“Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake” is back for a month of performances at the Ahmanson Theatre, the site of its 1997 U.S. premiere and its follow-up engagement in 2006. This remarkable revision of the seminal 19th century ballet became a sensation on its first trip here from London. It was called the “gay Swan Lake,” because …
Continue reading Review: Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake,’ Again
The opening tableaux of “Pretty, Peculiar Things” is an announcement that Melissa Barak has good things in store. Unexpected things, like the backward toss of a ballerina. Subtle humor. And a lively stage atmosphere overflowing with a deep kinetic intelligence of what movement can express. Barak keeps it fresh. She’s a dance-maker’s dance-maker. Here’s the …
At age 81, Los Angeles’ modern dance pioneer Bella Lewitzky closed down her dance company. That was 22 years ago and her works have been revived only sporadically since then. A good portion of her repertory is in danger of being gone for good, which would be a terrible outcome. A few people, happily, have …
Mark Morris — that most-musical choreographer and sometimes-conductor, who was the 2013 director of the Ojai Music Festival — has shown little interest in setting his dances to rock ’n’ roll or other popular music. So “Pepperland,” seen this weekend at the Segerstrom Center, is an outlier. The piece was a commission, made for the …
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills announced this week that its 2019-2020 dance season will be stocked with Los Angeles-based dance companies--only. It is, I believe, the first time a Los Angeles theater presenter has programmed a complete dance season just with L.A.-based companies. Quite a milestone. Artistic director Paul …
Just a quick reminder that Dance Camera West, Los Angeles' screen-dance festival, and To the Sea: Dance Concerts at the Santa Monica Pier run through Sunday. I made it to Friday's (4/13) To the Sea performance and sitting at the end of the pier is a remarkable--and utterly unique--place to see a dance concert. The …
I have been a San Francisco Ballet fan since the early 1980s, when Michael Smuin ran the company. I was living in the city and had a ballet subscription. They have only gotten better since then, growing into one of this country’s most distinguished classical companies. Sadly, they infrequently come south to perform here. We’re …
The Music Center last week presented “The Nutcracker” for the first time in five years. The two-act ballet premiered in Russia in 1892, but, as we all know, it ended up becoming a holiday obsession here in the U.S. instead. (Read Jennifer Fisher’s excellent book “Nutcracker Nation” to find out how that happened.) Rachel Moore, …
Continue reading Not a review: Thoughts on Miami City Ballet & George Balanchine’s ‘Nutcracker’
The Music Center kicks off a new initiative this summer, called The Music Center on Location. The downtown performing arts center is moving off campus, presenting two smaller dance companies and music artists at the Ford Theatres: Aszure Barton Dance in "Awáa" on Aug. 18 and Jacob Jonas The Company on Aug. 19, in shared program with …
Raiford Rogers Modern Ballet's last local concert was two years ago, when the company presented the debut of "Still Life," a stirring, three-movement work Rogers choreographed to an orchestral score by Zbynek Mateju. The Czech composer had proposed a collaboration with Rogers via email, and the two worked for more than a year without having …
Emphasis Dance 