The Pointe - 2019 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 7

Roberto Villanueva founded BalaSole Dance Company nine years ago to combat the discrimination against 'atypical bodies' that one encounters in dance. Take Villanueva himself: a dazzling soloist with sparkling technique and facility that puts him in Sylvie Guillem's league, at 5 foot 2 inches, his atypical height all but barred him from working with major companies. His response to that exclusion was to create BalaSole, a showcase for talented, atypical dancers.

On opening night, October 15, Kyle Abraham, Artistic Director, presented six works, including, for one night only, Ash, a solo for American Ballet Theatre principal ballerina, Misty Copeland. Ash was saved for last on the program. The anticipation was palpable, but the entire performance was riveting. Abraham has earned numerous awards and honors for his choreography, and his work has been presented throughout the United States and abroad.

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.

Having celebrated 35 successful years of sensational daytime entertainment, Arts Centre Melbourne's Morning Melodies 2020 program is set to amaze audiences once again with a stellar line-up of music theatre, cabaret, opera, jazz and dance. This coming year, the feel-good one hour concerts held each month at Hamer Hall will celebrate our very own Australian performers, including Philip Quast, Silvie Paladino, Zoy Frangos and Trevor Ashley.

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.  

Battery Dance Festival's Tuesday and Wednesday night performances proved that choreography is only as wonderful as its music is rich. Led by Buglisi Dance Theatre, Ballet Nepantla, Vanaver Caravan, Ballet Boy Productions, and Battery Dance Company, this fact was never far from the concertgoers' minds as they swooned blissfully to fantastic dancing coupled with brilliant music.

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. 

James Whiteside, ballet's most daring principal artist known for his theatrical and technical versatility, has lots to celebrate this fall. On the heels of a recent Guinness World Record-breaking segment on national television, American Ballet Theatre will bring Whiteside's Vail Dance Festival Commission, New American Romance, to New York City this Fall season,October 23, 25 and 27 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

Disney Plus gave a series order to On Pointe, a documentary series about the School of American Ballet, according to Variety.

Blue Man Group, continuing its open run at Chicago's Briar Street Theatre (3133 N. Halsted), is delighted to announce its fall 2019 performance schedule. The expansive calendar includes a special autism-friendly performance Sunday, October 6.

“Record Breaker Week” continues on “Live with Kelly and Ryan,” and this morning's record-breaking attempt was the icing on the cake, as Cake Boss Buddy Valastro crushed the Guinness World Records title for Most cupcakes iced/frosted in one minute. Valastro and hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest all faced off in the challenge, with the Cake Boss ultimately coming out on top after icing an impressive 36 cupcakes. The previous record of 20 cupcakes was held by Valastro himself. 

Making its sixth consecutive annual visit to the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, the Juilliard String Quartet opens the Chamber Music Society of Detroit's Regional Partner Series with concerts at the War Memorial in Grosse Pointe (Thursday, September 26, 7:30 PM), Canton's Village Theater at Cherry Hill (Saturday, September 28, 7:30 PM) and Varner Recital Hall on the Oakland university Campus in Rochester (Sunday, September 29, 3:00 PM).   These concerts are sponsored by Northern Trust.

After an extensive selection process, the Alliance Theatre named the three Atlanta area middle schools they will partner with for the regional launch of The JumpStart Theatre program, developed by the Educational Theatre Association. JumpStart Theatre is a three-year program that will equip faculty and administrators with the skills and resources to produce their school's first musical theatre production.

Atlanta's Synchronicity Theatre will open its 22nd season with Erica Schmidt's adaptation of William Shakespeare's Mac | Beth, October 4 a?" 27, 2019. For tickets and information, please visit synchrotheatre.com or call 404-484-8636.

From ballet to bop, with a dash of mid-life salsa dating, life's journey is all about taking the next step.

The Chamber Music Society of Detroit opens its 2019-2020 76th season with the Miró Quartet and clarinetist Anthony McGill at 8:00 PM on Saturday, September 14, 2019.  The concert takes place at Seligman Performing Arts Center, located at 22305 W. 13 Mile Road in Beverly Hills.  In addition to featuring Mozart's masterful Clarinet Quintet, the program includes Glière's Andantino from his String Quartet No. 1 in A major, as well as the Midwest premiere of a?oeHome,a?? a new work by American composer Kevin Puts co-commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Detroit. 

On August 17, 2019, I attended Ballet Festival's Program D, curated by Edward Watson, principal dancer of London's Royal Ballet and a performer in this program. He was joined on stage by Sarah Lamb, principal dancer of the Royal Ballet; Robbie Fairchild, former New York City Ballet (NYCB) principal dancer; and Maria Kowroski, NYCB principal dancer. There was much anticipation; audiences were eager for what promised to be a highly memorable evening.

The Marblehead School of Ballet (MSB) celebrates its 48th anniversary with a new season of classes for 2019-2020, beginning on Monday, August 26. 

True to its mission, Synchronicity Theatre's 2019-2020 Season will feature women playwrights and provide new opportunities to uplift the voices of women and girls. The season includes programming in Synchronicity's Bold Voices Series (contemporary plays for adults), Family Series (compelling plays for children and families), curated new voices in the Stripped Bare Arts Incubator Project, the newly rebranded Women in the Arts and Business Luncheon, the next installment of SheWRITES New Play Festival, and Playmaking for Girls and Playmaking for Kids.

With more than 1,000 artists and more than 500 free events in three new sunlit pavilions and more than 130,000 square feet of new landscaped green space at the nation's cultural capital, the REACH opens its doors in exactly one month's time with 16 full days of creativity in action, providing artists and audiences with the opportunity to experience art as never before. Marking the first expansion at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in its 48-year history, the REACH welcomes the public with an inclusive, multi-genre, multidisciplinary Opening Festival on September 7a?"22. See the video trailer here.

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.

Casting has been announced for the upcoming Theatre Row premiere of The Pointe, a new work by Craig Donnelly. Kate London will take on the role of Madeline Davis, the legendary ballerina tasked with choreographing for a young dancers' summer intensive. Rounding out the cast are Blair Ely (Brooklyn Matthews), Fiona Huber (Raina Goldberg), Sabrina Karlin (Haley Edwards) and Yessenia Rivas (Jasmine Guerrero).

In the Jacob's Pillow-exclusive production Sara Mearns: Beyond Ballet, New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns performs in multiple cross-genre collaborations in the Doris Duke Theatre, August 14-18.

The New Orleans Ballet Association announces its 2019-2020 dance season packed with stellar performances at the Mahalia Jackson Theater by four brilliant and world-renowned dance companies, including Trinity Irish Dance Company, Pilobolus in Shadowland-The New Adventure, Houston Ballet, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, plus a special Evening of Stars that continues the celebration of NOBA's 50th anniversary season.

Tosca Rivola is thrilled to present the next night of TARANTINA, taking stage July 11, 2019. Since January, the once-monthly, all-woman cabaret showcase has transformed Club Bahia into a celebration of all things Quentin Tarantino. In each event, world-class acrobats, lounge singers, burlesque performers and more pay honor to the iconic femme-fatales that have enthralled, terrified and seduced us in films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and beyond. Attendees enjoy special Tarantino-themed cocktails and authentic 80s dive bar atmosphere with the two-act show before dancing the night away to Tarantino soundtrack classics after the final performance. This July edition will be held several weeks before the world premiere of Tarantino's ninth film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. The performance of TARANTINA will begin at 8:15pm, and the venue will close at 2am.