Hubbard Street 2014 Youth Dance Camps

Registration opens January 6, 2014 for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s summer 2014 Youth Dance Camps, offering a broad range of opportunities for dancers ages 18 months to 16 years to explore, learn and create movement.

Two Early Childhood camps focus on gross motor skills and imagination, creating a foundation for further study and appreciation of dance. Little Movers is a one-week camp to nurture musicality and kinesthetic confidence through creative movement activities, while the Creative Movement Parent/Child Mini Camp, accompanied by vibrant music and storytelling, is a four-morning session for children with a parent or caregiver.

Three one-week Dance Explorers camps will lead students through a series of movement studies, introducing techniques and processes of professional choreographers from the ground up. First, Imagination in Motion employs improvisation structures utilized by National Choreographic Competition and Princess Grace Foundation fellowship winner Loni Landon; students will explore universal dance vocabulary and perform their own choreography. Second, Creative Connections prompts students to explore how contemporary dance is created, by studying selections from the repertoire of Hubbard Street 2. They then use that experience to create and perform original work based on these themes and processes. Then the final week of Dance Explorers, titled Discover Choreography, enables students to explore choreographic concepts as they start to create movement that is meaningful to them. Young dancers find their voices as they experience guided improvisation and the creative process in a collaborative setting.

Hubbard Street’s Secondary Program camps for more advanced students ages 7 and older develop their work within the five techniques of classical ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern and tap. Ballet emphasizes strength, flexibility, coordination, alignment, muscle tone and musicality in a supportive learning environment, nurturing a personal sense of well-being. This is a multi-level course, designed to nurture those new to ballet while challenging those with more experience. Jazz dance emphasizes rhythm and style and is influenced by ballet, tap and jazz music. Jazz camp introduces exercises for physical toning, strengthening, flexibility, isolations and placement in a week of focused study, exposing dancers to various jazz choreographers and sub-styles. Hip-hop camp introduces the fundamentals of an exciting and still-evolving newer discipline in dance. Modern dance mini-camp combines traditional exercises designed to build strength, coordination and flexibility with an emphasis on exploring gravity, balance and momentum. Tap mini-camp introduces basic tap dance vocabulary, technique and rhythms, along with exercises to strengthen the feet and ankles.

The Artistic Connections program is a unique, multidisciplinary experience bringing together dance, drama, music and visual arts practices. Attendees will have the chance to explore in each medium while creating a final piece that combines all four, prompting them to explore the myriad ways different art forms influence and are informed by each other. Drawing from Hubbard Street DanceChicago’s collaborations with organizations such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Art Institute of Chicago, teaching artists from each discipline provide rich guidance and feedback.

The Secondary Program Intensive, for students ages 10–16, devotes a full week to focus on the techniques and practices of ballet, jazz and modern dance practices. Intensive attendees work with renowned professional faculty — including current and former members of Hubbard Street’s main company and Hubbard Street 2 — to refine their skills and abilities toward a sharing of studio work at the end of each session. Participation in at least one week is required for dancers interested in the Hubbard Street Youth Dance Ensemble’s fall 2014 session.

Further details on camp dates, complete camp policies and online registration are available at hubbardstreetdance.com/youthdance. Call 312-850-9744 x 139 or email youth@hubbardstreetdance.com for any questions.

Photo: Hubbard Street 2013 Youth Dance Program participants. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.