Some Memorable Performances of 2018 – New York
Other years have been more exciting, I think, but this one has had its share of remarkable performances, including a few thrilling ones. Here, in no particular order, are the ones that really stood out, for one reason or another.
Evidence, A Dance Company – Come Ye, March, Den of Dreams, Upside Down, Dancing Spirit – New York
★★★★✰ Ronald K. Brown is one of those choreographers who returns to a similar mode in piece after piece, so it’s easy to take him for granted. But what a powerful mode it is.
Malpaso Dance Company – Dreaming of Lions – New York
★★★✰✰ Dreaming of Lions …is an ambitious work, an hour-long, semi-abstract meditation on Ernest Hemingway’s tale of maritime endurance, The Old Man and the Sea.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Four Corners, Untitled America, r-Evolution, Dream, Revelations – New York
★★★★✰ There is no limit to how often one can see Ailey’s 1960 masterpiece Revelations. The elation is always the same.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Programmes A and B – London
★★★★✰ Revelations is always a joy, however often one sees it. Ailey’s choreography, influenced by his mentor, Lester Horton, and Martha Graham, is a reminder of how potent that modern dance technique could be.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Open Door, Untitled America: Second Movement, No Longer Silent, Exodus, Deep, Vespers, The Hunt, Revelations – New York
★★★✰✰ It’s a truism that any afternoon that includes Alvin Ailey’s Revelations is apt to leave you happy.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Open Door, Awakening, A Case of You, Revelations – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gave two new works their West Coast premieres on Tuesday at Zellerbach Hall, the opening night of its annual residency at Cal Performances in Berkeley.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Memoria, Piazzolla Caldera, Grace, Polish Pieces, Untitled America: First Movement, Awakening, Revelations – New York
Warmth, exuberance, power, finesse – all these qualities infuse everything they do.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Toccata, After the Rain pdd, Awakening, Revelations – New York
Every fall, just after Thanksgiving, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater sets up shop at City Center, as sure a sign of the season as Christmas carols at the grocery store.
Fall For Dance Festival at City Center – Programs 1 and 2 – New York
For twelve years, the Fall for Dance festival has been going strong, and one can see why. No other dance series offer such an expansive, egalitarian and uncomplicated glimpse of what’s going on in dance…
MalPaso Dance Company – Under Fire and Despedida – New York
MalPaso Dance Company is a product of an evolving Cuba, finding its way, looking out at the world beyond the island.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Uprising, Grace, Revelations – New York
On the 13 December 2014, as the Millions March protest – on the shooting of unarmed African-American men by police – was happening in NY, Shanti Crawford was at City Center seeing Alvin Ailey perform Hofesh Shechter’s Uprising. It really hit home…
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Lincoln Center Programs A & B – New York
Since becoming artistic director at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2011, Robert Battle has been steadily mixing up the company’s repertory, adding works by choreographers beyond its usual range: Paul Taylor, Ohad Naharin, and Wayne McGregor, to name just three.
