"The Dreamers Ever Leave You", "The Four Seasons", "Emergence"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
February 28, 2018

The National Ballet of Canada's recent triple bill gave Toronto audience members an opportunity to experience three very different works commissioned by the company from Canadian choreographers. Though stylistically varied, each featured strong ensemble work and found inspiration from the natural world, be it the austere beauty of northern landscapes, the idiosyncrasies of

“Autobiography”
Company Wayne McGregor
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
March 3, 2018

British choreo- grapher Wayne McGregor is known for pushing boundaries and finding unconven- tional inspirations, but the New York premiere of his uniquely personal new work showed the artist overreaching. The release of “Autobiography” came at the time of the 25^th anniversary of the artist’s creative life and to craft it the choreographer sequenced his own genome, using the chromosomes

Damian Woetzel's DEMO: Now
Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
March 7, 2018

The focus of Damian Woetzel's latest talent show was dance. All but a couple of numbers featured dancers. Six of the works had originally been commis- sioned by Colorado’s outdoors Vail Dance Festival and one was a premiere sponsored by the Kennedy Center. Even so, this program didn’t add up to being a triumph for choreography.

"Autobiography"
Company Wayne McGregor
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
March 8, 2018

“Auto- biography" by Wayne McGregor, does it tell us something about the man? No. Does it tell us something about being human? Yes. Does it tell us anything about the choreographer? Yes. His collaborators? Even more. About his dancers? YES. About a willingness to forego a trajectory? Yes. Does it work? Yes and No. A brief after-performance conversation with local dancers elicited uniform

"A Few Worlds"
Nancy Havlik's Dance Performance Group
Dance Place
Washington, DC
March 3, 2018

As an anthology of performance, “A Few Worlds” encompassed a diversity of works from Nancy Havlik’s Performance Dance Group. These pieces, while introducing a variety of movement quality, subject matter, and auditory accompaniment, were all thoroughly enriched by assorted approaches to artistic collaboration. The evening celebrated the intricacies of dance and human interaction, and included video projection, spoken poetry, and multiple live

"Speaking Ill of the Dead" "Trapdoors/Trickbags/Painted Corners (Excerpt),
 "Lucifer's Prance" "Bootstrap Tales"
Robert Moses' Kin
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
February 25, 2018

During the twenty-three years of creating for his Robert Moses’ Kin company, the former Twyla Tharp/ODC Dance ensemble member has embedded formally demanding works into contexts that might range from fairy tales to American and African American history, families of whatever denomination, world peace to the horrors

“Romeo & Juliet”
The Washington Ballet
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
February 17, 2018

John Cranko’s “Romeo & Juliet” performed by the Washington Ballet this past Saturday, like all performances based upon these two star-crossed lovers, was marinated in dramatic irony. Most, if not all, audience members knew the fate of the gentle Juliet and her fair Romeo, yet despite this certainty, the anticipation of the afternoon performance was

"Dance Lovers 7"
James Graham Dance Theatre
Counterpulse Theater
San Francisco, CA
February 8, 2018

Watching two dancers work out a relationship on stage – whether romantic, exploratory, contentious or distanced — can raise the question about how they might interact when the curtain comes down. Is this relevant in terms of what we just saw? Perhaps not, but we do know that behind these masks are human beings with private lives that may or may not enter their professional endeavors. James