Inside Out | Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Inside / Out

Inside/Out is dedicated to providing a space for the artists of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to showcase their creative voices through the presentation of original choreographic works. Through collaboration and guidance with the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago staff, the dancers engage in all aspects of presenting these works, from programming, budgeting, marketing, development, lighting to costuming, and much more. Since the early 2000s, Inside/Out has had a rich history of providing emerging talent from within the company with a stage to create and experience relationships with colleagues in enriching new ways.

This year, in light of the challenges presented by the on-going pandemic, Inside/Out 2021 took on a brand new form, from the creative process to the presentation of new works.

SPRING 2021

MICHIGAN RESIDENCY

In April 2021, the dancers of Hubbard Street spent two weeks at company member David Schultz’s family home in Michigan, marking the first time all ten dancers were together in-person (for more than few hours) since the beginning of the pandemic. They went to great lengths to design a safe bubble—temporarily moving away from roommates, quarantining for 2 weeks, and Covid testing multiple times—all so they could live together under one roof to create.

In addition to making choreographies, they taught each other class, cooked family-style dinners, played endless games, and moved and danced into the night in their living-room studio/discotech. They even taught for the virtual company audition that was held during the second week of the residency.

Thank you to the Schultz family for giving your home to the dancers and making Inside/Out possible.

Watch a short trailer of the works filmed in residency >>

FALL 2021

Drive-In(side/Out)

Upon returning to the studio this season with four new company members, the dancers filmed their pieces and created an opening dance with the entire company. This creation and all 5 original films premiered on Saturday, October 2 at a unique venue, Chitown Movies drive-in theater.

Thank you to our Chicago community for attending Drive-In(side/Out)! Below, you will find the program from the evening's screening.

PROGRAM

Pathless Woods

Choreographers: Jacqueline Burnett and David Schultz
Cinematographer: David Schultz
Dancers: Alysia Johnson, Craig D. Black Jr., Kevin Shannon, Elliot Hammans, Jacqueline Burnett

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:
I love not Man the less, but Nature more,..."

-excerpt from There is pleasure in the pathless woods by Lord Byron

Those Who've Seen the Sun

Choreographer & Dancer: Alysia L. Johnson
Cinematographer: David Schultz

A solo dedicated to everyone I miss and everyone who is missing someone.
Those who have seen the sun and those who have gone past it.
Some names I know, some I don't, and some I never will.

As Themselves

Choreographer: Adam McGaw
Dancers: Alyssa Allen, Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, Michael Garcia
Costumes: Adam McGaw
Cinematographer: David Schultz
Editing: Adam McGaw

Born out of the stillness of this very moment, As Themselves is meant to evoke a complex simplicity, reflecting the mundane and the meaning in how we met each other; our friendships, our loved ones. Based on the very real story of three friends (playing the real-life versions of themselves) the work examines the ways in which we navigate the intricacies of our cumulative relationship. How intertwined are our narratives? How do we retain the idea of the self when so much of our time is consumed by each other? Does all of this time together bring us closer together, or move us further apart?

Cowmen

Choreographer: Elliot Hammans in collaboration with the Dancers
Cinematographer: David Schultz
Dancers: David Schultz, Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, Andrew Murdock, and Elliot Hammans

This work began as a solo endeavor to investigate the interface between contemporary dance and burlesque. The idea began while in collaboration with Jenn Freeman a.k.a Po’Chop and has since developed into a series of solos co-choreographed with the artists dancing them. I was interested in creating an honest choreographic ballad while also incorporating an idea central to burlesque; parody. What layers can we leave behind to reveal a more veracious idea of self?

Lights Out

Choreographer: Kevin Shannon in collaboration with the Dancers
Choreographic Assistant: Craig D. Black Jr.
Cinematographer: David Schultz
Dancers: Alyssa Allen, Craig D. Black Jr., Abdiel Figueroa Reyes, Alysia Johnson

Lights Out speaks to the complex fragments of our truths, both real and made up, our dreams, and our ability to wonder. It explores our relationship with time, where in one moment time seems to stand still and in the next it speeds by. We cannot avoid the inevitability of this truth, we can only reflect back as time passes. Our physical bodies carry these reflections of passing time with us in the form of memory. Lights Out investigates these memories, memories of joy, sorrow, youth, love, and hope.

Dedicated to the Memory of Patrick Shaw.