Life as a Modern Dancer

Category: Review/Response

  • Review/Response: “Are You There God? It’s Me, Jules” with Julie Crothers

    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…

  • “Frolic”: Reflections on the 3rd Annual Queering Dance Festival

      “Frolic”: Reflections on the 3rd Annual Queering Dance FestivalBy Molly Rose-Williams Last Saturday I attended “Frolic,” an evening of performances produced as a part of the annual Queering Dance Festival. I’ve shared some of my impressions of the evening below in “snapshot” style—a glimpse of each chapter of the night as I experienced it.…

  • Modern Dance Fan Club: RAWdance’s CONCEPT series: 28

      Modern Dance Fan Club: RAWdance’s CONCEPT series: 28 By Jill Randall I had the opportunity to interview RAWdance co-directors Katerina Wong, Wendy Rein, and Ryan T. Smith a few weeks ago, so I was primed, prepped, and excited to see the CONCEPT series in person on Saturday, March 26th. I am highly impressed and…

  • Zaccho Dance Theatre’s “Love, a state of grace”: aerial, ethereal, magical

    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…

  • Reflections on Gerald Casel’s “Not About Race Dance”

    Gerald Casel’s Not About Race Dance Residency at MANCC (Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography). Photo by Chris Cameron. Image description: Cauveri Suresh and Gerald Casel dance together. Gerald, sideways to the camera, folds his arms over his chest and looks down over his shoulder. Cauveri stands close behind him with their right arm extended…

  • Paufve Dance Remembers and Looks Forward

    Olivia Caldeira Holston in "OLIVIA!" filmed by Julia Sweeney. Image description: Close up of a young woman' s face and upper body, dancing outdoors, facing the camera. Background of trees against blue sky. Sky-blue linen blouse, right arm extended with fisted hand in a “power pose." Paufve Dance Remembers and Looks Forward By Garth Grimball…

  • Wholeness in “Split”

    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…

  • Gestures and Dreams at Queer Date Night

    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…

  • In “Bacchae Before” the Reveal is in the Subtext

    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…

  • RAWdance’s Portal into (Un)familiar Space

    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…