Dance writer Lew Whittington gives 10 “moving” picks for the 2014 Fringe Festival
View More 10 Fringe Dance Picks: Lew Whittington on the best of the 2014 Fringe Festival
Author: Lewis Whittington for The Dance Journal
Lewis Whittington’s articles on the performing arts have appeared in several print and online publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Advocate, Dance Magazine, American Theatre Magazine, Huffington Post, Playbill and Stage Directions.
SUNSET, O639 HOURS (BalletX): Neenan blazes into sunset
With his BalletX summer program SUNSET, O639 HOURS, a long-form narrative ballet, choreographer Matthew Neenan unveiled taps new creative veins, steering clear of all his choreographic safe zones.
View More SUNSET, O639 HOURS (BalletX): Neenan blazes into sunset
PA Ballet’s Roy Kaiser discusses his retirement at City Institute Library series
Pennsylvania Ballet is finishing their 50th Anniversary Season with victory lap programming, but it has played out as more than just a milestone date, but a distinct turning point for the company‘s future.
View More PA Ballet’s Roy Kaiser discusses his retirement at City Institute Library series
DIRECTOR’S CHOICE (PA Ballet): Julie Diana’s luminous pas d’adieu
Roy Kaiser’s ‘Director’s Choice program proved to be one of the most artistically rich mixed bills PB has done and during their 50th anniversary season. , It featured the arrestingly intimate pas de deux between retiring dancer Julie Diana and real-life husband Zachary Hench.
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No regrets in Roni Koresh’s PROMISES
At rehearsal last week putting the finishing touches on his new dance piece ‘Promises I Never Meant to Keep,’ choreographer Roni Koresh was bleary eyed, wondering if the coffee he was drinking was from three days ago, but otherwise thoroughly engaged
View More No regrets in Roni Koresh’s PROMISES
ALL THIS HAPPENED, MORE OF LESS (Subcircle): Scenes from a dance marriage
Multimedia theater designer Jorge Cousineau is moving abstract objects under the rustic dance studio in the Maas Building in Northern Liberties. Niki Cousineau is rehearsing…
View More ALL THIS HAPPENED, MORE OF LESS (Subcircle): Scenes from a dance marriage
A benefit night to remember – Shut Up & Dance 2014
Shut Up & Dance 2014 benefit for MANNA proved one for the books. Every year the performance is typically wonderful for a number of reasons, primary among them its great sense of Philly community spirit in support of MANNA and not the least of which is the esprit of the participating dancers. Some years are standouts artistically and this was just one of those years.
View More A benefit night to remember – Shut Up & Dance 2014
Tommie Waheed-Evans unveils Aubade
Escaping the winter blues with tour stops in Los Angeles earlier this month touring the James Brown Project, Philadanco’s dancers were back at their home studios in Philly last weekend, rehearsing upcoming performances for their spring series here and an ensemble of five women preparing for a ballet to be performed in Verizon Hall onstage with the Philadelphia Orchestra this weekend.
View More Tommie Waheed-Evans unveils Aubade
Thresholds in the fourth dance wall or please stand by for the next movement
Published by The Dance Journal. Reprinted by kind permission The audience was migrated from the second floor community room in Neighborhood House up a back stairwell…
View More Thresholds in the fourth dance wall or please stand by for the next movement
Dance ornaments sparkle in Pennsylvania Ballet’s NUTCRACKER (2013)
Pennsylvania Ballet is only one of just a few companies licensed to do Balanchine’s 1954 classic ballet.
View More Dance ornaments sparkle in Pennsylvania Ballet’s NUTCRACKER (2013)
THROUGH THE SKIN (Koresh): Flesh and the dance devil
The body beautiful is an aspect of dance that can be easily exploited. Two shows, from opposite ends of the dance spectrum, featuring scantily clad dancers, challenge audiences not to objectify – Koresh Dance’s Through the Skin and Flashdance, the Musical. In contrast to the sexy poster art for both show, they both un-voyeuristically sing the body electric.
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BalletX’s Matthew Neenan downshifts for THERE I WAS
Earlier this month BalletX dancers had their pointe shoes ready for a rehearsal for Matthew Neenan’s ballet There I Was. The piece showcases how inventive, within and out of specific pointe shoe classicism, Neenan can be. Even though it is weeks before the opening There I Was looks ready, Neenan only moved around to cue a specific music change, apologizing to the dancers for the pause.
View More BalletX’s Matthew Neenan downshifts for THERE I WAS
Roy Kaiser looks forward and back as Pennsylvania Ballet turns 50
Published by The Dance Journal. Reprinted with kind permission. Pennsylvania Ballet launches its 50th season this month with the celebrations, reunions and gala performances, but…
View More Roy Kaiser looks forward and back as Pennsylvania Ballet turns 50
Modern dance DNA is Childs’ play
The retrospective of Judson Church choreographer-dancer Lucinda Childs’ SELECTED DANCES, 1963-78 last week was instructive and artistically purposeful. This work is still so vibrant in its exploratory nature that Childs’ innovations are part of the evolving dance stream.
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[54] ADJACENT SPACES (Leah Stein Dance Company): Fringe review
Published by The Dance Journal. Republished with kind permission. Leah Stein‘s ADJACENT SPACES is an elegiac chamber dance that interacts with the incredible rooms at Shiloh Baptist Church…
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[49] LIFE AND TIMES: EPISODE 2 (Nature Theater of Oklahoma): Fringe review
Published by The Dance Journal. Republished with kind permission. LIFE AND TIMES chronicles a life from childhood to adulthood, in painful, embarrassing, mind numbing detail. Episode two (of…
View More [49] LIFE AND TIMES: EPISODE 2 (Nature Theater of Oklahoma): Fringe review
Fringe Preview: Architectural dance alchemy, Adjacent Spaces by Leah Stein Dance Company
Published by The Dance Journal. Reprinted with kind permission. Leah Stein has had a very prolific year performing and choreographing with several projects overlapping, including…
View More Fringe Preview: Architectural dance alchemy, Adjacent Spaces by Leah Stein Dance Company