Master storyteller Joe Goode has been synthesizing text, imagery and movement for decades in his raw, multipronged dance-theater work. In 2011, what began as a series of conversations with audience members about their life stories evolved into a transformative movement experience for veterans, called Movement for Humans. Over the past nine years, a performance based […]

Love them or not, reviews are part of the ecology of being a dancemaker. Critical writing can validate, illuminate or sometimes get in the way of an artist’s creative process. We spoke with five choreographers about their relationship to reviews. Sergio Trujillo Sergio Trujillo understands that Broadway reviews function differently than concert dance reviews: Although […]

After 30 years of pioneering work in physically integrated dance, AXIS Dance Company co-founder Judith Smith has announced plans to retire from the Oakland, California, company. Throughout her tenure, she strived to get equal recognition for integrated dance and disabled dancers, commissioning work from high-profile choreographers like Bill T. Jones. Her efforts generated huge momentum […]

Improvisation, in its many forms, can be a door to the body’s imagination. One of the few festivals to delve into it is the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation, July 30 to Aug. 6. This year the intensives are led by risk-taking teacher/performers including Hilary Clark, Anya Cloud, Joe Goode, Angie Hauser, Andrew Marcus and […]

San Francisco is crawling with unexpected dance events over the next month. Here are seven on our radar. The Right to be Believed Jo Kreiter’s gravity-defying, site-specific dance work taking place on UC Hastings College of the Law’s Outdoor Wall probes the credibility of women in society through Flyaway Productions’ signature cocktail of social justice […]

Fewer choreographers are hiring from auditions. So what’s the best way to secure work? Casey Loomis (fourth from right) took three intensives and auditioned twice before Doug Varone hired her. Photo by Jim Coleman, courtesy Varone. The idea of networking can send dancers into a panic. You’re not sure how to do it, what to […]