Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Review/Response

  • “Touch Of RED” Touches Deeply

    "Touch of Red" (photo taken at MASS MoCA). Photographer credit: The Adeboye Brothers. Touch Of RED Touches Deeply By Garth Grimball On Saturday, January 13, Shamel Pitts | TRIBE presented Touch Of RED in a dance studio at NY Live Arts as part of the Live Artery festival; the festival is an opportunity for artists…

  • Who’s your CRUSH?

    Molly Rose-Williams. Photo: Chani Bockwinkel.   Who’s your CRUSH? By Garth Grimball     Molly Rose-Williams has a crush on you.   CRUSH, an evening-length solo choreographed and performed by Rose-Williams, opened January 19 at NOHSpace. The work is an evolution of We Are All Friends that premiered in 2022. Both works are concerned with…

  • Review+Response: 7 Performances in the SF Bay Area in 2023

    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. 2023 was a hopeful year with more and more live performances to experience. Today I repost about the 7 performances that were highlighted on the blog…

  • “Jungle Book Reimagined” is of the Headlines

    Photo by Camila Greenwell.   “Jungle Book Reimagined” is of the Headlines By Garth Grimball Akram Khan’s “Jungle Book Reimagined” begins in catastrophe. A voice-over announces a litany of contemporary headlines taken to extremes: London is unlivable due to sea level rising; rationing, displacement and economic collapse are the new reality. Presented at Stanford University’s…

  • Rogelio Lopez Dreams Big

    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’ “Holy Crap”: Blessed is the Skilled Performer

    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…

  • Containing Multitudes: Reflections on Megan Lowe Dances’ “Gathering Pieces of a Peace”

    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

    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…

  • Reflections on “Water in the Kettle” by MoToR/dance

      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…

  • Ruminations on “We Are All Friends” by Molly Rose-Williams

    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…