April 29, 2021
Washington, DC
by Alexandra Tomalonis

When I posted George Jackson's most recent review, I noticed how many pieces he has written for DVT — not to mention its predecessors, Washington DanceView and DanceView. (He also has written regularly for the Washington Post, Dance Magazine, Dance Now, the German magazine  Ballett, and other publications.) 365 reviews – 365!! just for this site! – of ballet, modern dance, ethnic dance, and books as well.

Jewels 
San Francisco Ballet
April 6, 2021
Streamed  

I only vaguely remember my first encounter with Jewels, Balanchine’s 1967 masterful triptych, supposedly influenced by the respective precious stones. Karinska’s costumes, most certainly, glittered and shimmered, almost excessively. I wish I could credit the company-it was not SFB that I saw it on. I recall being puzzled by “Emeralds”, almost laughing in delight at “Rubies” and taken aback by “Diamonds.” All were beautifully danced, but

"Plastic Harvest" Jody Sperling/Time Lapse Dance
"healing/trying" jillsigman/thinkdance
"Wake up and Smell the Coffee" Vangeline Theater 
Earth Day, New York City 
April 24, 2021

One problem in dealing with the world’s environ- mental crisis is that it’s composed of so many separate problems, most of them difficult to picture. Science does a lousy job of dramatizing climate change – so by the time people are forced to recognize it, their homes may be gone

Precious Gems: Precious Jewels Variations from “Alladin,” “Aria,” “Tarantella,” Solo from “Lambarena,” “Variations for Four,” Sicilienne from “Emeralds,” Duet from “Concerto Six Twenty-Two,” “Paquita”
Capitol Theatre
Salt Lake City, UT
April 15, 2021

What would ballet look like on a theater stage, when it returns, has been a question plaguing most ballet lovers and insiders alike, and as one of the first companies in the world, and certainly in the United States, to bring its dancers back in front of

"Symphony #9," "Wooden Dimes," "Swimmer"
San Francisco Ballet
Streaming      
March 10, 2021 

For anybody with doubts about Ballet being a contemporary art form, this was the show to see. Alexander Ratmansky’s “Symphony #9” and Yuri Possokhov’s “Swimmer” bracketed Danielle Rowe’s world premiere of “Wooden Dimes.” They made for an intelligent satisfying evening of 21^st century dance. There was barely a false note among them. 

Co-commissioned by American Ballet Theatre, “Symphony

#QueertheBallet
Adriana Pierce, choreographer
Bridge Street Theatre, Catskill, New York
February 25, 2021
Streaming on Youtube, February 25-March 11

The art form of ballet is overdue for a queering – i.e. expanding its repertoire of meaning beyond the traditional binary codes of gender and sex.  Adriana Pierce, an alumna of George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet and Miami City Ballet, went into a recent residency with a clear goal in mind: “to create a duet for two women

“Midsummer Night’s Dream”
San Francisco Ballet
January 28, 2021
Streamed

If you have to watch streamed full-length ballets, you probably could do not much better than San Francisco’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” (available until February 10). This jewel received a single on-stage performance last April, the night before the SF Opera House closed. With a different cast, recorded last summer, it will have to do until sometime after the Company returns live. Yet Frank Zamacona’s superb direction

LaMama Moves/Online
Tamar Rogoff with Merri Milwe
"Wonder About Merri" 
Kevin Augustine/Lone Wolf Tribe 
"Body Concert"
Tamar Rogoff with Mei Yamanaka
"The Yamanakas at Home"
January 27, 2021

It's not that often that three disparate dance pieces fit together so well that they seem to be subtly referring and commenting on each other – but last night's trio of experiments from LaMama seemed to have been made with each other in mind.  The bookends were