Ravinia 2022, Issue 6

MICHELLE REID STAFF PROFILES Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell (Artistic Di- rector, she/her) ascended to this role in 2021 after an extraordinary career as a professional dance artist and educator. She was born in Baltimore, MD, and began her dance training at the Baltimore School for the Arts under the guidance of Sylvester Campbell and Stepha- nie Powell. She was an apprentice with the Capitol Ballet in Washington, DC, and a full fellowship student at The Ailey School. While a student at The Juilliard School, she was in- vited by Hubbard Street founder Lou Conte to join the main company at the age of 19, thus beginning her professional dance career. After three seasons with Hubbard Street, she became a principal with Alvin Ailey Ameri- can Dance Theater; during her 13-year tenure, she was featured in works by Ailey, Robert Battle, Talley Beatty, Ron K. Brown, John Butler, Donald Byrd, Ulysses Dove, George Faison, Rennie Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Ju- dith Jamison, Louis Johnson, Alonzo King, Lar Lubovitch, Donald McKayle, Elisa Monte, Jennifer Muller, David Parsons, and Dwight Rhoden. She was invited to give a number of special performances throughout her career, including the White House State Dinner in honor of Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki and the Kennedy Center Gala with Nancy Wilson and Liza Minelli. In her distinguished career as a dance educator in her hometown, she has served on the Baltimore School for the Arts faculty and been a Professor of Dance at Towson University since 2005. Her research and scholarship in continuing the Ailey lega- cy within the Towson and Greater Baltimore communities resulted in Ailey II residencies from 2011 to 2019 and the establishment in 2014of AileyCamp Baltimore, where she served as director. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in dance from Hollins University and is an ABT certified teacher. As a scholar, her en- try “Alvin Ailey” has been published by the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. David McDermott (Executive Director, he/ him) manages organization-wide strategy and administrative functions, including over- sight of Hubbard Street’s finance, operations, marketing, and development departments. Most recently, he led Hubbard Street through a post-COVID-19 restructuring, guided its new access-first digital strategy, and directed the company’s recent move to Water Tower Place. Prior to joining Hubbard Street, he served as the First Deputy Commissioner at the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultur- al Affairs and Special Events. In this role, he managed the day-to-day operations of the department and played instrumental roles in such major initiatives as creating the Chicago Cultural Plan, revitalizing the Taste of Chica- go, and ensuring the success of the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Prior to his employ- ment with the City, he led Senator Durbin’s Department of Community Outreach, served as the senator’s political director, and man- aged political campaigns at the congressional, county, and municipal levels. He 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, he/ him), after a performing career that includ- ed roles in the Broadway musicals Cabaret , Mame , and How to Succeed in Business With- out 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 cho- reographer, he developed relationships with emerging and world-renowned dancemakers Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Margo Sappington, and Daniel Ezralow as the company grew. He continued to build Hubbard Street’s rep- ertoire 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 Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, and Ohad Naharin. Throughout his 23 years as the company’s artistic director, he received numerous honors, 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 he was inducted 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. Jonathan E. Alsberry (Senior Rehearsal Di- rector & Director of Summer Intensives, he/ him) from Normal, IL, is a dance educator, creator, and coach focused on inspiring ex- cellence and joy in the study of ballet, jazz, and modern techniques with a constant dedication to the exploration of artistry and the creative process. He began dancing with his mother Lyndetta and went on to gradu- ate from The Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he has since been a guest faculty mem- ber. In 2006 he earned his BFA fromThe Juil- liard School, where he met Aszure Barton. Alsberry is now dancer, rehearsal director, and creative collaborator with Aszure Barton & Artists and has assisted Barton in over a dozen creations, including on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bayerische Staats- ballett, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2007 he also joined the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and is currently a perform- er, 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 Eisen- hower Dance Ensemble. Since 2007 he has been teaching, coaching, and creating work at several educational institutions, including Arts Umbrella, Harvard University, Univer- sity of California–Irvine, Springboard Danse Montreal, Ballet Hispánico, and University of Southern California. Craig D. Black Jr. (Rehearsal Director, he/ they) began dancing at South Bay Dance Center at the age of 10. In 2011 he received his BFA from The Juilliard School, where he was awarded the 2010 Princess Grace Award in Dance. He has received additional train- ing at such summer programs as Springboard Danse Montréal, Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive, and The School at Ja- cob’s Pillow (where he earned the 2011 Lorna Strassler Award for Student Excellence). He joined HSDC in the fall of 2017 after finishing six seasons with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. He has danced works by Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Jiří Kylián, Jorma Elo, Cayetano Soto Ramirez, William Forsythe, Alejandro Cerru- do, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Robyn Mine- ko-Williams, Nacho Duato, and Peter Chu, among many others. In addition to co-cho- reographing and rehearsal directing for Cardi B and Offset’s 2019 BET Awards performance, he has taught and choreographed for many schools and studios throughout the US. He is certified to teach Image Tech for Dancers in- troductory level through advanced level and serves as guest faculty for the HSDC main company, Hubbard Street Professional Pro- gram, Steps on Broadway, Peridance Center, The Joffrey Academy, New York City Dance Alliance, and Dupree Dance. He was appoint- ed to the Rehearsal Director position in 2022 for Hubbard Street’s Sapphire Season. CHOREOGRAPHER PROFILES Artist and choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with celebrated dancers and com- panies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Misty Copeland, Alvin Ailey American Dance The- ater, American Ballet Theatre, English Nation- al Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, Sydney Dance Company, and Teatro alla Scala, among many others. She is a Bessie Award Honoree and has received numerous honors, including the Arts & Letters Award, joining the ranks of Oscar Peterson, Karen Kain, and Margaret Atwood. She was the first HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO Hubbard Street Dance Chicago grew out of the Lou Conte Dance Studio at LaSalle and Hub- bard Streets in 1977, when Lou Conte gathered an ensemble of four dancers to perform in se- nior centers across Chicago. Barbara G. Cohen soon joined the company as its first executive director. Conte continued to direct the com- pany for 23 years, during which he initiated and grew relationships with both emerging and established artists, including Nacho Du- ato, Daniel Ezralow, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naha- rin, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and Twyla Tharp. Conte’s successor Jim Vincent widened HS- DC’s international focus, began the company’s collaboration with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and cultivated growth from with- in, launching the Inside/Out choreographic workshop and inviting resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo to make his first work. Gail Kalver’s 23 years of executive leadership provided continuity from 1984 through the 2006/07 season, when Jason Palmquist joined the organization in that position. Glenn Ed- gerton became artistic director in 2009 and, together with Palmquist, moved this legacy forward on multiple fronts. In 2021, former company dancer Linda-Denise Fisher-Har- rell was named the fourth artistic director of HSDC—its 44th season, “RE/CHARGE,” marked her debut as artistic leader. Along with David McDermott, executive director since 2017, the company is continuing to expand its audience reach and diversify its repertoire and ensemble while building on the local, nation- al, and global legacy and reputation of HSDC. For 45 years, Hubbard Street has been a highly original force in contemporary dance, bring- ing top choreographers and works to Chica- go and beyond. The company’s ever-evolving repertory, created by leading choreographic voices, makes HSDC a company that dancers aspire to join and performance venues all over the world are eager to host. To date, the main company has performed in 19 countries and 44 US states. At home in Chicago, Hubbard Street performs 20 times a year and delivers education programs in 50 classrooms across 17 Chicagoland schools. HSDC Education utilizes the choreographic process to teach es- sential problem-solving skills, creativity, and collaboration—expanding its reach beyond traditional concert dance audiences, ensuring that everyone has access to world-class dance and instruction. RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 44 I I