At a dress rehearsal at Cedar Lake last night, I was wowed by the extremes that Cherkaoui took the dancers to. I am not going to comment on the choreography per se, because the premiere at Jacob’s Pillow isn’t until next month (see “Dance Matters” when you get your July iss… Read More >

Yesterday I visited the NY International Ballet Competition, now in full swing at the Ailey studios. As I was sitting watching Deborah Wingert’s excellent technique class, a young dancer from Colombia … Read More >

    Just when I was wondering why his music choices work so well, Trey McIntyre sauntered in to my office yesterday and gave me a clue. I had just seen his Leatherwing Bat, to music by Peter, Paul & Mary again at the Joyce. (I saw it at Jacob’s Pillow last summer … Read More >

American  Ballet Theatre has a winner in James Kudelka’s Désir. This rhapsodic ballet has gorgeous partnering with soaring lifts and beautiful touches of affection. Every single pas de deux is both rapturous and inventive. The legs make aching arcs and the bodies and skirts… Read More >

In this star-studded event last night, the best performance was Bebe Miller singing, with her arms floating up and undulating as though she were a dying swan—or a recent bride (which she is). Simple moves by Bebe are worth more than a platoon of preteens tapping in spangles. She sang two songs … Read More >

Ever wonder what Suzanne Farrell looked like as a 20-year old? Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was filmed in 1966, with Fa… Read More >

After Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes’ balcony scene from Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to go home. Enough beauty for one night.  I wanted to savor what I had seen: the illusion of a true love, where two bodies surrender to each other. Vishneva, who usually suck… Read More >

Gorgeously dark and ominous, Quasi Una Fantasia moves along like some viscous liquid. It’s both a relief and a triumph to see a piece by New York City Ballet that is not sunny or courteous or ingratiating in any way.
    The mood is as consistent as a dream. The… Read More >

Touch the air. Hold something and let it evaporate in your hands. That was the kind of elusive, illusive dancing Maria Muñoz gave us last Thursday in Bach, a solo that was part of the Catalan Days festival at Baryshnikov Arts Center. One noticed the hands. Useful hands, not dainty … Read More >

Actually, not even a week. It’s called “Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts” and it’s up till May 9. It gives a great overview of this major company that is sadly now on haitus. However, after the exciting news that Virginia Johnson will be artistic director, there … Read More >

O my god, O Composite lifted me to a place that made me hold my breath in wonder. The hushed feeling of the piece, with a softly glowing nighttime sky by Vija Celmins, a mysterious sound track by Laurie Anderson, and three velvety étoiles from Paris Opera Ballet, came together at B… Read More >

Just when I was getting tired of seeing women dancers play cutesy, ditsy sex objects in Broadway musicals, along comes 9 to 5, the Dolly Parton–inspired musical about working women. I’ve never been big on country music, but this musical pulls way out ahead of the others in how it… Read More >

We know the names of the famous dancers of today, but we never know the names of the teachers who trained them. So said Alexei Ratmansky while introducing an evening at City Center devoted to the great Bolshoi men’s teacher, Peter Pestov, on his 80th birthday. Ratmansky said that Pestov’s… Read More >

Maybe quiet is coming back in style, or maybe quiet is alluring exactly because it’s never in style. But silence can be a break from other dance performances, a chance to really concentrate on what is going on. A breather, a pleasurable exile. Recently two events brought this to mind: Simone Fo… Read More >

Have you ever heard of Alexander Shiriaev? I hadn’t either, until Dance on Camera showed a film about him called A Belated Premiere a couple years ago. Last week, Barnard College showed them again as part of its "Celebrating the Ballets Russes" series at Columbia Universit… Read More >

I’m late in coming to this party, but I just saw Stomp at the Orpheum Theatre and loved it. It is not only a seamless merging of dance, percussion, and physical comedy; it is also a celebration of play. The instinct to play, the teamwork of play, the exuberance of play, the ingenuit… Read More >