Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s (HSDC) 43rd season will be completed with the virtual world premiere of new work by critically acclaimed choreographer and director Robyn Mineko Williams entitled “Half of Us,” on Thursday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. The piece will be restreamed Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. Reservations can be made on the HSDC website beginning Thursday, May 6.
Williams’ 16-minute piece, “Half of Us,” was co-directed and edited by C.J. Arellano. The original music is written, performed and recorded by OHMME, a Chicago rock duo comprised of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart. Performing the piece are Hubbard Street dancers Jacqueline Burnett and Elliot Hammans. There are three songs featured in the film; two of them were completed specifically for this project, entitled “Half of Me” and “Us Too.” As an added bonus, Williams’ film, “Undercover Episode 018: Home Video” will be made available to watch on the Hubbard Street website for 10 days, May 14-24, for free.
Immediately following the presentation of the filmed piece, there will be a live, post-show talkback with Williams and other members of the creative team. The choreography, casting, rehearsals, and filming all took place with social distancing practices in place.
“The process of rehearsing and making ‘Half of Us’ with Jacqueline, Elliot, and OHMME felt like an awesome return to togetherness,” said Mineko Williams. “Starting off, we didn’t have a specific theme in mind or any knowing of where we were going together; the priority was simply to come together, play and try to make something. In rehearsals, I felt like everyone tuned into each other super quickly. There were remarkable connections, thematic parallels and through lines that revealed themselves to us without having to talk too much about it all.”
“Working with Jacqueline and Elliot feels like ‘home’ to me,” she added. “The two are longtime collaborators of mine and always bring so much of themselves to the process and work. Besides being superhuman creators and dance artists, they are genuine, beautiful beings that I feel very lucky to be around. So much of what OHMME was producing melodically and lyrically during those sessions also really resonated for me personally. Their words and music hit me in the heart in the best way, evoking movement and ultimately inspiring how the dance evolved. I think ‘Half of Us’ is sewn together with this idea of connection: searching for it, lacking it, finding it, losing it and the countless other ways we may experience it,” added Williams.
“Half of Us” will be streamed on Vimeo. Participants are asked to RSVP to receive free access and link via email at www.hubbardstreetdance.com.
About Robyn Mineko Williams
Robyn Mineko Williams began making her own work in 2001 through Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Inside/Out Choreographic Workshop. She was a dancer with the company for twelve seasons. She has since created multiple premieres for HSDC and has choreographed for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Malpaso Dance Company, Charlotte Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet and Ballet Idaho. She created Robyn Mineko Williams and Artists in 2015 as a platform for her independent and collaborative new works.
Her pieces have been presented at the Kennedy Center, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Jacob’s Pillow, American Dance Festival, the Joyce Theater, MCA Chicago and more. Named by Dance Magazine in 2014 as one of “25 to Watch” and “Best Choreographer” by Chicago Magazine’s “Best of Chicago, 2016,” Mineko Williams is a four-time Princess Grace Foundation-USA grant recipient and has been thrice recognized as one of NewCity’s Players: 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago. Collaborations include projects with the Second City, Manual Cinema, Califone, verger, Kyle Vegter, Alicia Walter, Aitis Band and more.
About OHMME
OHMME is comprised of Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart. Named “the Heart of Chicago’s Music Community” by Noisey and formed in 2014, the band hails from Chicago's improvisational and experimental music scene, where they already have a half-dozen albums from previous projects under their belts, and an impressive resumé of collaborative credits (with musicians ranging from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco to Chance the Rapper). Early in their careers but already seasoned performers, their new project is a guitar-heavy experiment overlaid by inventive vocal harmonies.
The duo’s instrumental style amalgamates the aggressive and the meditative, sometimes manifesting in shimmeringly hypnotic two-minute bangers and other times coming across in the form of seven-minute stretches of moody atmospherics, wafting guitars and piercing feedback. In the studio and on the stage, OHMME’s eclecticism merges into a sound that is cohesive, daring and distinctly their own.
About Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s mission is to bring artists, art, and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate and change lives through the experience of dance. Celebrating Season 43 in 2020-2021, HSDC is committed to keeping its dancers creating and finding innovative ways to continue to share an exceptional contemporary dance with the community. Hubbard Street also offers extensive Education and Adaptive Dance Programs to ensure that residents in every neighborhood of Chicago have access to the benefits of dance. Visit www.hubbardstreetdance.com for more information.