Category: Review/Response

Photo: Cheshire Isaacs Lili Weckler | Unhinge rocks the Earth with mixed results By Garth Grimball Minimalism is a privilege. This is the creed of maximalist artist and Macarthur “genius” Taylor Mac, whose genre-blurring, activism-cum-cabaret acts use spectacle as a means to communicate urgency. Minimalism allows time to process and reflect. Maximalism demands action. SiStars…

“Lipstick Lumberjacks, Losers and Leapfrogs” offers a tantalizing foray into a queer imagination By Molly Rose-Williams It is rare for me that going to a show feels like going to a party. Shaunna Vella and Andrew Merrell’s newest work, “Lipstick Lumberjacks, Losers, and Leapfrogs,” was one of those shows. Their brand of party wasn’t like…

Photo: Stephen Texeira Amy Foley’s Let Slip the Witches is Flat-out Transcendent By Sarah JG Chenoweth The irresistibility of witches is markedly familiar, even if you don’t share the compulsion. From fable to brutal history to contemporary practice, their stories are streaked with a power and mystery that we cannot ignore. It seems that to be witchy…

Photo: Ryan Kwok Still Resonating: Dicotomía del Silencio by Rogelio Lopez & Dancers By Molly Rose-Williams If reckoning is a sensational act – a surrender to past, present, and future converging in a single, visceral moment – then Dicotomía del Silencio gives form to that sensation. The newest work from Rogelio Lopez & Dancers is…

Tension Remains after Nevertheless By Sarah JG Chenoweth ka-nei-see | collective and Cat Call Choir produced an adaptation of their 2018 success, Nevertheless, at Z Space last weekend. The show—expanded from its premiere to include new sections, additional performers, and a visual art exhibition in the lobby—was condemning but not cathartic. Certainly the aftermath of sexual…

The Oxford English Dictionary defines divining as an intuitive, sage-like form of discovery or a power for seeing the future. It often refers to the practices that people rely on to navigate the unknown. In her notes, choreographer Katie Faulkner references these definitions, suggesting that within them “the body becomes a conduit for felt or…

Shareen DeRyan, center, with ensemble in Kristin Damrow's Impact. Photo by Robbie Sweeny. Reflections on Kristin Damrow’s “Impact” By Molly Rose-Williams I was aware of my size the minute I entered the space. Three enormous cement blocks hung over a vast stage, surrounded on three sides by rows of seats. In the cavernous Yerba Buena…

We came, We saw, They conquered By Todd Courage The world premiere of Social Movement, a new collaborative work crafted by Molly Rose-Williams & Co., unfolded at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center in Berkeley on November 17th. The evening was a strange triptych of sorts: three distinct parts, only two of which were directed by Rose-Williams, claimed…