Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Review/Response

  • “Dancing with Bob,” Dancing in Time

    “Set and Reset” (1983). Choreography: Trisha Brown. Performers: Trisha Oesterling, Trisha Brown, and Wil Swanson. Photographer: © Mark Hanauer “Dancing with Bob,” Dancing in Time By Garth Grimball The Trisha Brown Dance Company has accomplished a heroic feat in producing “Dancing with Bob: Rauschenberg, Brown and Cunningham” with special guest Paul Taylor Dance Company. The…

  • Barbeque Bacchanal: “forever failing” and the Perversion of America

    Clarissa Rivera Dyas and ainlsey e. tharp. Photo by Hillary Goidell.   Barbeque Bacchanal: forever failing and the Perversion of AmericaBy Marlena Gittleman It started with hot dogs, grilled outside the performance venue and served for free. As the audience licked ketchup and mustard off their fingers, Clarissa Rivera Dyas and ainsley e. tharp came…

  • A Bed of One’s Own in Flyaway Productions’ “If I Give You My Sorrows”

    natalya janay shoaf. Photo by Brooke Anderson. A Bed of One’s Own in Flyaway Productions’ If I Give You My Sorrows By Garth Grimball Opposites attract. But opposition alone thwarts attraction. To attract, to synthesize into something unique and fecund demands an openness. Flyaway Productions’ If I Give You My Sorrows, performed Jan 31 –…

  • Spotlighting and Celebrating Ten Performances in 2024 in the SF Bay Area

    Left to right: SanSan Kwan, Chi Chi Chang, Johnny Cox, and Catalina O’Connor in "Convergence" by ChingChi Yu (March 2024). Image Description: Four dancers in a cluster in black costumes, looking upward with hands by their sternums. From Blog Director Jill Randall: Looking back at 2024, we covered 10 different projects on Life as a…

  • 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…