DANCE THEATER REVIEWS

Two character plays about love and friendship over time like Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade and Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry are A-list treasures. Their lack of pretension and real humanity make them linger quite joyously in the mind. In spite of some wonderful moments, Six Dance Lessons...

Shen Wei Dance Arts' New York season at the Judson Memorial Church, running April 29th to May 4th, is a dynamic display of the versatility and ingenuity of a master choreographer. With a reworking of his 2005 piece 'Map' and the world premiere of his solo work 'Variations,' Shen Wei leaves no room t...

It was a pleasure to attend Ballet Hispanico's April 27th performance honoring retiring company dancer Vanessa Valecillos. The diverse program showcased Ms. Valecillos' versatility and commanding presence in both ensemble and soloist roles....

Adapted from two Anton Chekhov short stories, Man in a Case and About Love, MAN IN A CASE is a pair of haunting love stories - one of an officious, anti-social man and his involvement with an extroverted woman. The second, a tale of moral ambiguity in which the protagonist forgoes his love for a mar...

On Friday, April 25th, the new Dance Theater of Harlem, now in its second year, presented three ballets. Pas De Dix, a set of dances taken from the last act of the full-length ballet Raymonda, choreography by Marius Petipas and originally staged for DTH by Frederic Franklin, offered this young compa...

Dance Theatre of Harlem's 2014 run at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the second New York season after a nine-year absence, drew to a satisfying close on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27th with a well-chosen triple bill. The beloved troupe, America's first African American ballet company, was forced to go ...

The young dancers of Columbia University and Barnard College fell back and forth in dance repertory and dared to add their own voices to iconic works at the matinee performance at Miller Theatre, Saturday, April 26th, 2014. Each of the four works provided unique challenges: Andrea Miller's Fall Rec...

Emergence, presented by Eryc Taylor Dance, showcased four twenty minute works by different New York City based choreographers. The works ranged in style from contemporary modern to contemporary jazz with a concluding surprise preview piece fusing graphic design and movement. The pieces delighted, b...

Performing at the Lincoln Center is the be-all and end-all for dancers. The stakes are high, the pressure is on, and everyone is watching you. This is what all dancers aspire to. Needless to say, my expectations were high going into the evening. So how did Ballet Preljocaj hold up to the pressure? T...

Claire Porter's Portables acted as "grammarians," joyfully drowning in their words. Sen-tence, created by Porter et al, explored the syntax of language structure at Joe's Pub Friday, April 25th, 2014. In five vignettes, Porter's ensemble dedicated themselves to the most basic and yet often most im...

Ballet NY, founded in 1997 by Artistic Directors Medhi Bahiri and Judith Fugate, offered an opportunity to four emerging choreographers to work with classically trained dancers and present company premieres on April 16th at the Ailey Citi Group Theater....

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Celebrates its 45th Anniversary at Jazz at Lincoln Center....

After a sunny spring afternoon with beer, wine and nachos three girlfriends and I had the delight of previewing the musical Dragula. The initial read through of the musical was fantastically hilarious, entertaining, and still made a statement about who may be truly different in a heterosexual, Chri...

Ballet Hispanico was founded in 1970 by Tina Ramirez in order to "explore, preserve, and celebrate Latino cultures through dance." Through its repertory of over 100 works, Ballet Hispanico attempts to represent the diversity of Latino culture. This range was fully evident during their Saturday mat...

Elizabeth Kendall, a dance and culture critic as well as a professor at the New School, presented a lecture/dance demonstration based on her 2013 published book, Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the making of a Choreographer, at the 92nd St. Y....

According to Ohad Naharin's biography on the Batsheva Dance Company's web site, his invention of the dance style GAGA is an 'experience of freedom and pleasure. The work improves instinctive movement and connects conscious and unconscious movement, and it allows for an experience of freedom and plea...

Opening night of Ballet Hispanico's 2014 spring season at the Joyce on April 15th once again featured the fascinating fusion of Latin themes with contemporary movement that has become Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro's trademark during his four years at the helm....

Danse Lumiere is native to San Francisco. This performance marked their premiere in New York City. The Scandinavia House, which co-sponsored this evening of dance, along with the Poets House, has a lot to offer to the arts in the near future. Will I be going back? Probably not. But if abstract is yo...

In the very center where many dance legends have performed, thirteen teenaged choreographers presented pieces as part of Dance Up! The Next Generation at the 92nd Street YMHA Harkness Dance Center on Saturday, April 12 and Sunday, April 13. The performance was followed by a Q&A session with the chor...

With its new production of Cinderella, the Maine State Ballet, one of only a handful of professional classical dance organizations in the state, proved the saying that 'everything is beautiful at the ballet.' Linda MacArthur Miele's staging of the Prokofiev classic played to sold out houses, compris...

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On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Youth America Grand Prix, known to all as YAGP, the international competition founded by former Bolshoi principals Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev offered a three-evening celebration at the Koch from April 9th to 11th 2014 that completely converted this former...

Attending an homage to Paul Taylor's artistry was an unforgettable experience. The pageantry behind the show, combined with Paul Taylor's expertise, created remarkable moments. This was on display in the recent presentations of Byzantium, Marathon Cadenzas, and Funny Papers. Despite the self-effacin...

Running through April 13th, Ailey II's All New program presents the company's outstanding young dancers in three new works by rising choreographers. The program is an awe-inspiring combination of technical precision, subtle emotion, and joyful energy. The clarity of the choreographers' visions and t...