Heather Desaulniers is a freelance dance writer based in Oakland, California. She is the Editorial Associate and SF/Bay Area columnist for CriticalDance, the dance curator for SF Arts Monthly and a frequent contributor to several dance-focused publications. Website: www.heatherdance.com
Under are the articles written for DanceTabs.
ODC/Dance – World’s on Fire (premiere) – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ The music was striking. And ODC’s company dancers shone. Though as an overall experience, I would describe Fire as mixed.
Jessica Lang Dance – Lyric Pieces, The Calling, Thousand Yard Stare, This Thing Called Love – San Francisco
★★★★★ It was a marvellous showcase of Artistic Director Jessica Lang’s choreographic voice and the nine-member ensemble’s extraordinary talent.
San Francisco Ballet – The Fifth Season, Snowblind, Etudes – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ I was thrilled to see Snowblind returning. It was by far my favorite offering of last year’s Unbound Festival because it captivates on every level: potent storytelling, emotive choreography, fitting design tropes and deep character development.
San Francisco Ballet – Divertimento No. 15, Appassionata, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming – San Francisco
★★★★✰ A triple bill joining George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, the San Francisco Ballet premiere of Benjamin Millepied’s Appassionata and Justin Peck’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.
RAWdance – Brilliant Alarm, 14, Roar – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Celebration was definitely in the air on Thursday night. Not only was RAWdance opening a new winter program, including two world premieres, but the evening also marked the local gem’s fifteenth anniversary…
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago – Jardí Tancat, N.N.N.N., Lickety-Split, Grace Engine – San Francisco
★★★★✰ I only wish Hubbard Street’s Berkeley run could have been longer than three performances, and based on the audience’s cheers and applause, I don’t think I was alone.
San Francisco Ballet – Nutcracker – San Francisco
★★★★✰ I’m a Nutcracker fan. And I’m a fan of San Francisco Ballet’s current production, choreographed in 2004 by Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson…
ODC/Dance – The Velveteen Rabbit – San Francisco
★★★★✰ As November fades away and December’s bustle begins, an enchanting Bay Area dance favorite returns for its annual two-week run at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Aura Fischbeck Dance – DUSK – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ DUSK had a lot going for it. First was the overall concept. DUSK challenges the viewer to not only acknowledge the idea of transformation, but to consider what lies beneath.
Sasha Waltz & Guests – Körper – San Francisco
★★★★✰ In English, körper means ‘body’, and so, as one might guess, the ninety-minute tour de force, directed and choreographed by Sasha Waltz, turns its eye to the body in space.
Liss Fain Dance – A Recomposition: I Don’t Know and Never Will – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ Liss Fain Dance knows how to set a mood. As I walked into Z Space on Friday night for the opening of “A Recomposition: I Don’t Know and Never Will”, I was completely transfixed by the environment – both visuals and sound.
Alonzo King LINES Ballet – Handel, Common Ground (world premiere with Kronos Quartet) – San Francisco
★★★★✰ For those dance fans who are also music devotees, this bill is a must see.
Mark Morris Dance Group – Pepperland – San Francisco
★★✰✰✰ Cal Performances patrons were clearly entertained on Friday evening. I, too, wanted to like the piece, but it didn’t really resonate with me.
Smuin Contemporary Ballet – Dance Series 01 bill – Walnut Creek
★★★★✰ A winning first program, one with the range and breadth that Smuin is famous for.
FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival including works by Simpson/Stulberg, Fog Beast and Joy Davis – San Francisco
★★★★✰ The evening definitely delivered a broad swath of dance performance – a very strong debut and a great addition to the SF dance festival circuit.
ODC/Dance – Summer Sampler 1: Head in the Sand, Something About a Nightingale, Giant – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ A solid program overall, there were moments that satiated my craving for lightness and moments that challenged it.
Amy Seiwert’s Imagery – SKETCH 8: Origin Stories – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ Whether walking through space, cycling through a gestural sequence or dancing a technically demanding phrase the dancers were a real joy to watch. The choreography on the other hand, was more of a mixed bag.
SFDanceworks – Season Three: Snap, Homing, The Old Child, Jardí Tancat – San Francisco
★★★★✰ SFDanceworks is going places. Formed in 2014 by longtime San Francisco Ballet soloist James Sofranko, the relatively new company already finds itself in a season of expansion.
Capacitor – Left To Her Own Devices: 20 Years of Sculpture in Motion – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ Artistic Director and Founder Jodi Lomask describes Capacitor as a “dance, cirque, sculpture company that often works with scientists…” The program excerpted seven works created from 2000 to 2014.
AXIS Dance Company – Historias rotas, The Reflective Surface, Radical Impact – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Brew describes physically integrated dance as “dancers of different physicalities uniting together as equals, colleagues and collaborators to create high-caliber art that is relevant and reflective of the world we live in.” And each offering on the program embodied that spirit and sentiment.
