If Mary Murphy, guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance, attended Ballet Hispanico’s opening night at The Joyce on Tuesday, she would definitely have handed out several tickets on the “hot tamale train.” Ballet Hispanico turns on the heat this season with a program of sultry solos, delicious duets, and raw traditional pieces that are the perfect recipe for a memorable show.
The show opens with my favorite piece of the evening, Triptico, a series of duets ch... Read More
Complexions Contemporary Ballet is bringing in its 15th anniversary with a bang! This season at the Joyce Theater, Complexions has a variety of programs that covers the many shades of dance through the eyes of artistic directors, Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. What’s most exciting about this season, besides the dancers being more beautiful than ever, is seeing the work of company veterans such as Jae Man Joo and Juan Rodriguez on the line-up.
Program C opens... Read More
On Saturday evening, as I sit in the Jacqueline Kennedy Oasis Theater, I skim through the program to try and get a sense of what I will see onstage. There’s always a weird feeling of anticipation when you’re about to see work from a choreographer you are unfamiliar with. You just don’t really know what to expect. In this case, my initial reaction after opening the program is thinking “11 pieces! Geez it’s going to be a long night.” However, on the con... Read More
How do you create an original work about a legendary historical figure, in one hour, with ten bodies and the stage as your open canvas? How do you capture the essence of a single person, through modern dance, who lived a life, made history, and died almost 100 years before you were born? This is the challenge that Bill T.Jones has the sweetest victory in overcoming, in Serenade/The Proposition, an hour-long work commemorating the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Creating meaningfu... Read More
I don’t know about you, but whenever I see the words “dance theater” at the end of a company’s name, I think to myself “please don’t let this be a combination of dance and bad acting.” Companies can get away with that in the classical ballet world, but modern dance... uh, no!
However, contrary to my personal beliefs, Kazuko Hirabayashi has a refreshing approach to modern dance theater. Her evening of both old and new works, Return to the Roots, at the Ai... Read More
