Stars of the International Ballet Stage
The IBStage Star Galas have a mission to unite the best and brightest for gala ballet evenings. As seen at New York City Center, New York. Photographs by Steven Pisano
PlusWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
The headline performance of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival’s Hip Hop Across the Pillow mini-festival—which took place from August 2-6, 2023 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop—was an abundance of embodied knowledge. The triple-bill program featured two world premieres, both commissioned by the Pillow: “Thief of Hearts,” a duet choreographed and performed by hip hop luminaries Kwikstep and Rokafella, and “Parable of PassAge,” a collaboration between d. Sabela grimes and the Ladies of Hip-Hop. The evening ended with Rennie Harris’ 2016 work “Nuttin’ but a Word,” performed by Harris’ company, Rennie Harris Puremovement. Each piece on the program showcased a different facet of hip hop, highlighting the many ways the genre can be used to tell stories, educate, entertain, foster community, and honor individuality.
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The IBStage Star Galas have a mission to unite the best and brightest for gala ballet evenings. As seen at New York City Center, New York. Photographs by Steven Pisano
PlusWhile Kendrick Lamar performed “Humble,” during his Super Bowl halftime set and was surrounded by dancers clad in red, white and blue—and in the process assumed the formation of the American flag (choreographed by Charm La’Donna)—so, too, did Faye Driscoll use performers who created slews of shapes/sculptures in her astonishing work, “Weathering,” seen at REDCAT on February 8, the last of three sold-out performances.
PlusLet’s start with the obvious, or maybe to some this notion will be highly disputable, even offensive. OK, then, let’s start with what kept repeating in my head as I walked out of UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, synapses abuzz with the wonders of Twyla Tharp Dance’s 60th anniversary “Diamond Jubilee” program: My God, Twyla Tharp really is the most brilliantly inventive choreographer now alive on the planet.
PlusIn Maldonne, French filmmakers Leila KA and Josselin Carré pose eleven women side by side on a barren stage. They’re dressed in floral patterns that hearken to the 1950s. The camera zooms in to frame their faces—each woman is in a state of distress.
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