Choreography by Michio Ito and Dana Burgess
Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company
National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DC
March 17, 2018

The site of the performance was an oblong salon on the Portrait Gallery's second floor. Prominently on display in addition to the dancing was a large portrait of a female dancer by Ferdinand Hodler (1853 -1918), the Swiss German painter. Hodler shows both motion and pause in his subject's pose, and areas of geometric flattening and of

“Exploring Stillness”
Flamenco Festival
New York City Center
New York
March 9, 2018

Since at least the beginning of modernity, movement has been considered the essential element of western theater dance. Movement is what gives dance its autonomy as an independent art; stillness, accordingly, is the antithesis of dance, a void. Occasionally contemporary choreographers have looked at aspects of stillness and its relationship to dance, but it is rare. Consequently, it came as a surprise when this year’s Flamenco

“Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée,’” “Agon,” “Duo Concertant, “Symphony in three Movements”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York
March 4, 2018

New York City Ballet’s final performance of the winter season consisted almost exclusively of Balan- chine/ Stravinsky ballets, often called “black-and-white” for their use of practice clothing for costumes. The one exception, while still a Balanchine/  Stravinsky work, was very different, but not simply because of its costuming. The

Compañía Eva Yerbabuena
March 9, 2018
Ballet Flamenco Jesús Carmona
March 11, 2018
Flamenco Festival
New York City Center
New York

Each year the Flamenco Festival brings several of Spain’s major companies to New York. This year one of them was headed by a woman, Compañía Eva Yerbabuana, another by a man, Ballet Flamenco Jesús Carmona. The were very different, but less due to the gender of their directors than to their approach to the medium. Yerbabuena’s show,

In the Mood

"Poem", "Moods", "Sweet in the Morning", "Preludes", "Dreams"
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
The Mark O'Donnell Theater
Brooklyn, New York
March 8, 2018.

Anna Sokolow was a modern dance pioneer whose works, while abstract, are richly theatrical, dealing with both human emotions and broader social themes.  Her legacy has been valiantly carried on by Director Jim May and the recently appointed Artistic Director Samantha Géracht, both former Sokolow dancers.  The program, subtitled "Moods and Dreams"

"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