Category: Dance in Review

Peiling Kao Dances: One Body, Five Dances, Six Perspectives II May 6th & 8th, 2022  University of Hawai’i, Mānoa Earle Ernst Lab Theater, Honolulu, HI Reviewed by Christopher Blasdel Peiling Kao’s dance concert—One Body, Five dances, Six Perspectives II—consisted of a series of short, commissioned dance vignettes from five guest choreographers. Each of the guest…

From left: Erin Yen, Sharon Dalke, and Chelsea Reichert in Talking Circle. Photo by Robbie Sweeny. Risa Jaroslow & Dancers Talking Circle May 12, 2022 CounterPulse By Sima Belmar One of my favorite things about dance class is the time spent on the sidelines watching others dance. I suppose the main reason why we take…

Julie Crothers. Photo by Hans Holtan. Are You There God? It’s Me, Jules NOHspace, San Francisco April 15, 2022, 7pm Choreographed and Performed by Julie Crothers Original music by Ben Juodvalkis with contributions from Greta Hadley and Jeanne Hadley Lighting design by Maxx Kurzunski Review/response by Sima Belmar I recently listened to a conversation between…

Zaccho Dance Theatre aerialist Ciarra D’Onofrio  at Grace Cathedral. Photo courtesy of Zaccho Dance Theatre.   Zaccho Dance Theatre’s Love, a state of grace: aerial, ethereal, magical By Sima Belmar I couldn’t get the word “empanada” out of my head. I was lying on Mary Armentrout’s Feldenkrais table in Berkeley and the word kept circling…

LizAnne Roman Roberts. Photo by Robbie Sweeny. Image description: Dancer stands downstage in a performance space lit bubblegum pink. Dancer wears a sleeveless button up shirt, dark shorts to her knees, and white socks. The dancer is slightly arching and looking up to the ceiling. Wholeness in Split  By Sarah JG Chenoweth For FACT/SF’s Split…

Octavia Rose Projects in "bodyfabric II" with Jhia Jackson (left), Heidi Cash (center), and Noah James (right). Photo by Kim Anno. Image description: Three dancers pose in close proximity in a space with light wooden flooring and white walls. Two are standing and one is seated in a power wheelchair. Each dancer is frozen in…

Silk Worm as Dionysus, center, with Belinda He, left, and Karla Quintero as two Bacchae. Photo by Robbie Sweeny. Image description: A very dark theater space with black background and black marley. Three performers are on stage – one standing in the center dressed all in white, holding a microphone. Two performers flank the center…

Nick Wagner and Jhia Jackson, foreground. Erin Yen, Claire Fisher, ArVejon Jones, and Juliann Witt (upstage). Photo by Hillary Goidell.   RAWdance’s Portal into (Un)familiar Space By Garth Grimball Site-specific dance often prioritizes site over specific. And, as a priority, the site often exists as an absence rather than a presence. This site is not…