Category: Pittsburgh City Paper

Pittsburgh City Paper

New York-based Pittsburgh-favorite choreographer Sidra Bell reveals her latest work-in-progress

By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh’s dance community over the past several years has had a love affair with New York-based choreographers. Artists such as Nora Chipaumire, Camille A. Brown and local transplant Kyle Abraham have all established an ongoing presence here through works that have engaged and delighted local audiences and presenters. Another New Yorker whose works have frequented local stages is Sidra Bell. Bell and … Continue reading New York-based Pittsburgh-favorite choreographer Sidra Bell reveals her latest work-in-progress

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Texture Contemporary Ballet stays in Perpetual Motion

By Steve Sucato The title of Texture Contemporary Ballet’s latest program, Perpetual Motion, also aptly describes the company itself. Led by directors Alan Obuzor and Kelsey Bartman, Texture has seemingly been moving nonstop since its founding two summers ago. The troupe, named one of Dance Magazine‘s “25 to Watch” in 2013, has taught workshops and performed frequently throughout the area, most recently at last month’s PrideFest. … Continue reading Texture Contemporary Ballet stays in Perpetual Motion

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Pittsburgh City Paper

With its ‘The Green Swan’, the Pillow Project digs deeper into improv

By Steve Sucato For nearly a decade, Pearlann Porter’ s Pillow Project has been on the leading edge of dance in Pittsburgh. Founded by Porter in 2004, the company created an instant buzz, bolstered by large-scale rock ‘ n’ roll dance extravaganzas like 2005′ s Concept Album Tour, at Shadyside‘ s Hunt Armory. Then, the company transformed itself by producing intimate cutting-edge multimedia works such as … Continue reading With its ‘The Green Swan’, the Pillow Project digs deeper into improv

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Many of the Pittsburgh’s best dancers and dance troupes put on a PrideFest showcase

By Steve Sucato A highlight of Pittsburgh’s annual PrideFest celebration is its dance showcase, curated each year by local dance aficionado Richard Parsakian. The showcase offers an eclectic mix of local professional dance talent, from ballet to belly dance. This year’s showcase, part of PrideFest’s free June 16 street fair on Liberty Avenue, Downtown, highlights seven troupes on two stages (at Sixth Street and 10th Street). One … Continue reading Many of the Pittsburgh’s best dancers and dance troupes put on a PrideFest showcase

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Pittsburgh City Paper

After retooling her career, Beth Corning returns with a new solo dance work

By Steve Sucato If necessity is the mother of invention, perhaps change is the mother of reinvention. Such was the case for Beth Corning. After a string of life-changing events, including the death of her mother, the dancer and choreographer set about reinventing herself as an artist. Corning is a veteran dance creator and performer with an international résumé, including several years leading Pittsburgh’s Dance … Continue reading After retooling her career, Beth Corning returns with a new solo dance work

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s pre-professional showcase glimpses ballet’s next wave of dancer talent

By Steve Sucato While Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is one of the nation’s top ballet companies, its school also has a reputation for turning out top talent. The school draws dancers from around the world to hone their skills in preparation for a professional career. A highlight of that training is the annual Pre-Professional Showcase, May 17-19 at Point Park University’s George Rowland White Performance Studio. … Continue reading Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s pre-professional showcase glimpses ballet’s next wave of dancer talent

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Dance giant Mark Morris brings his dancers — and musicians — to Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater

By Steve Sucato I first met celebrated choreographer Mark Morris in 2002, on a tour of his state-of-the-art Brooklyn, N.Y. Dance Center with a dozen fellow dance critics. As we were being led into the main studio where Morris was rehearsing his Mark Morris Dance Group, he stopped us and sternly directed us to take our shoes off and quietly seat ourselves along one wall … Continue reading Dance giant Mark Morris brings his dancers — and musicians — to Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater

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Pittsburgh City Paper

A classic supernatural tale gets the operatic treatment at the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival

By Steve Sucato How far would you go to be with the one you love? That is the central question in Ofer Ben-Amots‘ multimedia chamber opera The Dybbuk: Between Two Worlds. This retelling of S. Ansky‘s seminal 1914 Yiddish play of the same name is presented by the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival April 25 and 28, at the New Hazlett Theater. Part of the Pittsburgh Symphony‘s Music for … Continue reading A classic supernatural tale gets the operatic treatment at the Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Nora Chipaumire’s ‘Miriam’ an exploration of Icons and Identities

Nora Chipaumire in Miriam. Photo by Antoine Tempe. By Steve Sucato Nora Chipaumire’s Miriam is the third dance work in the Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s current season to explore the idea of public versus private identities. But Miriam approaches the subject differently than did idiosynCrazy Productions’ Private Places and Kate Watson-Wallace/anonymous bodies’ Mash Up Body. Conceived, choreographed and performed by the award-winning Chipaumire, along with dancer Okwui Okpokwasili, Miriam makes its Pittsburgh premiere April 19 and … Continue reading Nora Chipaumire’s ‘Miriam’ an exploration of Icons and Identities

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Pittsburgh City Paper

Geeks and Gamers

Geeksdanz dancers in “Challenge Mode” – (L to R) Sophia Levine, Laura Herbert, Jamie Campbell, LaMar Williams, Ella Mason, and Patty Petronello. Photo by Ben Peoples. By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh’s newest dance troupe, Geeksdanz, “is on a mission is to introduce dance to audiences that would not normally be drawn to it,” says founder/artistic director Ellen Deutsch. For the group’s first full-length production, Challenge Mode, Deutsch and … Continue reading Geeks and Gamers

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