In The Loop Magazine Theatre Review: Mastery And profundity In Hubbard’s Spring Series

Theatre Review: Mastery And profundity In Hubbard’s Spring Series

May 19, 2026 admin_bitlc Features, Music News, Musical Theatre, Reviews 0

By Peter Thomas Ricci

A unique feeling of anticipation proceeds every Hubbard Street Dance performance. While the core qualities of the company – its versatility, its athleticism, its experimentation – will undoubtedly remain consistent, there will surely be something new, something unexpected, something wily and delightful.

Hubbard’s Spring Series continued that track record through two distinct, thrilling sequences. The first sequence, which featured three separate performances of short-to-moderate length, was breathtaking in its relentless drive and energy. Opening with the Bob Fosse/Gwen Verdon collaboration “Sweet Gwen Suite” (danced by Dominick Brown, Aaron Choate, and Cyrie Topete in the performance I saw), the number is brilliantly lit by Harrison Pearse-Pollack, and featured the dancers moving through series that seemed effortless in their timing and precision. And compared to the second performance – “Percussion IV,” a brilliant solo by dancer Bianca Melidor more consistent with Fosse’s angst and aggression – “Sweet Gwen” is downright playful and delightful at times as the dancers salute various Mexican forms.

The first sequence’s final performance, the world premiere of “Atlas,” rips the show in a different direction. Featuring three dancers (Jacqueline Burnett, Morgan Clune, and Michele Dooley for me) expanding upon the Greek mythology theme of Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders, the number “traces an echo of that burden in the bodies of women who move through our lives,” according to a brief statement from the company. Propelled by stunning string compositions from Cristina Spinei, the performance’s themes – of oppression, of exhaustion, of solidarity and organization – could not have been more timely in these wearying times; truly, numbers like “Atlas” demonstrate the dance medium’s unique ability to translate feeling into movement and probe the depths of the human experience.

The Spring Series’ second sequence is solely devoted to “LubDub,” another world premiere that features the entire 15-person company. The work of choreographer Aszure Barton (who collaborated with Jenah Hensel on the costumes,” the number expands on the notion of “the two sounds of the heart valves contracting.” Thus, the Hubbard dancers join, intertwine, and separate in a dazzling array of movement and rhythm that left the Harris Theater audience mesmerized.

I am thankful for Hubbard’s existence after every performance, and the Spring Series has me counting down the days until the company returns with another evening of scintillating dance.

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