Category: Review/Response

Rogelio Lopez. Photo by Ryan Kwok. Rogelio Lopez Dreams Big By Garth Grimball Rogelio Lopez & Dancers remounted Entre Despierto y Dormido (premiere 2022) at the Joe Goode Annex, and thank goddess for it. The evening-length work is an excavation of Lopez’s subconscious and identity formation as a queer, Mexican immigrant via dreams. Unlike many…

Julie Crothers in "Holy Crap." Photo by Hans Holtan. Julie Crothers’ "Holy Crap": Blessed is the Skilled PerformerJune 23-24, 2023 at ODC Theater, San FranciscoBy Molly Rose-Williams Shortly after the lights come up, so does the music—and then we’re in church. Christian Megachurch, to be precise. The mega-vibes music, high drama lighting cues, and gravitationally-magnetic…

Megan Lowe Dances presents "Gathering Pieces of a Peace." Dancers (far left, then clockwise): Melissa Lewis Wong, Malia Hatico-Byrne, Clarissa Rivera Dyas, and Megan Lowe. Photo by Hewitt Visuals. Containing Multitudes: Reflections on Megan Lowe Dances' Gathering Pieces of a Peace By Bhumi B Patel When I attended Megan Lowe Dances’ Gathering Pieces of a…

Reflection on “Drifter” by Keith Johnson/Dancers By Molly Rose-Williams In the talkback after his newest show, “Drifter,” Keith Johnson said he hoped the work would provoke conversation. In my experience, it has. But I don’t think they are the conversations Johnson intended to provoke when he created the work.  At the center of most of…

  MoToR/Dance performs "Water in the Kettle." Photo by Dean Bosche. Reflections on “Water in the Kettle” by MoToR/dance By Molly Rose-Williams “Put the water on…Put the water in the kettle…” The performers’ voices swoop around the space, weaving in and out of one another as their bodies rock, walk, slap, and stomp in time…

Molly Rose-Williams. Photo by Molly Rose-Williams. Photo by Chani Bockwinkel. Ruminations on We Are All Friends by Molly Rose-Williams By Melissa Hudson Bell   Delightful. That is the word that continues to come to me as I ruminate on Molly Rose-Williams’ latest show, entitled We Are All Friends. And I mean delightful in a certain…

Rogelio Lopez in "Entre Despierto y Dormido." Photo by Ryan Kwok. Looking Back and Celebrating: Dance Performances in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2022 By Jill Randall I always love looking back at the posts from the past year. While this is only one snapshot of dance in the San Francisco Bay Area, it…

Maurya Kerr and Alexander Diaz. Photo: Robbie Sweeny. Tender Is the Day in “slow dark dances” By Garth Grimball “Anyone could do that.” How many times has this dictum filtered into the air from an unimpressed observer to a piece of modern art chilling the room’s temperature like air conditioning out of a vent? I’ve…

"Piece X Piece" by LA DANSA DANSA. Photo by Greg Meyers.   Rosanna Tavarez & Bianca Cabrera Travel in Multiple Dimensions By Garth Grimball The weekend of November 11 – 13, ODC Theater ended its 2022 Fall Season with a split bill: Rosanna Tavarez/LA DANSA DANSA and Bianca Cabrera/Blind Tiger Society. Tavarez’s “Piece X Piece”…

Dimensions Dance Theater in "Dai Zoe Bush–The Breaking of the Poro & Sande Bush." Photo by Ed Miller. Dimensions Dance Theater Celebrating 50 Years Lisser Hall, Mills College October 22-23, 2022 By Sima Belmar Oakland-based Dimensions Dance Theater is celebrating its golden anniversary this year, fifty years of making, performing, and teaching dances of the…