Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s Alexandria Best reveals what it’s like from the inside. 

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is a bit like the aurora borealis. Colorful. Bold. Mesmerizing. Worldwide. 

No matter where they appear, crowds gather to ooh and ahh, announcing the next day: Did you see that show last night. Plus, they’ve been around forever (in dance company years), morphing as they go, carrying both the mystery and the history of phenomenal movement. 

And, *ahem* Hubbard Street Dance Chicago is the only dance company in the country licensed by The Verdon Fosse® Legacy to perform Bob Fosse choreography. They’re everything. All at once.  

We caught up with company member and Raleigh, NC, native Alexandria Best to tell us what it’s like being part of one of the most legendary modern dance companies in the world. 

Alexandria Best: On Being a Hubbard Street Dancer 

Let’s say you have a daily 9-5 job, but you also go on tour every year like a rock star. That’s the work life of a Hubbard Street dancer.  

“People are surprised when I tell them I get up and go to work every single day, Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” says Best, who’s been with the company since 2021. Best and the other 13 company members of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago pull office hours, except theirs are in the studio dancing, dancing, and more dancing. 

Every day, says Best, they start with an hour-and-fifteen or hour-and-a-half class. “Class gets you warmed up and ready for everything you have to do in a day. We have a very diverse rep, so we usually keep it to ballet in the morning so we have our foundation.” 

After morning class, the Hubbard Street workday looks like this: 

Very short water/snack break 

Three hours of rehearsal 

Lunch break 

Three hours of rehearsal 

6 p.m. -- end of day 

Every day. Five days a week.  

 

Then there’s the very intense tour schedule, which includes about 18-20 performances in their hometown of Chicago, but mostly they’re on the road, bussing and flying from town to town—still taking morning class every day, running a tech rehearsal, then the full concert. The body is their instrument, one that’s getting a little beat up by the rigors of life on the road, so taking care of themselves is top priority.  

“On tour, you definitely have to find a sense of routine,” says Best. “I try to mimic what I have at home to help me. Because you’re most relaxed, most comfortable at home. Above the physical, there’s also your nervous system—if I feel off on tour in my nervous system, I’ll mimic what I do at home or in our home theater in the hotel room or in the theater space. It can be little things like bringing my heating pad with me. I always sleep with a heating pad. I have the same makeup set up. I bring little knick-knacks that remind me of home. I have this little bowl I take on the road to put my jewelry in, my photos. I bring all my physical therapy supplies I use at home.” 

And water, Best says. Everyone drinks “lots and lots of water.” 

Best, who graduated from Pace University with a BFA in Dance and minor in business, studied with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago after her freshman year in college. She knew instantly that she wanted to dance with the company if she ever got the opportunity.  

“I love the environment,” she says. “I love the kinetic energy to it. It’s not stereotypical concert-esque rep. It’s such a mix of movement styles. What stuck out the most for me is how the company is ever-changing but always dynamic. In the same program, you can be doing house dance, flailing your body onstage, then in the next piece, you’re together, technically on a pin, dancing.” 

Hubbard Street made a name for itself in the 1970s as an American jazz company, but they never pigeonholed themselves to a label. Evolving has been the key to their staying power, and today they’ve melded in contemporary, modern dance, African, breaking, and experimental styles into their foundation of ballet and jazz technique.  

 

All 14 dancers bring their individuality and unique gifts to the company dynamic, “but we have the same heart drive, the same mission” Best says. “The group of us makes Hubbard Street what it is. We all just love to create great dance for people to experience. It’s about how we can, as a group, no matter how big the house is or the count in the theater. How can we make each individual person feel something in their own way?” 

 

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and The Verdon Fosse® Legacy 

Let’s be honest. No one can overstate the impact of Bob Fosse on American jazz and modern dance or his influence in shaping what everyone knows as Broadway jazz. Gwen Verdon, his collaborator and eventual wife, is a thundering dance legend in the world of movie musicals and stage shows. The muse and engine behind his career and creative drive, Verdon was the unmatched interpreter of Fosse’s vision and his ground-breaking movement style.  

 

So, it’s no surprise that everyone who was touched by Fosse’s work and Verdon’s immaculate dancing during their careers has no problem with the fact that the duo’s entire catalog of choreography is staunchly, fiercely, and hermetically protected by The Verdon Fosse® Legacy foundation. 

Anywhere you go in the professional dance and Broadway worlds, everybody knows—we mean EVVVVVERYBODY knows—you can’t and you don’t produce Fosse and Fosse/Verdon choreo. If you want to do Fosse, you need a special license from The Verdon Fosse Legacy foundation. 

And there’s one dance company in America that has this license. 

It’s Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. 

For their concert in Peace Concert Hall, the company’s bringing Fosse’s demanding and eye-popping solo, Percussion IV. 

“It’s a huge deal,” says Best. “Fosse and Verdon’s work is very protected under the Legacy foundation. Not anyone can just do this [show a Fosse work]. It’s amazing. No company is allowed to do this ... but now we have two works by Bob Fosse. Percussion IV, which you’ll be seeing in Greenville, and Sweet Gwen Suite.”  

Although Sweet Gwen Suite isn’t on the Greenville bill, Best often performs in the trio when they show it. “We work with Linda Haberman, the stager, who worked with Fosse directly. It’s such a treat and a privilege to have this first-hand account. I never imagined I would be in a professional company working so closely with Fosse and his works.” 

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at the Peace Center 

We couldn’t be more excited about the arrival of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in Greenville for their engagement here on April 25. Along with Fosse’s Percussion IV, they’re also bringing the audience and dancers’ favorite Gnawa by Nacho Duato, Beauty Chasers by former Ailey dancer and current Alvin Ailey Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, and the stunning movement mashup Blue Soup, by Resident Artist Aszure Barton. 

As we said, this company is everything all at once. For a kinetic night of spectacular movement, get your tickets to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.