Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at ADF

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Too Beaucoup.  Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Here is an excerpt from my review from this past weekend:

The curtain rose on William Forsythe's "Quintett" (1993) to reveal a stark square of stage, two sides covered floor to ceiling with white screen (I could not see the stage right side, but discovered later that the regular black wings remained). A large projector on wheels and a round, convex mirror balanced the diagonal, with the dancers standing or crouching around the edges of the stage. The music started quietly at first, so that it gave the sense that someone was singing backstage, but gradually became louder, a quavery voice singing "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet," set to a simple instrumental accompaniment in a repetitive loop. The movement was characterized by Forsythe's distinctive style, a tightrope between vertical classical technique and disjointed, off-balance collapse. The five dancers passed in and out of solos and duets and an occasional trio; some of the duets were formal, while others seemed more emotionally connected, with intimate or playful gestures. The movement seemed to unravel as the dance continued, becoming harsher, more out of control. In a memorable solo, a man dressed all in green tossed himself around, lunging and falling as if fighting an invisible opponent, though the one throwing punches and cutting his legs out from underneath him was himself. 


Read the rest of the review here (and excuse the typo in the title!  It should say: Beaucoup?  Yes.).


I might have more to say on this concert later, but I wanted to get the review posted quickly!