Smuin Contemporary Ballet – Indigo – streamed archive recording of 2016 performance
★★★★✰ 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.
Nancy Karp + Dancers – piano piano – San Francisco
★★★★✰ the phrase ‘piano piano’ translates as “slowly, slowly, gradually, gently, carefully; quietly; take your time; don’t rush – you’ll figure it out.”
San Francisco Ballet – Dance Innovations, Big Hunger (premiere) bill – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ There were parts I adored and elements that didn’t resonate as much.
Paul Taylor Dance Company – Concertiana, Company B, Esplanade – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Paul Taylor Dance Company shone in the two older works on the program, Esplanade and Company B.
San Francisco Ballet – Program 2, Classical Re(Vision) bill – San Francisco
★★★★✰ San Francisco Ballet’s Program 2 was dubbed Classical Re(Vision) – a remembering of and reconnection with choreography in SFB’s existing repertory catalogue.
San Francisco Ballet – Opening Night Gala – San Francisco
★★★★✰ ‘Spellbound’ delivered in every regard – opulent grandeur, terrific people watching and above all, marvelous dance.
Mariinsky Ballet – La Bayadère – San Francisco
★★★★✰ the Mariinsky’s production was a welcome ravishment of vibrant costumes, shimmering jewels, romantic storytelling and sheer entertainment…
AXIS Dance Company – In•ter•twine, works by Arthur Pita, Jennifer Archibald & Robert Dekkers – San Francisco
★★★★★ AXIS, a bold and innovative leader in physically integrated dance, just presented their latest triple bill including two important premieres…
Interview: Arthur Pita on choreographing “Alice in Californiland” for AXIS Dance Company
Arthur Pita’s latest work is called “Alice in Californiland” for the Bay Area AXIS Dance Company – to be premiered later this week, on Friday 25 October, Claudia Bauer caught up with him to find out what its all about – a thought provoking collision of Lewis Carroll and homelessness…
Alonzo King LINES Ballet – The Personal Element, Azoth – San Francisco
★★★★✰ 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.
Mark Morris Dance Group – Mozart Dances – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Mozart Dances goes far beyond a basic choreographic rendering of the score, instead inviting an active dialogue between disciplines.
Margaret Jenkins Dance Company – Trace Figures – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Friday the 13th was auspicious for San Francisco dance: Margaret Jenkins Dance Company premiered Trace Figures, a site-specific performance immersion that could be done by no other company or permutation of artists.
FACT/SF Summer Dance Festival including works by Davis/Mullis, Dazaun Soleyn and Maurya Kerr – San Francisco
★★★★✰ SF choreographers Maurya Kerr, Dazaun Soleyn and Slender-White, and the visiting duo of Joy Davis (Boston) and Eric Mullis (Charlotte, North Carolina), presented new works of 10–20 minutes in length.
Garrett + Moulton Productions – Four Acts of Light & Wonder bill – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ …the most apt descriptor for the entire program was joyful.
Amy Seiwert’s Imagery – SKETCH 9: Perspective bill – San Francisco
★★★★✰ 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.
Eifman Ballet – The Pygmalion Effect – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Yes, the narrative has its inherent challenges, but the choreography, performances and design all riveted with drama, intensity and humour.
Lauren Simpson Dance – Dance Exhibit – San Francisco
★★★★✰ 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 – ETM: Double Down – San Francisco
★★★★✰ Dorrance Dance have a winning formula – creative innovation, dynamic physical feats, engaging stage presence and feet that move at superhuman speeds.
San Francisco Ballet – Shostakovich Trilogy – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ The choreography in Shostakovich Trilogy, which was co-commissioned by SFB and ABT and premiered in 2014, is as frustratingly capricious as the music.
San Francisco Ballet – Die Toteninsel (premiere), Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, Björk Ballet – San Francisco
★★★✰✰ Liam Scarlett has great taste in dancers. For the 29 March world premiere of Die Toteninsel, his fourth commission for San Francisco Ballet, the British choreographer chose the lyrical and athletic principal Joseph Walsh and soloist Lauren Strongin…
