Dance Affiliates' "A.W.A.R.D. Show'

Dancing for dollars

The A.W.A.R.D. Show series of competitive dance performances has returned, in yet another marketing attempt to rescue dance from the margins of American culture. In Philadelphia, the most refreshing work was Gabrielle Revlock's spoof of the competition itself.

Jonathan M. Stein

May 24, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

Dancing across barriers in the Balkans

Miracle in the Balkans: The political power of dance

Can dancers accomplish what diplomats can't— namely, erase the barriers of fear and suspicion stemming from the brutal Bosnian war of the mid-1990s? Ashley Fargnoli, a 27-year-old self-style “dance activist,” demonstrated what can be done just this year.

Rebecca Davis

May 16, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

'Through the Skin' by Koresh Dance Company

Our bodies, ourselves

Through the Skin, Koresh Dance Company's new performance, articulates with breathtaking beauty the modern relationship between body and mind and invites the audience to do likewise.

Madeline Schaefer

May 10, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Aszure Barton's "Blue Soup' and "Busk' at Annenberg

Expect the unexpected

The Baryshnikov protégé Aszure Barton uses— and subverts— our expectations about how dancers move and how meaning is communicated in dance.

Judy Weightman

May 10, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Jeanne Ruddy's "Montage Ó Trois'

Painting and sculpting with the body

In Montage Ó Trois, Jeanne Ruddy and her dancers used the Pennsylvania Academy and its paintings to explore questions about where art comes from and how it moves us. Few site-specific works have achieved such power.

Jim Rutter

Apr 26, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Miro Dance Theatre's "Punch,' and PIFA's trifecta

The Festival's Stravinsky trifecta

The “Let a thousand Parisian flowers bloom” approach to festival making opened the way to many outstanding productions and exhibitions. Consider, in particular, the synergy of three Stravinsky Pulcinellas, notably Miro Dance Theatre's raw and raucous Punch.

Jonathan M. Stein

Apr 26, 2011 · Articles · 8 minute read

BalletX and Wilma re-imagine Apollinaire (2nd review)

Where's the beef?

Apollinaire and the surrealists reveled in the absurd. But these performers aren't surrealists— they're modern-day artists performing an old piece of surrealist art. It's a treat for the senses, but there's not much here for the mind to chew on.

Madeline Schaefer

Apr 19, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Rennie Harris Puremovement's hip-hop "Heaven' at the Perelman

A hip-hop Stravinsky

A muddy narrative undermined an otherwise memorable work that included some sterling and riveting hip-hop dance, choreographed by a legendary pioneer of the art form.

Jonathan M. Stein

Apr 18, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Pennsylvania Ballet: Balanchine and Millepied

When artists are athletes (and vice versa)

Arantxa Ochoa paired with Francis Veyette to match her strength and will against his in a pas de deux that blended gymnastics, contortionism and the execution of seemingly impossible poses.

Jim Rutter

Apr 16, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

BalletX and Wilma re-imagine Apollinaire (1st review)

So you want surrealism?

BalletX and the Wilma Theater team up for a riotous paean to the creative spirit and imagination based on a 1916 work by the daddy of surrealism, Guillaume Apollinaire.

Apr 16, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read