Program 1: March 26–30
HSDC dancer Alejandro Cerrudo choreographs his second world premiere for the company, after the popular and critically acclaimed Lickety-Split in 2006. Described as a choreographer of “work[s] of great delicacy, invention, subtlety and charm,” Cerrudo has set Extremely Close on eight dancers to poignant and intimate piano solos by Philip Glass and Dustin O’Halloran.

Bardo, created for HSDC by Japanese choreographer Toru Shimazaki in 2006, is a mystical and mysterious journey between life and the afterworld, set to music by the Australian group Dead Can Dance. Passionate, fiery and fiercely athletic, the 12 dancers weave through daring partnerships and striking visual images.

Artistic Director Jim Vincent’s counter/part, his first work for the company (2002), was inspired by its music, Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and features 10 dancers whose movement is a visual representation of the music.

Program 2: April 1–5
Artistic Associate Lucas Crandall’s The Set is his third work for the company (after Atelier in 2003 and Gimme in 2005), set to the music of Bach. Having received critical acclaim as a choreographer, Crandall has created this work for three dancers.

HSDC performs its first work by New York-based choreographer Doug Varone, The Constant Shift of Pulse. Fluid yet unpredictable, this intricate and visually powerful piece illuminates the purity of movement. The 14 dancers interact as catalysts to build an emotional landscape, challenging the viewer’s concept of the relationship between personal and shared space. According to the New York Times, “Varone has produced some of modern dance’s most engrossing works. Sense and sensitivity seep into his pieces as we watch them. The viewer is ensnared.”

HSDC dancer Alejandro Cerrudo’s Lickety-Split combines sensual and fluid movement with playful and quirky gestures. Three couples consumed by the unpredictable nature of love move to the sounds of renowned Bay Area songwriter Devendra Banhart.

Float is an endearing piece created by Julian Barnett, set to music by Icelandic electronica group Mum, that elicits the nostalgic yearning for childhood and the aggressive physicality of the adult body. Deemed “a clear glimpse into an enticingly familiar world” by the New York Times, Float evokes a simple but tender theme, the idea that the body alone cannot articulate what the mind and heart want to say.

A whimsical duet from Lar Lubovitch’s Cryptoglyph, displaying the dancers’ delicacy and skill, is saturated with color and mirrors an eclectic vocal score by Meredith Monk, a pioneer in the art of “vocal landscapes.”