The Pointe Photos - Off-Broadway

In this only-in-Vegas spectacular, Queen of Burlesque, Dita Von Teese, who is joined on stage by two dozen dancers and two guest performers, tips her hat to the spectacular spirit of Jubilee of yore and the historic theater at Horseshoe, while incorporating her most iconic acts. Check out the photos from the opening night now!

Synchronicity Theatre’s Bold Voices production of Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson - #2B will run September 30-October 23, 2022. Individual tickets start at $25. Check out photos of the production here.

During the interim, after our long COVID restrictions in Los Angeles began to lessen, The Music Center, and with the generosity of Glorya Kaufman and her continual support for Dance, created a fabulous summer program for Los Angeles, entitled 'Dance After Dusk' in the outdoor area in between the three theatres, the Ahmanson, the Mark Taper Forum and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The tentative plans are to open up the theatres for live performances in the near future. 'The Jerry Moss Plaza' was created to present outstanding dance performances this summer, in a beautiful setting, culture, abounding all around, and the intense longing to see live and electrifying performances of hope, beauty and talented visionaries. There is a beautiful stage erected in the middle of the Plaza facing west, so as the sun was setting behind the stage, the performance began. No disappointments whatsoever with this third and final offering with Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Company. Indeed, the talent, the expertise and the intent of this stellar dance company is incomparable! The technique of every member of the company, with every movement they make, will fill you with awe. Stunning flexibility, extension, ballon, reach, strength, endurance, passion and fluidity is masterfully executed.

Whitney Rowland's new play, Wayfinding, is a “magical realism melancholic comedy” that uses the concept of “time bending” to shape the characters' journeys to unexpected destinations. Jane (Sarah Wallis) is an emotionally-numbed new widow. Harrison (Ben Thorpe) is Les's (Charlie T. Thomas) inattentive, self-sabotaging fiancé. In seeking escape, these two strangers collide – both literally and figuratively – tangling their lifelines and setting them on a journey involving an intercontinental plane crash, a magical forest, and a choice that leads them both to an unexpected destination. Wayfinding runs through March 29, 2020 at Synchronicity Theatre.

Winter in New York City is not known for being particularly steamy (though the unseasonably mild weather this year gives one reason to pause), but there is always Complexions Contemporary Ballet's season at the Joyce Theater to turn up the heat to a feverish, sweltering boiling point! For the 26th season, the company revived recent seminal works -- Bach 25 and Woke -- alongside favorites spanning from 1994 to a brand new solo in Essential Parts, which acted as a 'Greatest Hits' compilation for the ever-evolving, always revolutionary dance troupe. This year also marked the World Premiere of their latest exploration of the full canon of a particular musician's oeuvre -- Love Rocks featuring the music of the iconic Grammy-winning rockstar, Lenny Kravitz. For patrons unable to attend all programs, FOMO (fear of missing out) syndrome is understandable, but for those who are highly familiar with the group's work or only getting their first taste, Program C -- which featured the latter two mentioned -- was the most delectable sampling of Complexions offerings old and new. The fascinating thing about such juxtapositions is that, in seeing the latest creations from 2020 side-by-side with choreography premiered in the early 1990s, it is remarkable to note how the level of innovation, depth of emotion and current relevance remains the same. It's a reminder that timeliness and timelessness can coexist, given the right mediums and masters. The genius of legendary Co-Founders, Co-Artistic Directors Desmond Richard and Dwight Rhoden (also the Principal Choreographer) cannot be underestimated. Indeed, it has not. They have both achieved phenomenal success and longevity, been lauded as trailblazers and received numerous accolades from peers, critics and audiences alike since they burst on the dance scene. It's no wonder that they have utilized the music of David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar and Lenny Kravitz to tell their stories through bodies in motion -- they are rockstars themselves!

November 22, 2019 Astonishing in their choice of repertoire, their innovative choreography, their elaborate and colorfully creative costuming and their commanding performance of the choreography. Don't let this first photo confuse you. This Company is so many things, and the picture represents but one facet of their dance works ~ I just had to use it for the beauty and uniqueness of it. The evening commenced with a sextet of pieces that were entitled The Heritage of the Great Steppe, following the history and traditions of the Kazakhstan people. Beautifully executed and visually stunning, each one was unique.

Dance Lab New York (DLNY) is halfway through its Lab Cycle in collaboration with The Joyce Theater Foundation supporting female choreographers of color in ballet. Over the past two weeks, Amy Hall Garner and Preeti Vasudevan, have been exploring the classical and neoclassical ballet idioms with a company of eight professional dancers, supported by the DLNY Lab Cycle grant in space provided by The Joyce Theater Foundation. DLNY provided each of them with 30 hours of incubation, a stipend, eight paid professional dancers, a rehearsal director, insurances, and administrative support from DLNY staff and Founding Artistic Director, Josh Prince.

There's a new Dance Movie, which opened nationwide Friday, October 11th, that's sure to advance the genre in popularity.  In the last few decades “Dirty Dancing,” “Footloose,” “Flashdance,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “Staying Alive” and more recently “La La Land” all caused quite a stir when they hit theatres, and many of them are still quite popular today.   “High Strung Free Dance” and it's predecessor “High Strung' (2016) has everything you could want to see and hear in a film about dance, music and dancers. Written and produced by professional dancer Janine Best Damian “Solid Gold” and numerous film and television appearances, and her talented actor/singer/director/composer/husband Michael Damian (Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”/Broadway; 18 years appearing on “The Young and the Restless,” among many other credits for directing, as a vocalist and creating soundtracks for films he's also directed). This latest film is one out of 13 films he has written and produced with Janeen, as well as directed; ”Marley and Me: The Puppy Years,' the “Flicka” franchise, and more.

Saturday, September 27-29, 2019 The Los Angeles Youth Ballet's Artistic Director, Andrea Paris-Gutierrez, introduced the program for the evening, giving a warm welcome to the audience. The first half of the 'bill' was entitled 'Mixed Motions.'  Talented Choreographer Cedric Dodd, mounting his work on the company members of the Youth Ballet, gives a fantastic opportunity for these young Company members, getting to learn different styles of choreography, then performing it, in their growth as dancers.  

July 25, 2019 The best and most satisfying way to beat the heat and be delightfully entertained on a boiling hot summer day in the San Fernando Valley is to head to Marina del Rey, to Burton Chase Park on a designated Thursday to see and hear an exciting orchestra play, take in the lovely surroundings, breathe in the gentle breeze and watch dancers bring alive the superb orchestral offerings. The L A County Supervisor Janice Hahn and The Department of Beaches and Harbors has been presenting these wonderful concert gatherings for many years now, and each year they top themselves. With the amazing and animated Frank Fetta as Artistic Director and Conductor, the fabulous Marina del Rey Orchestra and Nancy Dobbs Owen, who provided the breathtaking choreography for the evening we were treated to an incredible program of music and dance. The program began as the sun began to set in these beautiful surroundings with Igor Stravinsky's (A Russian immigrant who lived in Los Angeles most of his years) Firebird Suite. Before the downbeat, Mr. Fetta recounted his own working experience with Stravinsky here in Los Angeles.

June 29, 2019 Melissa Barak's Ballet Company, Barak Ballet, is becoming a staple at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Since 2013, they have been appearing annually and she has continually delivered her talent and creativity to her home town.  A native Santa Monican, she is now one of America's foremost rising female choreographers.  Ms. Barak spent a decade dancing for New York City Ballet and choreographing for the School and Company of American Ballet at age 22. And her tenacity has paid off.

Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles is a very unique and valuable, strong and powerful Dance Company. They offered up two fantastic evenings of Dance, Song, Music and a Q&A, last weekend at Club Fais Do Do, and this past weekend at the Skirball Center, in conjunction with a Fashion Exhibit of Rudy Gernreich's '60s fashions that tied in perfectly with the 2nd dance piece presented that evening. The costumes used in 'Inscape,' were originally created by Rudi Gernreich at the same time the piece was set, in 1976. 'Choose Your Identity' June 16, 2019 The evening began with singer Tawny Ellis and her band, performing several selections from her new upcoming album release 'Love Life.' Dressed in a beautiful, flowing, lacy white dress, she looked like an angel and sang like one, playing her matching white Lap Steel and omni chord instruments with a passionate, down-to-earth country sound that was soothingly sultry, with lyrics that commanded your attention. She and her talented band played selections from her upcoming release; one of them being 'Pretend Love,' which was accompanied by a beautiful dance, choreographed by the Artistic Director, Judith FLEX Helle, performed by the incredible Kelly Vittetoe, an extraordinary soloist, en pointe, accompanied by David Tai Kim and Cory Goel. The strongest ballerina I have ever seen, (Ms. Vittetoe) that up-close; performing magnificently, with one of the most beautiful bodies, face and feet, ever. She is exquisite, and her two partners were also equally impressive. The exactness of technique performed by all three dancers was just heavenly. Up close and personal. What a treat!

Twenty-six delectable dancers launched the 2019 Broadway Bares season with theatre-inspired moves and a record-shattering fundraising total at this year's tantalizingly theatrical Broadway Bares Fire Island on June 1, 2019.

There is nothing negative I could possibly say about the performance I witnessed on April 4, 2019 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Such artistry is almost hard to describe.  This company has an amazing history and is superb in both their interpretation and their amazing technique. Their 60-year history of excellence is a gift to our lives that must always Be. What more could you want? Extreme gratitude given to Glorya Kaufman, and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center.  Ms. Kaufman is an Angel for the Arts in Los Angeles; especially for Dance. Supple strength that fluidly morphs until it hits a line that is as outstretched and aesthetically perfect as could be, and those are the visual pictures they create with their bodies.  It is a way of moving that combines all the elements of different opposites that we feel, react to and dream of, painting a visual picture, conveying expressive perceptions.  

The Joyce Theater catapults its scintillating 2019 season that encapsulates an entire spectrum of contemporary international movement with a renowned and acclaimed audience-favorite, COMPLEXIONS Contemporary Ballet.

Jack O'Brien's (Director) updated take on CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: THE NEW MUSICAL arrives in Sydney with a celebration of sweetness and childhood fantasy.

The weekend before Christmas, The Los Angeles Youth Ballet presented a gorgeous, colorful and professional performance of The Nutcracker at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. The production was very carefully constructed, with an emphasis on good technique, passion and commitment in performance and lovingly re-created by Artistic Director and Choreographer, Andrea Paris-Gutierrez. It was staged and choreographed optimally for each age group performing. Enchanting might be an adjective to describe the feeling the performers were emitting to the viewers, who's rapt attention was a sign of both enjoyment and endorsement. The Nutcracker Suite was composed by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky, and has long been the favorite balletic composition to be performed during the Christmas Season.