THOMAS FORD • May 24, 2021
When Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell was tapped to be the artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (only the fourth in the company's history), she would immediately shoulder a hefty weight: that heaviness, of course, in the loss of the company's state-of-the-art studios, caused by pandemic-related financial hardship. She's also leading one of America's foremost contemporary troupes—and as only one of a handful of Black (and women) directors to occupy that space. Even with Fisher-Harrell's illustrious artistic pedigree—she graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts; then enrolled at the Juilliard School; at 19, joined Hubbard Street; and three years later, embarked on a prolific career as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—a shock of joy zapped my Black body when I found out the news: If she can do it...
Over Zoom, "Linda-D," as her friends and colleagues call her, spoke with DANCEBUZZ about her efforts to combat racial stigma in dance, her plans to diversify Hubbard Street's repertoire and what she hopes to leave behind.
Recently, the company partnered up with Final Bow for Yellowface—an organization that fights Asian stereotypes in dance—at a time that anti-Asian violence is climbing. How did that collaboration come about?
That ship was sailing when I got here—and I want to give Jessica Tong, our associate artistic director, all of that credit, because while we've been in a pandemic, we've been doing all these special projects and small films. And Jessica said, ‘You know what? How would it be to re-investigate the Chinese Tea section from the "Nutcracker?" Let's look at that. Let's look at how problematic that is on its face and invite a few different [AAPI] choreographers in to revise it.' Jessica initiated all of that. Final Bow has been doing this work for some time. So, when she got in touch with Phil Chan [Final Bow co-founder], they were like, ‘Hey, let's partner!' And so Jessica said, ‘This is a perfect fit. Why don't we partner, and we both can appear on each other's platforms.’ And that's what we've been doing—and we’ve been running with that. But, you know, we've been bringing forth that type of representation for a long time at Hubbard Street. We're proud to say that. But I give Jessica all of the credit for the Final Bow partnership. She really spearheaded that.
What would you say has come out of that partnership? Have you been able to see its impact on the company—or on the community?
I think the impact on the community and the company—the different choreographers that came in and actually worked to revise that section—it's just been a great opportunity for our dancers to research. I think we've all done the Chinese Tea section from "The Nutcracker"—or have at least seen it growing up, and I think it's this idea of, ‘let's all look at that, and let's look at how problematic that is.’
As a whole, the company has really enjoyed working with the choreographers: Yin Yue, Edward Liang, Peter Chu—I think everybody always loves working with Peter. He teaches company classes, too, and we've had a long relationship with him. So, the company has really benefited from working with these fabulous choreographers, and investigating and reinvestigating what that movement can be, what it can look like and what it can represent.
What are your plans for outreach?
Well, first of all, BIPOC dancers have to see themselves on the stage. That's a big problem that I think we've recognized. My job as the artistic director is to increase representation. And that means: Hello, right? [Pointing to herself] Look at this Black lady sitting right here—that's number one. But we also need more people of color telling their stories choreographically.
Contemporary dance is wide-ranging—it's not this narrow thing. And so widening the lens of the stories we can tell is what I'm interested in, and bringing in choreographers who may not have had the opportunity to choreograph on the company before. So, that's how you start your outreach. And then you take it from there. Eventually, that little girl on the west side or the south side of Chicago is going to come and see the company and go, 'Oh, mommy, I want to do that! Something about what they did inspired me.'
How would you describe the state of contemporary dance today?
All over the place. [Laughter] But look at the world right now. It's a reflection of what's going on in the world, and that's what art should be. Art should reflect what's going on. Just look at how many styles are creeping up and being created right now. Look at how that's deepening how we move and how we investigate and how dancers are training their bodies. It's really exciting because everything is kind of all over the place. I love it.
How can we, as a community, actionably reject tokenism (i.e., pedestaling a single artist of color, and only that artist, for a period of time)?
You mean the flavor of the month? [Laughter] We’ve got to stop that. I think what happens is that non-BIPOC artistic staff kind of latch on to that person of the month—and then they start running with that. We need to stop that. And especially if people of color are at the head of certain organizations, we have a responsibility. There are lots of different voices to be heard, so we can't be tempted to go into that. It's not fair. It's not equitable. And it's not being true to the genre [of contemporary dance].
How do you see your tenure transforming the company? What legacy do you hope to leave?
That's such a great question. I have a huge responsibility as the artistic director of an organization that has existed since the mid-seventies. I have a responsibility to uphold that legacy and maintain a standard of excellence. I feel that weight—and it's not really a weight as much as: ‘this company is going to be excellent.’ It's been excellent. So, that's one thing I want to continue.
But, I'm a part of the legacy, as well. I danced with Hubbard Street from 1989-'92, so I don't feel like I'm divorced from it; I’m a part of it. And so reaching back and bringing back pieces that we used to do—that's going to be fun. We should always be gazing back and looking at what we did as we reach forward; widening the idea of what contemporary dance is because contemporary is a lot more than I think we've been investigating in this company in the past. Let’s look back and see how Lou [Conte] founded the company, and the pieces they used to do, when they were jazzy and a little bit more fun. Because that is contemporary. That is contemporary, too.
So, it's a new era—of fun?
We need it. We need to find joy in our lives right now.
THOMAS FORD
Thomas Ford is a NYC-based dance artist and writer with bylines in Dance Magazine and the Brooklyn Rail. He formerly served as a contributing editor at Dance Spirit. He is a year-round contemporary teacher at the Joffrey Ballet School (NYC), has presented choreographic works at prestigious dance venues, including The Joyce Theater, and is currently pursuing his MFA in dance at Hunter College.
