DANCE THEATER REVIEWS

In this time of physical proximity of different cultures, Fadi J. Khoury, Artistic Director and Choreographer of FJK Dance, believes in the unique fusion of culture and dance, with the endless possibilities of experimenting with the fundamentals of various dance forms, including classical ballet, ba...

On the evening of Thursday, February 25th 2016 at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington, DC, Director's Cut began with a standing ovation for Artistic Director Septime Webre who just announced his departure from the Washington Ballet after a seventeen-year tenure. Webre has transformed the Ballet fro...

Civil unrest, classic folk tales, imperial decadence, fairy tales, and the exotic romantic east: all tenants of late imperial Russian ballet that can at times feel irrelevant to contemporary audiences. However, the Mariinsky Ballet's tribute to the late and great Maya Plisetskaya on the evening of F...

Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet under the artistic direction of Peter Boal returned to New York City Center in February 2016 with an 'All Balanchine' program on the 24th and 25th followed by a triple bill, 'Contemporary Innovations', on the 26th and 27th. The latter, which I saw on the 26th, feat...

The jewel in the crown of the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shakespeare season (perhaps aside from David Bintley's new Tempest), this production of Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet has been a hotly anticipated production for many months. Although many choreographers have tackled Prokoviev's delicious,...

The JCC Manhattan, in collaboration with students of NYU Tisch School presented an evening of dance that explored their connection of the Talmud and Jewish literature....

DON QUIXOTE is a fantastic Los Angeles Ballet production, filled with the dreams of the Don (Adam Luders), the love of Kitri and Basilio (technically perfect and emotionally evocative dancers Julie Cinquemani and Kenta Shimizu) and the adventures that follow them during this epic tale. There is som...

The Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shakespeare season opened with Frederick Ashton's The Dream, originally choreographed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of The Bard's birth, and now restaged to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. The bill is completed by A Month in the Country, an Ashto...

Justin Peck's 'Most Incredible Thing' headlines this program of new works....

Upon hearing the term 'ballet' one typically envisions fluffy tutus and satin pointe shoes: the very epitome of girlish grace and beauty showcased in lithe bodies adorned in tulle and rhinestones. Ballerinas are given the stage as the protagonists, while oft times the men are utilized simply as supp...

The translation of art from the stage to the screen is often viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. Yet an annual event by the Ohio State Department of Dance proves that the fusion of dance and film is far from two-dimensional. "Dance@30FPS," a presentation of dance films from around the world,...

An array of unique movements, lights, sounds, and imagination from the ALWIN NIKOLAIS CELEBRATION at The Joyce Theater....

Peter Martins' reconstruction of the 1836 tragicomedy, 'La Sylphide', and Balanchine's 1972 update of 'Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2' proved to be a particularly felicitous pairing for a February 12th to 18th run at the Koch Theater during New York City Ballet's Winter Season. 'La Sylphide', wit...

Without doubt, excessive exaggeration or hyperbole, Nashville is a veritable 'city of dreams,' a place where creativity thrives and collaboration is a way of life. Perhaps in no other way is this synergy expressed more artfully than in Nashville Ballet's Attitude series - playing through Valentine's...

Completing his trio of Tchaikovsky's great ballets, Sir Matthew Bourne has turned his choreographic hand to Sleeping Beauty, with the added surtitle 'a gothic romance.' After reportedly experiencing divine inspiration whilst staying in the former bedroom of the renowned Russian composer, Bourne has ...

Travis Wall's Shaping Sound performed an eclectic dance program at New York's Beacon Theatre on February 8, 2016....

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College, in conjunction with its third Annual Lunar New Year Celebration, partnered once again with the prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company in an all new celebration of Chinese arts and culture. Under the direction of renowned traditional dancer ...

Upon first glance, the sterile, white sets that greet the audience once the curtain rises on BalletMet's "Carmen.maquia" might have many theatergoers double-checking their programs. Indeed, the barren stage, interrupted by amorphous masses that appear to be constructed from thin layers of crepe pape...

From the stomping of rhythmic footsteps reverberating unaccompanied through the darkness to the lyrical interpretation of biblical verses that merged multimedia art with movement, the Ohio State Department of Dance's "Winter Concert" showcased nine works laced together by the common threads of inten...

The Annual FLICfest, founded and curated by Jeramy Zimmerman and now in its sixth year, gave six choreographers an opportunity to present feature-length independent works at the Irondale Center, located in the heart of Brooklyn's Downtown Arts District. The work featured the world premiere of the pi...

The house was full on the opening night of Dada Masilo's Swan Lake at the Joyce and I quickly realized why. The ballet boasts incredible energy, attitude, innovation and diversity rarely seen in a typical ballet, all without sacrificing an engaging story and superb technique....

Having spawned a Disney movie, The Sleeping Beauty is likely the most well known of ballet's "big three."  Almost every ballet company and ballet school has produced a version of this piece.  American Ballet Theater was founded in 1939 to create a repertory of ballet's best historical works and to...

As part of New York City Ballet's Winter Season 2016 at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater, the program appropriately entitled 'Masters at Work' was a perfect pairing of two disparate yet in one way similar creations by the troupe's founding choreographers, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Mr. B's L...

The themes of friendship, betrayal, romance, paranoia and regret run through Christopher Wheeldon's soon to be iconic The Winter's Tale. A joint commission by The Royal Ballet (premiered in 2014) and The National Ballet of Canada (premiered a few months ago), it sparkled during its American premier...

Magic happened this past Thursday night at the gorgeous David H. Koch theatre as New York City Ballet lit the stage in the premiere week of their much-anticipated winter season. Getting back to their roots and showcasing what they do so well, the company's three-piece All Balanchine I program celebr...