★★★★✰ If you find the combination of contemporary dance and musical form entrancing, this program is for you.
Author - Heather Desaulniers
★★★★✰ "It’s not often that I’ve seen a Nutcracker receive a standing ovation, but as the curtain fell and Clara ran to greet her mother, there was nothing to do but stand and applaud."
★★★★✰ "Ballet Hispánico ...the New York-based company brought Noche de Oro, a dazzling mixed repertory program in honor of its fifty years as a center for Latinx culture and dance – it truly was a “night of gold."
★★★✰✰ Delightful moments shone in both Shadow (part 1) and The Healer, though there were also moments with less clarity.
★★★★✰ With its rich narratives and striking choreography, Lyra had much to offer. Another element it had going for it was the cast. Each and every performer went much further than just ‘playing’ or ‘dancing’...
★★★★✰ It was a delight to watch artists perform who are no longer with the company, as well as many current dancers in the earlier days of their career...
★★★✰✰ All three pieces (by Alexei Ratmansky, Danielle Rowe and Yuri Possokhov) were strong, though the program itself felt a bit curious.
★★★★★ Program 02, with works by Dwight Rhoden, Myles Thatcher and Mark Morris, more than lived up to my expectations. There was drama, joy, whimsy. A great night at the ballet, viewed from home of course.
★★★★✰ San Francisco Ballet has elected to bring a recently filmed version of the ballet to its audiences as the first program of 2021. And what a lovely way to kick off the digital season!
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 (★★★★★)
★★★★✰ 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.