“Taiten: Noh & Kyogen”
Japan Society
New York
November 14-16, 2019

Japanese Noh is said to be the oldest living theatrical form, its roots going back to the fourteenth century. It is bound by the minutest of rules, every gesture and step refined to abstraction. Its subject matter, too, was developed centuries ago and deals with an unreal world of warriors, ghosts, madwomen, angels, gods, and priests. Although Noh may be deeply conservative, the performance of “Taiten” last week at

“Pepperland”
Mark Morris Dance Group
Eisenhower Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
November 16, 2019

When I first heard Mark Morris had choreographed a work to Beatles music, I was surprised and a bit skeptical. There are a lot of strong feelings about the Beatles. Some people believe it is a crime not to love their work. After seeing this show, I believe it is a crime not to gain some sort of enjoyment

"Dust", "Private Domain", "Piazzolla Caldera"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 16, 2019, evening

The three Taylor works in this program were all, in different ways, sardonic but sympathetic observations of loneliness and isolation.  This emotional downer did seem fitting, for this season is the final one for several Taylor dancers (Michelle Fleet, Parisa Khobdeh, Sean Mahoney, and Jamie Rae Walker – Robert Kleinendorst will retire later this year) and for

"Giselle"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 6, 2019

The National Ballet of Canada opened their 2019-2020 season with a respectful look to the past. "Giselle" is an iconic touchstone for any classical company. Sir Peter Wright's production keeps the story of love and forgiveness front and centre, told through unadorned movement and mime. Whether the narrative, involving a nobleman in disguise, forest spirits, and death by dancing, comes across as

"Signals from the West: Bay Area Artists in Conversation with Merce Cunningham at 100"
Hope Mohr Dancer: The Bridge Project with SFMOMA's Open Space
ODC Theater
San Francisco, CA
November 8, 2019

The most recent Hope Mohr Dance Bridge Project, the ambitious, challenging and often mesmerizing “Signals from the West: Bay Area Artists in Conversation with Merce Cunningham at 100” is Mohr’s contribution to the many celebrations of the choreographer’s birthday. Almost three-months long, it brought together writers,

"Airs", "Sunset", "Syzygy"
Paul Taylor American Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 9, 2019, evening

For its annual New York season the Taylor Company has not adopted the idea of themed triple bills, where the same dances are performed together.  This may be easier on the schedulers, but it does limit and repertory, and a repertory as rich as Taylor's deserved to be seen from all angles.  The Saturday night performance showed

"Aureole", "Troilus and Cressida (reduced)", "Last Look", "Beloved Renegade"
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 5, 2019

The second Paul Taylor Memorial Performance (the free event was given twice) included an impressive range of Taylor's works, from the sublime "Aureole", the silly "Troilus and Cressida (reduced)", the harrowing "Last Look", and ended with the new Artistic Director Michael Novak's farewell performance in "Beloved Renegade".  He received a shower of

"La Baydère"
Marinsky Ballet
Cal Performances
Zellerback Hall
Berkeley, California
October 30, 2019

What a magnificent, somewhat cumbersome fantasy “La Bayadère” is. In the recent Mariinsky Ballet performance at Cal Performances with a cast of, apparently, two hundred, and an orchestra that just about spilled out of the pit, the dancing was superb, the story telling clear and beautifully spaced, the mime large and much welcome. So there were few a missteps, a couple of errant balances; that is and

“Increasing”, “Little Prince”, “Its Not a Cry”, “Switch Phase” Duo, “Last Glass”
BalletX for Damian Woetzel’s Demo
Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
October 25, 2019

Although the two cities are close on the map, Philadelphia and Washington have dance scenes that pretty much remained strangers. The Pennsylvania Ballet, which is at home in Philadelphia, did visit Washington in the past. Yet the  “other” troupe in Philadelphia – BalletX -  had

“Défilé" “Reverence”, “Delusional Beauty”, “Racecar”
The Washington Ballet’s Next Steps Program
Harman Hall
Washington, DC
October 24, 2019

The next steps danced are not necessarily new ones. Instead, they can stir memories. This program began with silent video clips of dance and short messages before the company’s director, Julie Kent, stepped in front of  the curtains to welcome her audience. The former ballerina looked trim on high platform shoes with tight, light trousers and a top that

"Hijikata Mon Amour"
Vangeline
NY Butoh Institute Festival 2019
Theater for the New City, New York
October 26, 2019

Japan and France have long been yoked together by their mutual obsession with each others' elegant style. The US and Japan are connected forever by the atom bomb. "Hijikata Mon Amour" is a bridge connecting those three cultures, and – in the subversive, twisted way of Butoh – an attack on each of them.

The dancer-choreographer is Vangeline, a French performer now living

“Dance Me,” “Blanc,” “The Running Show,” “Chronicle”
Fall For Dance Festival - Program 5
Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Sara Mearns & Taylor Stanley, Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 13, 2019

The most welcome part about the somewhat somber fifth program of the Fall for Dance Festival was that it was best absorbed as an experience, rather than as a source of deep meanings. The world premiere of