"The Merry Widow"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 19, 2019

The National Ballet of Canada bid farewell to one of its most beloved principal dancers, Xiao Nan Yu, with Ronald Hynd's splashy ballet "The Merry Widow" set in fin de siècle Paris. It is a love story with humour, elegance and lively classical and character dancing – a perfect showcase for Yu's artistic gifts. The whole company came

“Journey”, “Rondo Ma Non Troppo”,
“Prufrock”, “Extremely Close”, “Songs by Cole”
and music by Chris Rogerson and Zoltan Kodaly
Chamber Dance Project
Harman Hall
Washington, DC
June 22, 2019 evening

The format chosen by artistic director Diane Coburn Bruning for Chamber Project’s summer program was an alternation of dance and music-only selections. All the pieces but one were short and for the one long number, the last, there was both dancing and just-concertizing. This format functioned well

"Room for Error" "The Bedroom" "It's Uncle" "Cloudless" "Silent Scream"
SFDanceworks
Cowell Theater
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA
June 20, 2019

In its fourth season, Founder James Sofranko's SFDanceworks offered three world premieres by Laura O’Malley, Brett Conway, and Andrea Schermoly. Local premieres of Hubbart Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Cloudless” and Olivier Wevers’ 2018 “Silent Scream” for his Whim W’Him company made for a well danced, well curated evening of contemporary choreography. This

"The Exceptionally Elderly Overweight Black Man Phoenix"
Robert Moses' Kin
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Forum
San Francisco, CA
June 14, 2019

While it’s true that most works of art on one level are about their creators, it’s also true that few artists manage to weave personal experience, artistic challenges, as well as social and philosophical issue into a seamless whole without overburdening the final product. But that’s exactly what Robert Moses attempted in his brave

“The Brahms-Haydn Variations,” “Deuce Coupe,” “In the Upper Room”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 31, 2019

ABT’s Tharp Trio program was in some ways all about the once-new ways of looking at dance, and in others an unequivocal way to underscore the “American” in American Ballet Theatre. The three Twyla Tharp works – the crowd-pleasing modern “In the Upper Room,” the neo-classical “Brahms-Haydn Variations,” and the completely new to

“Moss Anthology: Variation #5,” “The Theory of Color,” “You Took a Part of Me,” “Snap Crackle Pop”
“Women/Create” – A Festival of Dance
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
June 11, 2019

Seeing four mature, successful female choreographers take the stage together in a program that celebrates women’s creative pursuits is still a powerful draw. By now, we shouldn’t need this reassurance, and the “Women/Create” festival (their fourth) still misses a broad swathe of the riskier

"The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude", "Approximate Sonata", "The Second Detail"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 1, 2019

The National Ballet of Canada's latest triple bill was a whirlwind tour through William Forsythe's choreographic world. The program was short, clocking in at just over one hour of dance (excluding the intermission), yet dense with a variety of terpsichorean riches. The dancers really sunk their teeth into the three works,