Film

  • The Sky Was Different
    Directed by Jonathan Fredrickson
  • GRANTEE
    Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
    GRANT YEAR
    2020

Jonathan Fredrickson and Tobin Del Cuore, still from "The Sky Was Different," 2020. Digital film, 50 min. Courtesy Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Hubbard Street’s Season 43 includes virtual presentations of new work by five acclaimed choreographers, all with ties to the company. Jonathan Fredrickson, choreographer and previous Hubbard Street dancer, presents The Sky Was Different, a dance film based on the theme of seclusion resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. The isolation has led to a great deal of introspection, particularly for artists, as they explore their own homes, navigating the best spaces for movement to remain creative. Fredrickson and filmmaker Tobin Del Cuore are enthused by the architecture of the Schweikher House, allowing them to use a “designed home space that is beyond the ordinary and yet decidedly universal…and something that is distinctly Chicago.” Despite the pandemic, Hubbard Street is forging forward with innovative ways to continue to share exceptional contemporary dance with the community.

Jonathan Fredrickson is a choreographer, born in Corpus Christi, Texas. He attended California Institute of the Arts where he received his bachelor’s in dance performance and choreography. Fredrickson danced with the Limon Dance Company from 2006–11 and created two works for the company during his time there, The Edge of Some World and Chrysalis. In 2010, he was a winner of Hubbard Street’s National Choreographic Competition and was also honored as one of Dance Magazine's “25 To Watch.” He then danced with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago from 2011–15, where he was commissioned to create two new works for the company, Untitled Landscape and For the Wandered. His work has been shown in festivals such as Hong Kong Dance Festival, Reverb Dance Festival, and White Wave, and he has created for school programs such as California Institute of the Arts, CalState Fullerton, Limon Institute, and Sundance/Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre. He joined the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in 2015, performing Bausch’s work internationally, and creating for the company’s choreographic platform UNDERGROUND with the works Epilogue and Afternoon Forest Birds.

A native of Maine, Tobin Del Cuore began his ballet training at the Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts. He attended The Juilliard School under the direction of Benjamin Harkarvy, graduating in 2001 with a bachelor's of fine arts. Upon graduating, Del Cuore joined the artists of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, where he danced for six years. Del Cuore has since danced for Aszure Barton & Artists, The Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, The Metropolitan Opera, BalletX, Alessandra Ferri Dance, Houston Grand Opera, The Lyric Opera of Chicago, and SFDanceworks. Today, Del Cuore works closely with Aszure Barton, assisting in new creations, staging existing work and creating video projections. Del Cuore also stages work for Lar Lubovitch and Alejandro Cerrudo and recently was associate choreographer for the US National Tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage. In 2011 Del Cuore founded his production company, Imagination + Muscle, where he has produced and directed numerous music videos, commercials, promos, dance films, and multi-camera live performance captures.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC)’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 2020–21, HSDC is committed to keeping its dancers creating and finding innovative ways to continue to share 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.