Heather Desaulniers dips into the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and reviews three programmes: Merely Marvelous: The Dancing Genius of Gwen Verdon (★★★★✰), Dance Goes On (★★★✰✰) and Uprooted – The Journey of Jazz Dance (★★★★★)
Author - Heather Desaulniers
★★★★✰ Indigo is one of those dances that doesn’t seem totally abstract, yet doesn’t follow a linear path either. It’s more about concept and emotions. Layers and extremes. Just like the colour indigo itself.
★★★✰✰ The Joffrey Ballet brought a program of four diverse works. Peck’s Times was a hit as was Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia. The other two works weren’t misses per se...
★★★★✰ the phrase 'piano piano' translates as “slowly, slowly, gradually, gently, carefully; quietly; take your time; don’t rush – you’ll figure it out.”
★★★✰✰ There were parts I adored and elements that didn’t resonate as much.
★★★★✰ Paul Taylor Dance Company shone in the two older works on the program, Esplanade and Company B.
★★★★✰ San Francisco Ballet’s Program 2 was dubbed Classical Re(Vision) – a remembering of and reconnection with choreography in SFB’s existing repertory catalogue.
★★★★✰ 'Spellbound' delivered in every regard – opulent grandeur, terrific people watching and above all, marvelous dance.
★★★★★ AXIS, a bold and innovative leader in physically integrated dance, just presented their latest triple bill including two important premieres...
★★★★✰ A double-bill of compelling contemporary movement, the centerpiece of the performance was Azoth, a new collaboration between Artistic Director Alonzo King, tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd and composer/pianist Jason Moran.
★★★★✰ Mozart Dances goes far beyond a basic choreographic rendering of the score, instead inviting an active dialogue between disciplines.
★★★✰✰ ...the most apt descriptor for the entire program was joyful.
★★★★✰ The SKETCH series, from Amy Seiwert’s Imagery, is one of my favorite summer dance events in San Francisco. The company dancers are always terrific, both technically and artistically.
★★★★✰ Yes, the narrative has its inherent challenges, but the choreography, performances and design all riveted with drama, intensity and humour.
★★★★✰ I caught the show on closing night and saw a terrific company debut filled with collaboration, rigor and a connection to the visual art community.
★★★★✰ Dorrance Dance have a winning formula – creative innovation, dynamic physical feats, engaging stage presence and feet that move at superhuman speeds.
★★★✰✰ Program 5, titled Lyric Voices, welcomed back Trey McIntyre’s Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem and Christopher Wheeldon’s Bound To and the new work came from Yuri Possokhov...
★★★✰✰ Foehringer’s ambitious mixed repertory program of three premieres (all with live music) and one restaging revealed a company with deep artistic breadth...
★★★✰✰ The music was striking. And ODC’s company dancers shone. Though as an overall experience, I would describe Fire as mixed.
★★★★★ It was a marvellous showcase of Artistic Director Jessica Lang’s choreographic voice and the nine-member ensemble’s extraordinary talent.