City of Chicago’s Fifth Star Award. He has been credited by many for helping raise Chicago’s international cultural profile and for creating a welcoming climate for dance in the city, where the art form now thrives. Jessica Tong (Rehearsal Director) received her formal training at The Ballet School in Salt Lake City, UT under Jan Clark Fugit, as well as at the University of Utah, where she was a member of Utah Ballet. Tong danced with BalletMet in Columbus, OH; Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech in New York; and Hubbard Street 2 before dancing with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for 11 years. Tong has performed in numerous works throughout her career, including pieces by Hubbard Street founder Lou Conte and contemporary greats Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Jirí Kylián, and Ohad Naharin, to name a few. She has also originated roles in works by Aszure Barton, Alejandro Cerrudo, Jorma Elo, Penny Saunders, and Robyn Mineko Williams, among others. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” in 2009, Tong served on the Dance Ambassador committee of Dance for Life for four years. Tong has helped set works by Alejandro Cerrudo for Hubbard Street, and assisted Penny Saunders in a work for Ballet Idaho in the fall of 2018. Jonathan Alsberry (Artistic Liaison) from Normal, IL, is a dance educator, creator, and coach focused on inspiring excellence and joy in the study of ballet, jazz, and modern techniques with a constant dedication to the exploration of artistry and the creative process. Currently artistic liaison with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alsberry began dancing with his mother Lyndetta and went on to graduate from The Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he has since been a guest faculty member. In 2006, he received his BFA from The Juilliard School, where he met Aszure Barton. Alsberry, a.k.a. “Jojo,” is now a dancer, rehearsal director, and creative collaborator with Aszure Barton & Artists and has assisted Barton in over a dozen creations, including works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bayerische Staatsballett, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2007, Alsberry also joined the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and is currently a performer, rehearsal director, and teaching artist with the company. He has shared two tours with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance as well as Evolution with Alessandra Ferri and Herman Cornejo. Other credits include The Chase Brock Experience, Daniel Gwirtzman Dance Company, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Nilas Martins Dance Company, and Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. Since 2007, Alsberry has been teaching, coaching, and creating work at various educational institutions including Arts Umbrella, Harvard University, University of California at Irvine, Springboard Danse Montréal, Ballet Hispánico, and University of Southern California. Burke Brown (Lighting Designer) has recently worked on projects with the La Scala Ballet Theater, English National Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. His work has been presented at the Joyce Theater, Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, New York City Center, and Radio City Music Hall, and across North America, Europe, and Russia. Other dance projects include work with Bayerisches Staatsballett, Ballet West, Kansas City Ballet, Charlotte Ballet, TU Dance, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Parsons Dance, Houston Ballet, and Aszure Barton & Artists. Outside of dance, Brown has designed Off-Broadway, in regional theatre, and for music artists of all types. Originally from North Carolina, Brown now lives in New York City. He received his MFA from the Yale School of Drama and is a member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. ˇ ˇ