Articles written by the author
Tossing and Catching Rhythms on Stages and City Streets
(Critic’s Notebook)
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Youthful Dances Get a Youthful Jolt
(Critic's Notebook)
Tracing the Artistic Arc of Flood Preparation
NEW YORK — When choreographer Madeline Hollander makes a site-specific work, she gets to know the site inside and out. On a recent afternoon, she stood at the base of a warehouse on 10th Avenue, around the corner from the gleaming glass entrance of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Review: Ballet Hispánico's Expanded, Expanding Map
NEW YORK — Nearly 50 years old, Ballet Hispánico has long been a home for explorations of Spanish and Latin American identities. With its latest season at the Joyce Theater, which opened on Tuesday, the company turns its focus to a particular cultural crossroads: where Hispanic and Asian diasporas meet.
Lessons in Merce Cunningham
NEW YORK — On a recent afternoon, in a big studio at New York City Center, dancer Melissa Toogood presented her class with a puzzle. With the clear, direct energy of someone walking down the street, she performed a darting series of steps that folded back on itself, ending where it started. The challenge, beyond pairing sudden swerves of the torso with the down-up-up rhythm of the feet, was to somehow travel forward in space, even as the movement resisted that pathway.
A Choreographer's Reflections on Transience
(Critic’s Notebook)
You'll Never Dance Alone (a Solo)
(Critic's Pick)
'It's Still a Little Naughty'
NEW YORK — On most weekdays, Cristi, 33, works in marketing for a fashion company, a regular 9-to-5 job. But on a recent Friday afternoon, she could be found at Symphony Space doing a split in the theater aisle as a friend pulled back her arms, assisting her in a deep stretch.
Pole Dancing Without Nudity or G-Strings. Just Express Yourself.
NEW YORK — On most weekdays, Cristi, 33, works in marketing for a fashion company, a regular 9-to-5 job. But on a recent Friday afternoon, she could be found at Symphony Space doing a split in the theater aisle as a friend pulled back her arms, assisting her in a deep stretch.
Indigenous Artists Sway First Avenue
NEW YORK — The Round Dance, a Native American dance of friendship, happens at powwows and other gatherings of indigenous people all over the country. But as Louis Mofsie, director of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, noted on Friday night, “We have some of the best round dancing right here on First Avenue in New York.”
Dance parade: Where 100 styles fit into 20 city blocks
NEW YORK — If you happened to be walking down Broadway near 21st Street in Manhattan on Saturday, you might have noticed some colorful pedestrians: a man in a floral top hat; a woman in a billowing green robe; friends in bright dresses braiding one another’s hair.
Review: Why dance? 'Fame Notions' suggests it's a private matter
NEW YORK — An hour and 45 minutes had passed when the dancer pirouetted — a fast blur cutting through slow motion, like a fish through a stagnant pond. A familiar turn, a basic unit of so much choreography, felt suddenly momentous, as if it had never happened before.
2 Batsheva-bred choreographers, speaking in their own tongues
(Critic’s notebook): NEW YORK — Fifteen years ago, choreographers Bobbi Jene Smith and Shamel Pitts were classmates at Juilliard. Smith left before graduating to join the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel; Pitts arrived at the same company four years later.
Review: Michelle Dorrance happily shares the spotlight
(Critic’s Pick): NEW YORK — Considering Michelle Dorrance’s virtuosity as a dancer — which in her medium, tap, is really a type of musician — perhaps it’s not surprising that she also sings and plays the bass.
Review: Ballet Hispánico's expanded, expanding map
NEW YORK — Nearly 50 years old, Ballet Hispánico has long been a home for explorations of Spanish and Latin American identities.
An abundance of Cunningham at Harkness Festival
The thrill factor, of course, has to do with who’s dancing. And on this program, it spiked when Melissa Toogood — a member of the Cunningham company’s final generation — shared the stage with American Ballet Theater soloist Calvin Royal III.
Choreographer Angie Pittman's quiet storm
“I don’t want to have to yell for you to hear me,” she said during a recent interview in downtown Brooklyn.
Review: Camille A. Brown's rousing and incisive 'ink'
The conclusion of her trilogy on African-American identity, with “Mr. TOL E. RAncE” (2012) and “BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play” (2015), “ink” flies by, a rousing and incisive final statement.
A showcase for the abundance and breadth of indigenous performance
After a low-profile first edition last year, the series is returning in an expanded, more public form.
