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Celebrating Lou Conte, and 40 years of LCDS

   Published Date: January 23, 2014
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago founder Lou Conte teaching in his first namesake studio on Hubbard Street. Archival photo courtesy LCDS.
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago founder Lou Conte teaching in his first namesake studio on Hubbard Street. Archival photo courtesy LCDS.

The founder of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and namesake of Lou Conte Dance Studio (LCDS) will be in the house Feb. 1 for a special event honoring 40 years since the studio’s founding. An interview with Lou Conte is to be moderated by Claire Bataille, a founding member of Hubbard Street (you know, when Hubbard Street was on Hubbard Street…) and current director of the school. The talk will focus on the early days of the studio with the charming Mr. Conte, followed by an open Q & A before moving into studio B for a dance party with music from CHIRP Radio (read: not the YMCA and Chicken Dance).

How else to honor the legacy of 40 years of LCDS than with an awesome dance party? Better yet, the “barre bar” will be flowing – a cash bar raising money to purchase new ballet barres for the studios.

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The LCDS 40th Anniversary Event will take place Saturday, Feb. 1 at the Lou Conte Dance Studios (1147 W. Jackson). Talk with Lou Conte begins at 7pm, dance party at 9pm. Tickets for the full event are $25 (includes one drink ticket, $10 for dance party only), available online or at the door.

Also on the radar:

HSDC is playing host to Mikhail Baryshnikov at its annual spotlight ball on May 19. Anyone want to go in on a Bronze Benefactor table with me for a chance to shake hands with Misha?

Author: Lauren Warnecke

Lauren Warnecke is a freelance dance critic, contributing to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine. She is senior editor of See Chicago Dance. Lauren covers dance across the Midwest and writes regularly for Dance Magazine and Pointe with additional bylines in Milwaukee Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and Dance Teacher. Forthcoming publications include essays on ballet training in Chicago (University of Illinois Press) and Shirley Mordine (University of Akron Press). In 2020, Lauren published an opinion piece on the impact of COVID-19 on the arts in the South African journal Agenda. Lauren holds degrees in dance and kinesiology and has presented research on dance training practices at the National Dance Education Organization and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. She has co-facilitated critical dance writing intensives in Chicago and Durban, South Africa, and participated in writing residencies at the National Center for Choreography, Bates Dance Festival and JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. Lauren teaches dance history and kinesiology for dancers, with part-time appointments at Loyola University Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan University.