“Ended When” by Robyn Mineko Williams for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Shot in a Chicago parking lot, “Ended When” counterbalances that tranquil feeling of lying down and staring up into the clouds with a feeling of all-consuming heartbreak. The work is a re-imagined dance film version of a solo from choreographer Robyn Mineko Williams’ 2016 creation Cloudline for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

Co-directed by Mike Gibisser and Williams, the 8-minute film stars Hubbard Street’s Alysia Johnson dancing to Chicago musician Alencia Norris’ rendition of Sylvia Dee and Arthur Kent’s 1960s hit song “The End of the World.”

“I have always seen the solo as cinematic,” says Williams. “It touches on elements of loss, but it is not a pandemic piece. I sort of liked that lonely stuff before.”