As Hubbard Street Dance Chicago embarks on its first fall engagement downtown in more than 10 years, it continues to expand its borders, geographically and stylistically. One of the most anticipated events of the troupe’s Tuesday-Oct. 8 run at the Cadillac Palace Theatre is the U.S. premiere of Ohad Naharin’s “Minus 16,” an eclectic jumble of eye-popping elements.
Naharin, artistic director of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company, was invited by Hubbard Street’s founder and former artistic director Lou Conte to create this piece for 14 dancers. The comedic work juxtaposes videotaped interviews with Hubbard Street dancers with movement by the dancers themselves, and is accompanied by everything from Dean Martin to cha-cha, mambo to traditional Israeli songs.
“`Minus 16′ is very physical, musical and intelligent,” said Conte. “And Ohad does this audience participation thing at the end that’s a lot of fun.”
Participation on all levels is the hallmark of Naharin’s choreography. Already an internationally renowned dance innovator when he became artistic director of Tel Aviv’s Batsheva Dance Company in 1990, Naharin is committed to using an amalgam of disciplines — dance, music, storytelling, film and advanced technology — to foster his communal idea of movement.
“I’m very interested in the inner life and the potential of people involved in the creative process,” said Naharin in a phone call from Israel. “I’m curious about what they can bring to a project. Through them, in some ways, I like to create a new reality rather than mirror people’s lives.”
The choreographer commended Hubbard Street’s “skilled and intelligent” dancers, describing them as “a group of strong individuals with a very generous spirit.”
Unlike some other choreographers, Naharin does not regard dancers as mere tools or vessels for his aesthetic goals. They have an active say in how a piece is developed — and so does everyone else, including technicians, costume designers and composers.
Naharin traces the source of his collaborative philosophy to his training in diverse musical genres, which he studied before tackling choreography.
“I don’t separate the elements when I compose music,” he explained. “The same is true of choreography. They are all part of the structure. This is what interests me.”
The artist, whose affiliations include Frankfurt Ballet and Nacional de Danza de Madrid, was raised in a stimulating environment; his mother teaches dance and composition, and his father is a psychologist. He began his dance training with Batsheva, founded in 1964 by Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild, and continued his studies at the Juilliard. He’s danced in the Martha Graham Company and also with Maurice Bejart.
“I am attracted to rock, to eccentricities, to very advanced technology and science,” Naharin commented. “But, at the same time, I respect what we can learn from the past.”
For Naharin, creation is about genuine human exchanges.
“There is one thing, real and clear, that contributes and adds to the process more than anything,” he said, “the dancers and the people you work with.”
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago performs at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St., Tuesday-Oct. 8. Call 312-902-1500.
