Hubbard Street Dance Chicago opens its 49th season this week with a Fall Series that sets a new work drawing on Bob Fosse’s choreography alongside premieres by other choreographers. The series runs November 13 through 22 at Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Downstairs Theater. The Fosse-based work, Paulina Street Passage, includes Fosse choreography. Paulina Street is near his birthplace.
A Chicago Address, Reworked for the Stage
According to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Fall Series features two world premieres: Paulina Street Passage, choreographed by Linda Haberman, and LUMINA, a new piece by former NDT2 Artistic Director Fernando Hernando Magadan. Resident Artist Aszure Barton's LubDub, created for the company in spring 2026, rounds out the bill.
Haberman spent nearly a decade as artistic director of the Rockettes, directing and choreographing productions including the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, according to the Chicago Tribune. Her Fosse connection dates to her Broadway debut in his Dancin' in 1978; she later assisted him on Big Deal before his death in 1987. The Tribune reports that Haberman now sees passing on her experience with his work as part of her role.
Pulling From Dancin', Big Deal and New Girl in Town
Paulina Street Passage incorporates Fosse choreography. The work is part of Fosse Forward, an initiative that commissions contemporary companion works. It joins Hubbard Street's Fosse repertoire.
Hubbard Street's Fosse repertoire has a history stretching back decades. The Tribune reports that Gwen Verdon set the company's first Fosse work, Percussion IV, in the 1990s; the piece was historically performed by male-bodied dancers. The Joyce Theater dates the reconstruction to 1990, when Verdon worked directly with Hubbard Street dancers on the piece from Dancin'. Haberman reset Percussion IV as a solo and staged Sweet Gwen Suite—a trio of short pieces originally choreographed for television and rearranged for the concert stage—for Hubbard Street’s 2024–25 season.
Hubbard Street’s Formal Link to the Verdon Fosse Legacy
Hubbard Street now partners with the Verdon Fosse Legacy, led by Nicole Fosse. The Tribune reports that the company was selected as the only concert dance organization sanctioned to stage works by Bob Fosse or Gwen Verdon. The Joyce Theater describes the 2024 Fall Series as the start of the official relationship, following the earlier 1990 reconstruction. Sweet Gwen Suite premiered at New York City Center's Fall for Dance Festival in 2021 and was later staged for Hubbard Street’s 2024–25 season, according to The Verdon Fosse Legacy.
Artistic director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell performed with Hubbard Street for three years and was appointed artistic director in 2021, the Tribune reports. Lou Conte met Fosse in the chorus of the original 1961 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and remained close with Fosse and Verdon.
LUMINA Features Work by Magadan
Magadan has set works for Hubbard Street. He danced with Nederlands Dans Theater for two decades before becoming rehearsal director and Artistic Leader of NDT2, according to his own website. He has also created work for Luna Negra Dance Theatre.
For LUMINA, Magadan created the choreography.
Stewarding the Work and the Venue
The Verdon Fosse® Legacy says its work includes preserving and protecting Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon’s artistic works and reconstructing repertoire for professional dance companies. Hubbard Street describes itself as a repertory company presenting works by a range of choreographers, placing the Fosse material within a broader multi-choreographer program, according to Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
The Fall Series runs November 13 through 22 at the Downstairs Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St.
