Celebrate Valentine's Day with the Extraordinary RUBBERBAND
Founded in 2002 by Artistic Director Victor Quijada, a 2024 Guggenheim Fellow, RUBBERBAND stretches and blurs the boundaries of breakdancing, ballet, contemporary and dance theatre , creating a unique voice and a path for a new generation of dancemakers. Quijada “takes the vocabulary of hip-hop into bold and innovative new places—into graceful balletic formations, and into deep and sometimes disturbing emotional terrain.” (Stir)
RUBBERBAND’s compelling imagery, sheer physicality, raw energy, remarkable artistry, undeniable fluidity and genre-breaking boundaries continue to stick with me. Like many fans, I was captivated by Quijada’s unforgettable performances during RUBBERBAND’s 2007 debut in our Dance Celebration series. The program featured small works, some of which became part of a full-length work, Vic’s Mix. Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s provocative and powerful Romeo and Juliet, Secret Service featured six dancers including Quijada and the fearless and exquisite Anne Plamondon, Quijada’s then life partner, and co-artistic director for 15 years. The group stretched and recoiled like a rubber band, performing effortless flips, unexpected freezes, capoeira inversions, B-Boy moves, and surging lifts and falls. Bodies exploded into the air and rolled over one another, creating a tumbling effect like a rumble from West Side Story. To this day, when I hear Prokofiev’s music – often used for grands battements in ballet classes – I think of RUBBERBAND’s ingenious approaches that appear spontaneous but are divinely choreographed.
Quijada’s early years shaped his unique voice. Born in Los Angeles, the child of Mexican, working-class parents, Quijada began street dancing at age seven. He studied at LA’s Performing Arts High School, performed with Rudy Perez, and moved to NYC to dance with Twyla Tharp’s company for three years. Following a stint with Ballets Tech, Quijada moved to Canada in 2000 to join Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. In addition to 40 concert works, he created a half dozen award-winning films and was commissioned to set works on the Scottish Dance Theatre, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pacific Northwest Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC and Germany’s Tanzmainz.
This mash-up of genres led him to create a unique vocabulary for the RUBBERBAND Method, which is widely practiced by movers, educators and creators in workshops, masterclasses and academic programs. While working for Dance Celebration several years ago, I had the pleasure of observing this teaching method put into action through masterclasses, weekday Student Discovery programs and performances of full-length works such as Punto Ciego, Gravity of Center, Empirical Quotient and Vic’s Mix. Quijada’s Method provides insights into the company’s work, continues to educate and inspire participants, and builds a foundation for new company members.
Despite being based in Quebec, RUBBERBAND’s Philly connections run deep. Daniel Mayo, who performed with RUBBERBAND, later danced with Philadelphia’s BalletX from 2014-2018 and is now a ballet teacher for Metropolitan Ballet Academy in Jenkintown, PA. Philadelphia native Micah Sells trained at Metropolitan Ballet Academy and joined RUBBERBAND in 2024. As thousands of school students do each year, he attended his first RUBBERBAND performance as part of our Student Discovery series. Smitten, he told his mom, “I want to dance with this company someday.” What an honor it is to see firsthand the impact this series has on area schoolchildren. We look forward to seeing him dance in Reckless Underdog.
Quijada’s tour-de-force Reckless Underdog celebrates the company’s 20th anniversary and ushers in a new era. This full-length work for 12 dancers is an amalgamation of RUBBERBAND’S research, fusing hip-hop urban culture, modern and postmodern techniques, and balletic structures. Quijada notes, “This new show is something I’d never done before where I pulled those histories apart.” Taking this range of styles, “I constrained them to remain separate and push them forward.”
Reckless Underdog is divided into three sections, each a separate piece in and of itself with distinct music, costumes and lighting. Under the direction of longtime collaborator and composer Jasper Gahunia, the music includes original compositions by Chilly Gonzales and Vlooper & Kenlo Craqnuques. The first section, inspired by classical ballet, takes place in a circumscribed and luminous environment where the rules of pas de deux are redefined. The second, more experimental, distorts certain theatrical codes within a colored space and confronts the bodies with an abstract and minimal approach to movement. The final section deconstructs the practice of break cypher, in a dark and oppressive but festive atmosphere.
In addition to three performances, RUBBERBAND will offer a masterclass and Student Discovery show for school groups. I, for one, cannot wait to spend my Valentine’s Day with RUBBERBAND. I am excited to celebrate the company’s accomplishments, including growing from a small ensemble of six to 12 dancers. RUBBERBAND has truly had a remarkable journey over the past two decades.
