Where have all the dance students gone?

Why study dance when you can party?

After teaching dance in Philadelphia for ten years, I can’t help wondering where all the dance students have gone. What competing attractions are grabbing their attention and money?

Roger Lee

Nov 23, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Koresh Dance Company’s season opener

Intense, highly rhythmic and strangely engrossing

I’d known of the Koresh Dance Company, but until last weekend I’d had no exposure to its work. I came away from its seasonal opening boggled and bedazzled by what I’m prepared to call a major work.

Gary L. Day

Nov 19, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Nichole Canuso's 'The Garden'

An exhilarating exploration of space and self

All reviews are subjective, of course. But never have I experienced a dance performance that is so individualized that objectivity is absolutely impossible.

Steve Cohen

Nov 06, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Paul Taylor Dance Company at Annenberg

Still growing at 83

For 60 years Paul Taylor has created choreography that often deals with controversial themes and ideas. But he’s still evolving, as last weekend’s retrospective program demonstrated.

Gary L. Day

Oct 28, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Lucinda Childs: Origins of post-modern dance

Lucinda Childs, body and soul

Some of the best of Philadelphia’s modern dancers recreated the challenging work of Lucinda Childs, a pioneer of post-modern dance in America.

Jonathan M. Stein

Oct 12, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Our debt to "So You Think You Can Dance'

Where popularity trumps talent (which isn't necessarily bad)

Dance purists find “So You Think You Can Dance” superficial, commercial and degrading. Not me. In an age when dance desperately needs to expand its audience, this popular reality show shows us how to succeed— assuming we can stand success.

Roger Lee

Sep 08, 2013 · Articles · 2 minute read

Dance/USA and the race issue

Dance and race: Confronting the elephant

At Dance/USA's annual conference, dancers and impresarios usually spend their time talking about dance and economics, but rarely about race. This year's gathering in Philadelphia confronted the issue head-on.

Merilyn Jackson

Jul 02, 2013 · Articles · 6 minute read

Alie Vidich's "Invisible River'

Just when you thought you'd seen everything

Alie Vidich is a 28-year-old movement artist who dreams impossible dreams. In her latest open-air spectacle, she and a fellow dancer pay homage to the Schuylkill River and Mother Nature by performing an aerial dance off the Strawberry Mansion Bridge in Fairmount Park.

Jonathan M. Stein

Jun 20, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read

Pennsylvania Ballet: Forsythe and Kylián

Rising to the occasion

Innovative works by William Forsythe and JiÅ™í Kylián revealed the strengths of an outstanding company of dancers who should be offered more such challenging choreography, as well as an audience equally willing to be challenged.

Jonathan M. Stein

Jun 17, 2013 · Articles · 5 minute read

Ira Glass's "One Radio Host, Two Dancers'

Pay no attention to that man in front of the curtain

Can a popular Public Radio host connect the dots between radio journalism and dance? More to the point: Why should he?

Ilene Raymond Rush

Apr 23, 2013 · Articles · 3 minute read