Dance-Enthusiast.com Features

THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST ASKS: Kyle Abraham on his "Dear Lord Make Me Beautiful" Premiering at the Park Avenue Armory

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"I mean, it is really a prayer. It’s a prayer in all of the ways. It's a prayer for me...And separate from me, it’s also a conversation with nature; watching nature and the environment constantly change and shift...There is so much fear around ideas of pandemics and death and hatred. So the prayer is also for this world to be better... It's vulnerable. It's anxious. It’s fearful. It's hopeful." Kyle Abraham, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Levi Gonzalez “Hoary” at The Chocolate Factory Theater

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"With its mythic histories and dreamlike departures, “Hoary” attends to place as an unstable entity constituted by human, animal, material, ecological, and temporal elements." Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Garth Fagan Dance at The Joyce Theater

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"Choreographer Garth Fagan, 84 years of age (and the winner of Tony and Olivier awards for Broadway’s Lion King), presented his dances and those of close associates at The Joyce Theater from October 29 - November 4. This engagement celebrating Garth Fagan Dance’s 50th year makes it clear why this Rochester, NY-based company remains popular." — Catherine Tharin, New York City

IMPRESSIONS: American Ballet Theatre Presents "Signature Works"

The Dance Enthusiast — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"Seeing a program twice on consecutive evenings is a gamble, but I feel I won the lottery!" — Henning Rübsam, New York

POSTCARDS: Dancer Joe González on Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s 30th Anniversary

The Dance Enthusiast — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"There is much choreography to be learned between these resurfacing pieces and premieres, but it has been worth the task [...] Doing this has inspired my rehearsals and will bring an added layer of meeting and connection during The Joyce Theater performances." — Joe González of Complexions Contemporary Ballet

IMPRESSIONS: Netta Yerushalmy's "MOVEMENT" at NYU Skirball

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"Dancemaker Netta Yerushalmy approaches the question of newness in dance through a voracious engagement with the archive. Her 2018 PARAMODERNITIES lecture-performance series spanned six brilliantly deconstructed responses to canonical pillars of 20th century dance: Ailey, Balanchine, Cunningham, Fosse, Graham, and Nijinsky." — Sarah Cecilia Bukowski

IMPRESSIONS: [RE]DEFINING [SPACE] at Triskelion Arts

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"As a whole, the program invites us to experience the intersection of space and identity. Each performer offers a heartfelt investigation of their use of Triskelion’s transformative space to explore the self through reflection, determination, and freedom." — Kristen Hedberg, Brooklyn

IMPRESSIONS: American Ballet Theatre in Helen Pickett's "Crime and Punishment"

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"The production’s driving element, however, was Herman Cornejo’s expressive performance as Raskolnikov. Cornejo makes the character’s tortured inner landscape visible and palpable. A small dancer, he moves big all night." — Lisa Jo Sagolla, New York

DANCE NEWS: New In! Robert Battle is Now Resident Choreographer of the Paul Taylor Dance Company

The Dance Enthusiast — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

“Robert Battle brings a wealth of talent and knowledge to Taylor. I’m deeply gratified that he accepted this position." — Michael Novak, Artistic Director of the Paul Taylor Dance Company

IMPRESSIONS: Maureen Fleming's The Alchemist's Veil at La MaMa

The Dance Enthusiast — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

The Alchemist’s Veil at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre features Fleming’s 90 minutes of dance, film and music inspired by the paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe. Comprised of nine scenes Fleming intermixes older works with more recent dances to create an entirely new theatrical experience. ~ Catherine Tharin, New York

POSTCARDS: Paul Taylor Dancers' Jada Pearman and Shawn Lesniak On Their Experiences This Dancing Season

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

See Jada Pearman and Shawn Lesniak Dance with their Talented Castmates during Paul Taylor's Season at Lincoln Center from November 5 - 24, 2024!

IMPRESSIONS: "Jakob and Imani" at Hudson Yards

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

"There, in between the park’s fountains, they are greeted by visual artist Jakob Vitale’s tall, wooden cityscape mural. Booming music vibrates near his painting playground. As people continue to pour in, Vitale mixes colors in his palette, gearing up to begin a three-hour painting session as part of the performance jakob & Imani." — Miranda Stuck, New York

IMPRESSIONS: New York City Ballet — "All Peck" Program

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"All Peck celebrates Justin Peck’s decade as New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer. In the grand walls of the David H. Koch Theater, a highlight of All Peck is the mini-documentary ON OUR WAY: Justin Peck’s Decade in Residence, which delves into his creative mindset." — Miranda Stuck

DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: Jody Sperling Brings La Loie to The Paul Taylor Season

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"As Jody Sperling hoped, these two Taylor dancers have taken her Loie Fuller-inspired, yet contemporary dances inside of themselves to make something very special, old yet new. It will be inspiring to see them as part of the upcoming Paul Taylor season." — Susanna Sloat, New York

IMPRESSIONS: "Edges of Ailey" at The Whitney Museum of American Art

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"Activist, dancer, and choreographer, Alvin Ailey stands at the fulcrum of the Whitney Museum’s Edges of Ailey exhibition running through February 9, 2025 [...] (This show) was six years in the making. Curator Adrienne Edwardshas assembled archival material, numerous artworks, and an extensive catalogue, and has commissioned performances by 10 choreographers." — Catherine Tharin, New York City

IMPRESSIONS: New York City Center's Fall For Dance 2024 (Programs 4 and 5)

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"One cannot help but follow Trenary’s every step on her transfixing journey, as she pushes the boundaries of what a single dancer can do in terms of energy and endurance." — Henning Rübsam, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Paris Opera Ballet Dances William Forsythe & Johan Inger in 2024-2025 Season Opener

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"Rearray, originally created for Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 2011 for Sylvie Guillem and Nicolas La Riche, is both beautiful and glaringly harsh." — Ann Moradian

DANCE NEWS: CUNY Dance Initiative Announces Fall 2024 Master Classes and Workshops

The Dance Enthusiast — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

“CDI has been an incredible resource for us, exposing our students to a rich array of NYC artists and dance forms. Our students have had transformational experiences taking master classes in dance styles that we are not able to offer as part of our curriculum. These experiences boost student confidence and have even led to ongoing professional relationships between the students and working artists.” — Aviva Geismar, director of Queensborough Community College's Dance Program

DANCE NEWS: The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU Announces 2024-2025 Fellows

The Dance Enthusiast — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

“We are thrilled to welcome this extraordinary group of fellows to CBA and NYU this academic year. Their diverse disciplines — including theater, choreography, art history, Black diasporic studies, street and club dance, and dance education — bring a wealth of perspectives.” — Jennifer Homans, CBA founder and director

IMPRESSIONS: "AINADAMAR: A Fountain of Tears" at the Metropolitan Opera

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"Deborah Colker, the Brazilian director/choreographer, keeps the cast moving. The space seems to expand and contract as they billow out and in, and sometimes up. The cast, singers and dancers, seems to breathe as one." — Deirdre Towers, New York

IMPRESSSIONS: The Batsheva Ensemble performs “Kamuyot” at 92nd Street Y

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"At the heart of the show is a proposal — an appeal to joy, an invitation to connect and be together in this time and place, and to dance." — Cecly Placenti, New York

DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: "The Joffrey + Ballet in the US" at New York Public Library (Part 2)

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"Evidently, the Joffrey Ballet is still with us; so, the exhibition concludes on an optimistic note. Yet no one imagines that the Joffrey today is the same globe-trotting company that turned-on hipsters in the 1960s." — Robert Johnson, New York

DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: "The Joffrey + Ballet in the US" at New York Public Library (Part 1)

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"The crush at the door for the Joffrey Ballet tickets at the Vienna Festival was so overwhelming that the city’s strict fire laws were broken, and people were herded in without seats for them to sit in.” A scene like that is unimaginable today." — Robert Johnson, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

IMPRESSIONS: New York City Center's Fall for Dance 2024 (Programs 2 and 3)

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400

"kNoname Artist / Roderick George is a company I was unfamiliar with, but that from now on I will seek out [...] George has made a moving work and his powerful dancers commit to it wholeheartedly. I am spellbound, and forget to take any notes. My gratitude goes out to everyone involved." — Henning Rübsam, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Niall Jones Presents “JohnsonJaxxxonJefferson” at Danspace Project

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0400