Sitting through both a matinée and an evening performance of the 14th Annual San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest on November 18th is the perfect antidote to the memorial service I attended the day before. Both celebrate life...
Reviews
Reviews of Dance and Ballet Performances
As a young partnership Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton really are exceptionally good.
There were revelations on-screen, too. ...How many first-time spectators spot that the Biedermeyer-period Christmas cake in the Act 1 party provides the marzipan-and-icing set for Act II?
This wasn’t Shiori Kase's debut in the role, but it was remarkably polished and complete for one so young.
....the performance done, Muntagirov was promoted live on stage by new Director Tamara Rojo to the highest rank in the company - Lead Principal. A pleasant surprise, but in fact no surprise at all - it was only ever a question of time.
...a one-man show from a former Cirque du Soleil clown intrigued for being targeted at the entire family at a time when everybody does Nutcrackers and I'm feeling crackered out. You might well be too, so read on...
...it’s remarkable how satisfying the old-fashioned virtues of structure and form can be.
Most of the dancers on stage tonight were not even born when the Royal Ballet' s current Nutcracker production was new, and many of the audience too may imagine that it's been a feature of the Christmas season forever...
"While this may not be a Nutcracker for those looking for subtlety or sophistication, it’s a fun show designed to thrill adults as well as children.
And together, Kuranaga and Cirio make a superb couple, performing with such sensitive musicality and balanced unison that it sometimes seems you’re watching a single composite creature.
Not to be a scrooge-ish Grinch (or is it a grinchy Scrooge?), but I don’t really like all the sentimental and consumeristic trimmings and trappings that surround the holidays.
He knows he can’t surpass Petipa (or Ivanov for 'Swan Lake') – but he can tweak their scenarios into something uniquely his own. And he’s magnificently served by a cast of just 17, capable of switching roles at the twitch of a fairy’s wing.
In many respects Abraham's 'Another Night' is a typical Ailey work: its score is upbeat, its costumes are colorful and the dancing is fast and athletic.
Hip hop is rapidly becoming the dominant dance discipline of the 21st century. Something that emerged as raw and explosive from US street culture is now established, codified and taught all around the world.
Ek’s movement teeters on the outer limits of emotion, barely contained and threatening to explode at the drop of a match, and there are numerous metaphoric lit matches in this piece - Casi-Casa.
More than sculpture, the choreography reminded me of exhibitions of body-building.
This remarkable experience is a cocktail of circus skills, dance, mime, comedy and illusion all wrapped up in an absorbing package of ebullient physical theatre.
...Robert North’s Christmas treat shows no sign of aging. This matinée was packed with children, having a few older people in tow, and everyone was having fun.
2 One Another is a totally unapologetic work - powerful and unself-conscious in the way it turns up the volume in design, physicality and sound.
Tere O’Connor can be a frustrating choreographer. Look for structure and you’ll likely be thwarted, frustrated, or worse. Because it clearly is there, but you can’t understand it.