DANCE THEATER REVIEWS

A teenage girl imagines her future. A marriage is tested. Church bells ring, uniting the community in prayer. These are good people; this could be anywhere. They fear the shadows in the forest, but the real monsters are much closer to home....

I think I've seen Jewels at least 200 times in my life. Notwithstanding all the performances-excellent, good, mediocre, or just beyond mention, the ballet always yields rewards in its seemingly abundant outpouring of music and dance. We all know Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky from so many Balanchine bal...

Akram Khan's Giselle is only three years old, but it already has a weighty reputation, as a powerful contemporary reworking of a classic, done with the choreographer's impressive sense of intensity and drama. ...

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It was fitting that Manipuri dance was chosen to commemorate India Independence Day, because during British colonial rule the dances were ridiculed as savage, immoral and outdated. Fortunately, thanks to India's independence, the help of activists, scholars and performers revitalizing ancient yet ti...

Thriving dance troupe Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre return to Sadler's Wells for the first time in three years with a varied set of programmes, contrasting challenging themes of new work with joyful signature piece Revelations....

There are few beings on the planet that can be as dreamy, demented, or determined as teenage girls.  When those teenagers belong to an elite dance troupe trying to get to Nationals you get the funny, poignant, and challenging DANCE NATION, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for best drama, playing at MOXIE ...

The Color Iz was part dance showcase, part musical theatre and part gender-bending Drag show with a heavy, heady dose of disco, glam and glitter and a focus on celebrating all shades of expression in dance and identity....

Thoughtful. Provocative. Exciting. Moving. Hilarious. This is how I would sum up Program C of Ballet Festival, performed at The Joyce Theater last Thursday night, August 15, 2019. Curated by Jean-Marc Puissant, the program consisted of three classical and contemporary pieces, diverse in both emot...

Celebrating its 20th anniversary and making South Africa its last stop on their global tour, BURN THE FLOOR cha-cha'd its way onto the Baxter Theatre's stage earlier this month where it has been igniting audiences with vibrant dance numbers, glitzy costumes, and live musical accompaniment. An intern...

Friday's press night performance of Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet was one of the most breathtaking nights at the theatre in a long time, and that's without including a live show stop. ...

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 surroun...

Last year, in 2018, the third annual Dancers For Good Benefit supporting the Actors Fund Dancers Resource in East Hampton was so impressive that I challenged the founders to 'high-kick it up a notch even higher next year'. I'm thrilled to announce that not only did they clearly accept that challenge...

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Gustav Dudamel, played magnificently July 16, 2019 as they first featured award-winning Pablo Ferrandez in Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor, Opus 104 in a most passionate and stirring performance. The piece was written by Dvorak about hi...

I had high hopes for FREDDIE FALLS IN LOVE, the dance piece running at the Joyce Theater July 23-August 4. After all, it was choreographed by Emmy Award-winner Al Blackstone, and it stars SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE winner Melanie Moore along with Broadway actor Matt Doyle....

Eryc Taylor Dance and guest choreographers from ETD's grant program performed segments from EARTH at BBG. Taylor's impetus to create EARTH was the urge to present a visual, physical and auditory 'wake up call' to the impact of humankind's impact on global warming....

The Hollywood Bowl presented Siudy Flamenco Dance Theatre and Los Angeles guest artist, dancer Manuel Gutierrez with percussionist Diego Alvarez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for an evening of fabulous Flamenco music and a production of El Amor Brujo. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestr...

Saturday, July 6, 2019 The tortuous true story of Mayerling was first set to music composed by Franz Liszt, by Kenneth MacMillan, in 1978; a giant Choreographer and Innovator in the world of Ballet. MacMillan's Mayerling is the forboding story of the 1889 Murder/Suicide of Emperor Franz Joseph and ...

Having watched the Mark Morris over the past 20 years, I can say with all honesty that he has all the virtues that distinguish a fine choreographer: musicality, vitality, charm, humor. My problem is that I never find myself warming to anything I see, especially to the program on July 11, 2019....

Alluring, sexy, their love to death stimulates their sexual desire to each other - a perfect volatile mix of tantalizing beauty and formidable athleticism. The Mayerling by England's Royal Ballet is a MUST-SEE!...

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 Americ...

2019 marks the 25th anniversary of London Children's Ballet. Chances are, if you're familiar with the work of LCB, then you already know of their unique and impactful mission and the difference they have made to thousands of young dancers across the UK. ...

Last week, the Grand Theatre opened its doors to one of the last performances of the 2018-19 season. For three days, the main venue of the Grand-Duchy welcomed everyone to Akram Khan's Giselle, one of most acclaimed versions of this epic tale....

Arthur Pita adapts Hans Christian Andersen's The Story of a Mother for Natalia Osipova and Jonathan Goddard in a contemporary dance work that is unblinkingly clear and ferocious in its storytelling....

Now in wind-down mode for the summer, programmers at the Royal Opera House are treating audiences to a host of performances from young dancers, overseas companies and, of course, later on in July, a short residency from the Bolshoi. The relatively newly unveiled Linbury Theatre is the setting for th...