World-class review of ballet and dance.
Last week I caught up with choreographer Pam Tanowitz and Opera Philadelphia’s current general director and president, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo to talk about “The Seasons,” the company’s latest production premiering at the Kimmel Center’s 600-plus seat Perelman Theater on December 19.
Plus
Throughout the year, our critics attend hundreds of dance performances, whether onsite, outdoors, or on the proscenium stage, around the world.
Plus
It’s a law of the universe, immutable as gravity: if you’re a ballerina, in December you’re dancing “The Nutcracker.”
Plus
Misty Copeland’s upcoming retirement from American Ballet Theatre—where she made history as the first Black female principal dancer and subsequently shot to fame in the ballet world and beyond—means many things.
Plus
Martha Graham’s short ballet from 1947 “Errand into the Maze” takes inspiration from the epic Greek legend of the Minotaur’s Labyrinth.
Plus
In 1963, Jeff Duncan started working from home. Duncan—born Thomas Jefferson Duncan Jr. in Longview, Texas—was a celebrated dancer and assistant for Anna Sokolow and Doris Humphrey in the 1950s.
Plus
Los Angeles–based dance artist Jay Carlon knew that the proscenium stage couldn’t house his 2024 work, “Wake,” in its fullness. So he moved it elsewhere: to a rave.
Plus
The Trisha Brown Dance Company embarks on a national tour this June celebrating the centennial of avant-garde American visual artist Robert Rauschenberg.
Plus
For Ballet Hispánico’s upcoming season at New York City Center from May 29-June 1, the company will present Gustavo Ramírez Sansano's “Carmen.maquia,” a contemporary take on the timeless story at the heart of George Bizet’s unforgettable opera “Carmen.”
Plus
At this year’s Resolution Festival in London, one of the city’s major events of the dance calendar, I found myself in a conversation about the state of affairs of dance internationally.
Plus
The touring Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival is about to land in London, March 12- April 8, returning to the location of its first edition in 2022.
Plus
It’s not often these days that aspiring dancers and smaller companies can enjoy the luxury of state-of-the-art facilities to develop their practice and put on a show, especially in a capital city.
PlusTwo performers crawl in on hands and knees wearing neon green, hooded coveralls—the lightweight papery kind made for working in a sterile environment—and clusters of balloons pinned to their backs.
PlusWill Rawls makes boundaries visible by defying them. Known for the disciplinary and topical range of his projects, the choreographer, director, and performer approaches issues of representation in “[siccer],” a multi-part, multi-site work co-presented by L’Alliance New York’s Crossing the Line Festival. A live performance at Performance Space New York...
Plus
It is always interesting when multiple theme steps emerge over the course of a mixed repertory evening, but it is uncanny on one featuring five different ballets, each with a different choreographer and composer, covering a twenty-year span (2005-2025).
PlusZvidance premiered its new work “Dandelion” mid-November at New York Live Arts. Founded by Zvi Gotheiner in 1989, Zvidance has been a steady presence in the New York contemporary dance scene, a reliable source of compositional integrity, and a magnet for wonderful dancers.
PlusCleveland native Dianne McIntrye received a hometown hero's welcome during her curtain speech prior to her eponymous dance group thrilling the audience in her latest work, “In the Same Tongue.”
Plus