One on One
Artist’s
corner
with GLENN EDGERTON Artistic Director for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
by Ilana Strauss If your image of dancing is limited to the typical club scene on campus, it’s time to broaden your horizons. This Thursday, you can get the chance to see Hubbard Street Dance, a Chicago-based dance company, when they perform at Krannert. According to the Krannert website, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is known for how it “banks the fires of modern dance through its spacious approach toward distinctive choreographers, perspectives and collaboration.” buzz sat down with Glenn Edgerton, the artistic director for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, who is responsible for bringing together the aesthetics of the production. After beginning his career as a dancer, Edgerton worked for the Joffrey Ballet and the Nederlands Dans Theater before becoming a director. He joined the Hubbard Street Dance Company in 2008. » buzz: What does an artistic director do? Glenn Edgerton: Many, many, many tasks. Everything that you see on the stage is my responsibility. But at Hubbard Street, we also have a school and extensive education programs which are also under my review. The experience you see on stage is all within my domain, which involves all the choreography, the combination
of programs, how the dancers are performing, the quality of the evening from start to finish, how the lighting is being implemented, the costuming and the scenic elements. » buzz: As a former dancer, what do you love about dance? GE: Having been a dancer, you get a sense of both aspects of your psyche — your physical and your emotional side, or even your spiritual side. By working on a day-to-day basis that way, I feel as a person you evolve. You become very in tune to yourself, who you are and how you relate to other people. It’s a challenging art form that [requires you] to express yourself and learn also about people. All that helps with what I’m doing now, which is being a director. » buzz: How was the transition from dancer to director? GE: It was terrible. I literally went from being a dancer one day to being a director the next. In hindsight, I should have given some time in between to get a feel for my new career, my new job. There was a year of overlap, but still ... when you’re a dancer, you’re a dancer. When you become an authority person, it changes the way some people see you. From just an emotional
all is fair in love and horror
Photo by Todd Rosenberg; used with permission from Hubbard Street Dance and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts
aspect, that was difficult. » buzz: How do you come up with ideas? GE: Well, I’ve been around for a long time. You know the dance scenes and what’s good and what’s not, and you come to the point of using choreographers you know. You investigate, you research and you find choreographers who are not tried and true. I’m looking for new choreographers that are innovative and new to the dance world. I’m also looking at those master choreographers who are fantastic. I’ve been in the business for over 30 years. You get to know how things go. So with all that information, you are able to assess and put things together. » buzz: What’s your favorite piece?
GE: I can’t say there’s a favorite. I enjoy the one we’re working on right now. My favorite is the current one, just because we’re immersed in it. » buzz: You’ve worked with many dance companies. What do you think about Hubbard Street Dance Chicago? GE: It’s the finest on the planet. We are very in tune and sensitive to the varying styles we have in our choreography and in our repertoire. The dancers are very easy to switch styles. They are very talented and intelligent. And we do the kind of work that’s unusual or different or not being done everywhere in the world. That uniqueness makes it interesting. I think we’re really creating a culture for dance.
The legendary vampire rises again
by Megan Betti No matter how many new members of the undead come on to the scene, Count Dracula remains the ultimate vampire. We see extensions of him everywhere, from teaching children how to count on Sesame Street to selling the chocolaty marshmallow cereal as Count Chocula. Simply stated, no other life-impaired individual has reached this level of celebrity. Bram Stoker’s original novel Dracula, the story that started it all when first published in 1897, still mystifies readers as a classic tale that draws you into a dark world where monsters come alive. Now, joining the ranks of adaptations about the infamous blood-drinker is Larry Smith’s Dracula: The Undead. According to Larry Smith, the playwright and director of the Rantoul Theatre Group’s production of Dracula: The Undead, many other adaptations have changed the character roles or deleted them all together. This retelling endeavors to stay true to the original story. “I decided to tell the story in the same way [as Bram Stoker],” said Smith. “The play be10
buzz
gins with Jonathan at the diary desk before he moves into the scene with Dracula.” This will definitely not be a carbon copy of the book, however. Smith is excited for audiences to experience his new take, revealing that his production will “put an answer to the question of Dracula.” “It’s a different approach with a beginning and a definitive end,” said Smith. This fresh approach includes questioning the very genre in which Dracula is usually included. “Dracula is not a horror story,” said Smith, “It is a love story disguised as horror. Dracula is sad. He can only show his love by destroying [it].” One of the romantic aspects of the play is the presence of Dracula’s wife, Elizabeta, a side of the story that remains missing from that of the real life inspiration for Dracula. Although the character is truly fictionalized, Dracula is based on Vlad the III, more commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, the prince of Wallachia, a historical area of Romania just South of the Southern Car-
pathian Mountains. The name Dracula, which translates to “son of the dragon” or “son of the devil,” was given to Vlad to mark him as a member of the order of the dragon and the son of his father Vlad Dracul. Unfortunately, there is very little record of his life with his spouse Ilona. “[Smith] ends things in a way that that is not only refreshing, but also believable. He also injects into the show elements of — of all things — true love and redemption,” said Randy Offner, who will play Dracula’s living, day-walking double in the production. “As an actor, I jumped at the chance to be a part of a challenge like that. As a romantic, the decision was a no-brainer for me.” Dracula: The Undead is shaping up to be a wonderful show. However, be warned that if you choose to go see it, there will be gunshots and (as any respectable vampire enjoys a good foggy night) a fog machine. Whether by car, by bus, by train or by unfurling your leathery wings, you should make it out to Rantoul to see Dracula: The Undead.
Illustration by Maureen Walrath