Dance

Review: ‘Mouse in House’ at Jane Franklin Dance at Theatre on the Run

Mouse in House, a fun­filled show for children, is full of poetry, dance, and wonderful media effects. Performed by Jane Franklin Dance Company, the show is based on the book Mouse of Amherst by...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #19: ‘A Look Back at Dance in 2015’ by Lisa Traiger

For reasons that continue to surprise me, 2015 was a relatively light dance-going year for me. That said, I managed to take in nearly a top ten of memorable, exceptional or challenging performances...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #12: ‘Memorable Dance in Baltimore and Beyond’ by Carolyn Kelemen

There were many big, wonderful dance events in 2015, including world premieres, new renditions of the warhorse ballets, made-for-TV series (Flesh & Bone),dance documentaries, and grand dance on the...

Moscow Ballet’s ‘Great Russian Nutcracker’ at Strathmore

The anticipation before the start of a show is always palpable to friends, family, and performers alike. I sat in the Music Center at the Strathmore, waiting for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian...

‘Savion Glover: DANCE HOLIDAY SPeCTaCULaR’ at GMU Center for the Arts

On December 19, 2015, preeminent tap choreographer Savion Glover presented his holiday concert DANCE HOLIDAY SPeCTaCULaR at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts. Known best for his Tony...

‘The Nutcracker’ at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre

As a fan of dance and ballet, I have seen a number of professional productions of The Nutcracker over the years, but this particular performance by the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre is going to stick...

‘The Nutcracker’ at Ballet Theatre of Maryland at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts

A sure sign the holiday season is in full swing is the annual return of classic ballet, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. It is almost as iconic as Santa Claus, a Christmas tree and catching the final...

Review: Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre Presents ‘A Christmas Carol’

I walked in to The F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre yesterday feeling very ‘Bah Humbug-gy’ and I left overflowing with holiday joy and the spirit of the holidays after being entertained by over 40 young...

‘SPEKTRUM’ at Howard University

A world of color streamed with feet pointed and backs arched, amazed at the auspicious shapes; I witnessed dance prevail in SPEKTRUM, Howard University’s Dance Arts Student Showcase. Deep symbolism...

‘See Between The Lines’ by Jane Franklin Dance at Dance Place

Jane Franklin Dance presented three performance pieces last night at Dance Place: “Incidence,” “Nested, and “Wash Over You, Part 1.” As a whole, they are entitled See Between The Lines. Rooted in...

‘Danceworks Fall 2015’ at George Washington University’s Department of Theatre of Dance

International Guest Artists Bring Polish and Pizazz to MainStage at George Washington University Some of the most exciting new choreography in town is on view at this season’s DanceWorks 2015, where...

Spine: JOY and Twyla Tharp’s 50th Anniversary Tour

Twyla Tharp’s 50th Anniversary Tour came to the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre last night. Four pieces: two short “Fanfares,” a Preludes and Fugues, and a Yowzie. And the stage was aflutter with...

‘Flamenco Men 2’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre

It is said that there are four elements of flamenco: Cante, or voice; Baile, or dance; Toque, or guitar, and; Jaleo – audience participation. All were in full force at GALA Hispanic Theatre’s...

‘See Between the Lines’ by Jane Franklin Dance Comes to Dance Place November 14th & 15th by Joanne Burke

Jane Franklin Dance has a way of looking at things that is not quite…right. Or left. Or, wait, where are we going? You don’t know where you’ll end up, but when we get there, you’ll be exactly where...

Bowen McCauley Dance 20th Anniversary Celebration at Dance Place

Bowen McCauley Dance is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary season with a four-piece retrospective. All choreographed by Lucy Bowen McCauley, the opening number takes the audience back to the...

‘Latin Heat’ at The Washington Ballet

Latin Heat does what the Washington Ballet does best: spotlight its dancers’ strengths and individual personalities. However, Latin Heat also illumines the WSB unhinged and unrestrained. Never before...

In the Moment: BalletNova Center for Dance Presents A Global Dance Showcase on Saturday, 10/17/15@7:30 PM

BalletNova Center for Dance will present a Global Dance Showcase, featuring ethnic dance companies from around the DC metro region. The performances will be held in the Fredgren Studio Theatre – a...

‘Mariko’s Magical Mix: A Dance Adventure’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

Mariko’s Magical Mix: A Dance Adventure is an original piece by Sarah Fornace, Julia Miller, and Princess Grace Award –winner Robyn Mineko Williams, presented in this world premier Kennedy Center...

In the Moment: Erica Rebollar on ‘Sacred Profane’ at Dance Place on October 3rd

With the ongoing Women’s Voices Theater Festival, I wondered if other performing arts in the DC area were highlighting the work of women artists. I didn’t have to search far to find that there is a...

‘NextNow Fest’ Runs Today Through Saturday at The Clarice

NextNOW Fest 2015 is a multi-day, multi-arts festival of fun and discovery that brings artists and audiences together in surprising and intriguing ways! This year, Reggie Watts—the larger-than-life...

‘Step Afrika! Step Explosion’

I just discovered a phenomenal performing arts group that rocked and moved me as much as any experience in theater I can recall. The name of the group is Step Afrika!, an organization renowned around...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Wrestling with the WIP’

Wrestling with the WIP puts forward the metaphor of quilt making as a strategy for reconfiguring women’s lives that are ripped apart, fragmented by harmful and impossible ideals. These ideals are...

‘Ballroom with a Twist’ at Strathmore

Celebrity dancers from Dancing with the Stars, along with finalists from So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, and X Factor shimmied into Bethesda to entertain audiences last night with its...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #48: ‘DancEthos with The West Shore Piano Trio Movement’

22 gorgeous dancers + 6 inspired choreographers + 3 brilliant musicians + 1 skilled spoken word artist = an amazing collaborative experience! This diverse and dynamic program will showcase dance,...

2015 Capital Fringe Festival Preview #31: ‘Wrestling with the WIP’ by Nicole Y. McClam

From birth stories and mother/daughter relationships to Black Velveteen and badassness: Wrestling with the WIP seeks to create woman in her own image. Wrestling with the WIP premiered last October in...

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago at Wolf Trap

Eight dancers paused on an open-air stage. The curtain is up. No music, yet. A rustle from a small, brown mass as far downstage as can be: a bird, flicking wings. One more sits near the other quarter...

Polish National Ballet at The Kennedy Center

Grey, almost nondescript costumes, would not seem powerful. A lightly lit modern painting, blue, then back to grey, would not seem striking. Eight dancers, re-entering in lines from upstage to...

In the Moment: Company Danzante Performs at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Northern Virginia’s Company Danzante will perform at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts on June 26, 2015. Company Danzante will perform repertory by Co-Directors, Katherine...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #5: Jane Franklin Dance’s ‘Niche’ by Jane Franklin

Part of the 10th Annual Capital Fringe Festival July 9 – 26, 2015 CAFRITZ FOUNDATION THEATER, DANCE PLACE 3225 8th STREET, NE, IN WASHINGTON, DC July 15th at 7:45 pm July 17th at 8:45 pm July 18th at...

The Royal Ballet’s ‘Don Quixote’ at The Kennedy Center

Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote is a Royal treat Sometimes balletomanes can only distinguish between a truly great dance concert and a very fine one by noting how many goose bumps pop up on their arms....

In the Moment: Chamber Dance Project’s 2015 Summer Season at the Lansburgh

Don’t hurry out of town for the summer just yet or you will miss the new summer season of DC’s own Chamber Dance Project in residence at the Lansburgh Theatre at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Known for...

Ardani Artists Presents: Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: ‘Rodin’ at The Kennedy Center

Boris Eifman is a choreographer critics love to hate and audiences simply love. In fact, in his 2011 opus, Rodin, detailing the loves of the great French sculptor who chiseled the art form into the...

The Columbia Festival of the Arts Runs June 12-27, 2015: Events, and A Reflection of the Jim Rouse Dream

The Columbia Festival of the Arts is in the 28th year. It began as an offshoot of the Columbia Fair that celebrated the anniversary of the city. On the 20th anniversary celebration they added the...

‘Tour-de-Force: Serenade’ at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

The dancers, dusted in long, white tulle, reflect—shells on a dark beach. It is an opening, a closing, a commencement, an ending. Arms raise. Hands flex. Heads turn, diagonally, toward a common...

Daisha Graf and Alicia Graf Mack Share Their D(n)A with Local Dancers on May 17th in Columbia, MD

Sisters Daisha Mack and Alicia Graf Mack, co-creators of D(n)A Arts, will host The D(n)A Xperience, which aims to draw aspiring dancers from across the region. They have achieved extraordinary success...

MOMIX’s ‘Alchemia’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Both Roger Catlin, in his April 24, 2015 article in The Washington Post, and GMU Dance Professor Dan Joyce, during his pre-performance discussion, describe MOMIX as “dancer-illusionists.” They also...

Ballet Theatre of Maryland Ends 2015 Season with ‘Innovations’

Ballet Theatre of Maryland closed its most successful season to date with three performances of Innovations – a program of classical and contemporary dance – on April 17-19, 2015 weekend at its...

Enter by 8 PM Tonight To Win One of 5 Pairs of Free Tickets for Dakshina’s Spring Concert Tomorrow & Sunday at Dance Place & and May 6th at Reston Community Center

Enter to win a pair of tickets to Dakshina’s performances Dakshina is giving away 5 pairs of tickets to their Spring performances May 2nd and 3rd at Dance Place and May 6th at Reston Community Center....

Jane Franklin Dance Gala ‘Zip Through a Tight Space’ on 5/20@7pm at NVCC in Alexandria, VA. 1/2 Off Discount for DCMTA Readers

Zip Through a Tight Space RACHEL M. SCHLESINGER CONCERT HALL AND ARTS CENTER, NORTHERN VIRGINIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, ALEXANDRIA CAMPUS 3001 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria VA May 20 @ 7 pm (703)...

CityDance’s ‘DREAMscape’ is on May 9th at 8 pm at The Lincoln Theatre

Dance education, be it for the aspiring professional dancer or the recreational dancer, gives the student a myriad of gifts that apply to the technical field of dance, and various other arenas....

Audaciously Magical MOMIX Performing on the Center for the Arts Stage Tomorrow Night at 8 PM

“Optical confusion” is how choreographer Moses Pendleton describes the inventive, arresting illusions he has developed over the past decades for his renowned dance theater company, MOMIX. In a recent...

‘We Wait in the Darkness by Rosy Simas Danse at Dance Place

As a long-time dance observer, I like to say the language of dance is universal and that in performance specificity on stage can imbue a work with universality. Saturday evening at Dance Place in...

‘DanceWorks Spring 2015’ at the Department of Theatre & Dance at The George Washington University

This dance variety show featuring undergraduate choreography and dancers unfolds with a consistent contemporary theme, but some pieces achieve more variety of movement than others. These Five Women,...

In The Moment: Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company Presents ‘Persistent Voices’ at Dance Place 5/2-3 & Reston CenterStage 5/6

In early May, Daniel Phoenix Singh and the Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company will be premiering a dance theater work at Dance Place and at Reston’s CenterStage. The new work is inspired by...

In the Moment: ‘Pilobolus Dance’ Comes to The Alden Theatre This Friday

The world renowned Pilobolus will be bringing their “stunning, evocative and visceral” dance theater to the Alden Theatre, said Sarah N. Schallern, director, performing arts, McLean Community Center....

The Washington Ballet’s ‘Swan Lake’ at The Kennedy Center

Under a moonlit, cloudy sky, a young, overwhelmed Prince Siegfried seeks refuge in the forest following an evening of birthday revelry. A weighty anticipation gives a lag to his steps, for tomorrow he...

‘Emerge’ at Howard University

Watching the annual student spring dance concert last night at Howard University, I was taken aback from the get-go. What I saw was so impressive in conception and execution, so powerful in its...

The Washington Ballet’s ‘Swan Lake’ at The Kennedy Center

Swooning over the first ‘Swan’ Step aside, Baryshnikov. There’s a new kid on the block and he’s taking the dance world by storm. The Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack took his royal place last night...

New York City Ballet: Program B: 21st-Century Choreographers’ at The Kennedy Center

Principal dancer Teresa Reichlen unwraps her leg into a développé, a blade curling a bow, then—suspends—playfully, before hiding it away. Her partner, principal Zachary Catazaro, approaches with a...

‘In the Moment’ An Interview with Choreographers Erica Rebollar and Helanius J. Wilkins on ‘Everything for the First Time’ at Atlas on 4/11 at 8 PM

The artistry and craft of two masterful choreographers are coming together for a stimulating, one night only performance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center with the tantalizing title, Everything for...