Author: artsair

International arts writer/critic for newspapers, magazines and websites.
Press Releases

Hubbard Street + The Second City present the world premiere of The Art of Falling

By Zachary Whittenburg CHICAGO – Hubbard Street Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton; Andrew Alexander, CEO/Executive Producer of The Second City, Inc.; and Kelly Leonard, Executive Vice President of The Second City are excited to present the world premiere of The Art of Falling, an unprecedented and collaboratively devised production first announced in February 2014 at The Second City. Helmed by Jeff Award–winning director Billy Bungeroth (The Second … Continue reading Hubbard Street + The Second City present the world premiere of The Art of Falling

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Fine Texture

By Steve Sucato You could say the title of Texture Contemporary Ballet’s latest program, Synergy, also names what has made the three-year-old troupe a success. The combined efforts of artistic director Alan Obuzor, associate artistic director Kelsey Bartman and an array of energetic dancers and choreographers have consistently produced programs whose total effect has exceeded the sum of their individual contributions. This Sept. 26-28 program, mixing new and … Continue reading Fine Texture

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Seventh edition of LightLab performance series to focus on dance

By Steve Sucato The seventh edition of the LightLab performance series takes place Sept. 27 at Carnegie Mellon University’s Miller Gallery. The series, co-curated by musician David Bernabo and dancer/choreographer Taylor Knight, fosters what Bernabo calls “more progressive dance, music, film and performance art pieces.”This 45-minute all-dance edition, part of the 2014 Pittsburgh Biennial, includes dancer/choreographer Jil Stifel’s new work-in-progress solo “my dna,” from her upcoming evening-length … Continue reading Seventh edition of LightLab performance series to focus on dance

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Predation, victimization, art and rebirth in Mark Conway Thompson’s ‘Kimono’

By Steve Sucato Predation is a theme that movement artist Mark Conway Thompson says he has been returning to in his works since 2007. “That has a lot to do with what I think is wrong with the world today,” says Thompson. The domestic-violence case of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice is just one example now in the headlines. Such episodes, along with … Continue reading Predation, victimization, art and rebirth in Mark Conway Thompson’s ‘Kimono’

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Legendary dancer Carmen De Lavallade visits with her one-woman show

By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh dance audiences are treated to a host of great performances annually from new and established artists, some with global renown. Rarer are visits by living legends. Dancer, choreographer and actress Carmen De Lavallade qualifies. De Lavallade brings her acclaimed new one-woman show, As I Remember It, to the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater for two shows this week. The Pittsburgh premiere of the intimate, hour-long … Continue reading Legendary dancer Carmen De Lavallade visits with her one-woman show

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Several Prominent Pittsburgh Dance Companies Mark Big Anniversaries As New Dance Season Begins

By Steve Sucato The new dance season features milestones for several local companies. Attack Theatre, CorningWorks, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and the Pillow Project all celebrate major anniversaries. They, along with a bevy of other artists, promise even more memorable moments. Here’s a sampling. Opening its fifth season, CorningWorks examines our growing disconnect with traditional interpersonal communication in Parallel Lives (Wed., Sept. 10-14), at the New Hazlett … Continue reading Several Prominent Pittsburgh Dance Companies Mark Big Anniversaries As New Dance Season Begins

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Pittsburgh City Paper

New York-based choreographer Marjani Forte offers a work about recovery

By Steve Sucato How do mental illness, poverty and addiction relate? That is the question choreographer Marjani Forte explores in being Here … /this time. It’s her reworking of being Here, which she premiered last year to critical acclaim at New York City’s Dancespace Project. Forte and company follow their week-long residency at the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater’s Alloy Studios with a work-in-progress showing of the newly … Continue reading New York-based choreographer Marjani Forte offers a work about recovery

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Dance Reviews 2014, The Buffalo News

Charlotte Ballet presents diverse, entertaining program at Chautauqua

By Steve Sucato News Contributing Reviewer The newly renamed Charlotte Ballet (formerly North Carolina Dance Theatre) in residence at the Chautauqua Institution on July 30, showed that whatever the company calls itself, artistic director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and dancers bring the same high level of dancing and dance works to every performance. In “Dance Innovations” in the Institution’s Amphitheater, the company along with A Far Cry … Continue reading Charlotte Ballet presents diverse, entertaining program at Chautauqua

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Texture Contemporary Ballet’s New Season begins with ‘Life, Love, & Jazz’

By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh’s “other” professional ballet company, Texture Contemporary Ballet, opens its fourth home season July 17-20 at the New Hazlett Theater with four performances of Life, Love, & Jazz. The program features three world premieres that continue the company’s winning formula of pairing contemporary ballet styles with popular music to create moving, vibrant and energetic ballets. Such works have captivated audiences here and on … Continue reading Texture Contemporary Ballet’s New Season begins with ‘Life, Love, & Jazz’

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