Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Review/Response

  • Game Time Brings It

      Aviva Rose-Williams and Molly Rose-Williams. Photo by Hillary Goidell. Game Time Brings It By Sarah Genta Like boxers in their pre-match corner, Aviva and Molly Rose-Williams are commiserating and getting psyched. Aviva chops Molly’s shoulders, pats down her back, gluts, hips. They switch. It’s Aviva’s turn. Reciprocal psych. As folks trickle to their seats…

  • FACT/SF’s Summer Dance Festival Keeps The Conversation Going

    FACT/SF in "Extra." Photo by Robbie Sweeny. FACT/SF’s Summer Dance Festival Keeps The Conversation Going By Garth Grimball On the opening night of the second weekend of FACT/SF’s 5th annual Summer Dance Festival, artistic director Charles Slender-White spoke about the importance of dialogue as a mission for the festival. Dialogue between artists and artistic dialogue…

  • Dancing from Fog City to the Big Apple

    Dancer Lindsey Jones in the work of Pam Tanowitz. Photo by Liz Devine. Dancing from Fog City to the Big Apple By Garth Grimball The night before I left for a two-week trip to New York City I met the choreographer Rena Butler at a work event. She was in San Francisco for her commission…

  • Big Yes: Mia J. Chong’s Eight/Moves, Season 1

    Steam, choreographed by Mia J. Chong and KT Nelson. Photo by Maximillian Tortoriello. Big Yes: Mia J. Chong's Eight/Moves, Season 1 By Jill Randall   Opening Thoughts: a poem Dancing - Virtuosity, strength, range, power, whole body-nessSmall gesturesBig commitmentFogAnd satin shirtsAnd socksAnd partneringEffort exertion commitment enduranceLift and uplift. GratitudeYes, dance performances can be transactional. But beyond…

  • Coming Together and Connecting: “Study Hall” with Emily Hansel and Collaborators

    By Jill Randall Study Hall. Photo by Natalia Perez. Image Description: Three dancers, wearing blues, oranges, and pinks, are caught walking in different directions. A mirror effect on the image causes blurry, duplicate images of their bodies.   Coming Together and Connecting: Study Hall with Emily Hansel and CollaboratorsBy Jill Randall   Introduction I am…

  • Megan Lowe Dances Finds Partnership In “Just A Shadow”

    Josh Icban and Megan Lowe. Photo by Vita Hewett. Megan Lowe Dances Finds Partnership In Just A Shadow By Garth Grimball   Megan Lowe is prolific. In the past three years her company, Megan Lowe Dances, has produced or participated in 10 unique performances. On Friday night, Lowe and collaborators premiered Just A Shadow at…

  • Drag, Modern Dance, and REBIRTH

    Hollywood Texas. Photo by Sloane Kanter. Drag, Modern Dance, and REBIRTH By Garth Grimball “Since I don’t have any pee, will someone spit in my mouth instead?” performer Hollow Eve requested midway through REBIRTH: The Death of Drag. Fellow castmates obliged. On May 17-19 Oaklash celebrated its seventh year of bringing drag and queer performances…

  • “Undercurrents” with Carol Kueffer and ChingChi Yu

    ChingChi Yu and Carol Kueffer in "Veil of Water." Photo by Aileen Kim. From Blog Director Jill Randall:Both Melissa Hudson Bell and I got to experience the "Undercurrents" performance a few weeks ago, a shared weekend with choreographers ChingChi Yu and Carol Kueffer. Melissa reflects on the first half of the program, and I share…

  • Kayla Farrish directs film into dance

    Kayla Farrish (foreground) in "Put Away the Fire, dear." Photo by Elyse Mertz. Kayla Farrish directs film into dance By Garth Grimball Ours is a time of references. The average smartphone user consumes more content in an hour than our ancestors did in their whole lives. Text, images, videos, sounds, and media all swaddle us…

  • Rite on the ground(s)

    Rite on the ground(s) By Garth Grimball On Feb 16-18, Cal Performances brought to Zellerbach Hall a special production of Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring. For only the fourth time since the dance’s creation, it was performed by dancers outside of Pina Bausch’s home company Tanztheater Wuppertal. This production features dancers from 14 different African…