Chicago-based American dance company.

After a performing career that included Broadway musicals, Illinois native Lou Conte established the Lou Conte Dance Studio at Chicago’s La Salle and Hubbard Streets in 1974. In 1977, he founded the Hubbard Street Dance Company (renamed Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 1993) with four dancers. The company started when Barbara Cohen of Urban Gateways, who later joined the company as its first executive director, asked Conte to develop a program for senior citizens. He devised a program that featured various styles of American jazz dance, including tap, which the original company performed throughout the city under the auspices of the Mayor’s Office. He expanded on the original program and created a popular and serious dance style that combined balletic strength, the energy of jazz, and the footwork of tap with American themes and music, which added elements of musical theatre. Conte established partnerships with emerging and internationally renowned choreographers such as Lynne Tyler-Corbett, Margo Sappington, Daniel Ezralow, Twyla Tharp, Jirí Kylián, and Nacho Duarte. The company after Conte’s retirement in 2000 has continued to widen HDSC’s international focus and develop partnerships with institutions in Chicago.

Today, HDSC is located at 1658 North Milwaukee Avenue, with studio space in Water Tower Place (835 N. Michigan Avenue). Previous to its 2022 move from 1147 W. Jackson Boulevard, it was a dance organization with four components: the main company, Hubbard Street 2 (HS2), Lou Conte Dance Studio, and Youth, Education, and Community Programs. The main company continues to tour year round nationally and internationally. Established in 1997 by Conte and Julie Nakagawa, HS2 prepared young dancers for professional dancing careers; it ceased operations around 2016. The Lou Conte Dance Studio offered weekly classes most notably in ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and hip hop dance styles. It closed in 2020 due to the coronovirus pandemic. HSDC’s Youth, Education, and Community programs, founded in 1997, provide movement-based arts experiences to students, families, and teachers throughout the greater Chicago area.