Instead of trying to make traditional tango more modern, they created a new tango style that blends traditional tango movement with contemporary and modern dance styles. Continue reading Unión Tanguera makes its Pittsburgh debut
By Steve Sucato With roots tracing to the seventh century, The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is a unique link to Southeast Asia’s temple dances and mythic tales, as handed down for generations. With their rich, ornate costuming and headdresses, the dancers appear like ancient museum statues come to life. After seeing the company on a rare tour to France in 1906, sculptor Auguste Rodin declared, … Continue reading The renowned Royal Ballet of Cambodia makes its Pittsburgh debut
By Steve Sucato The last time Aspen Santa Fe Ballet performed in Pittsburgh, four years ago, the company was just becoming a staple on the U.S. touring circuit. Now, having built its stalwart reputation on new contemporary-dance works by world-class choreographers, the small troupe of 11 dancers makes its long-anticipated return to the Byham Theater to kick off Pittsburgh Dance Council’s new season. The Oct. … Continue reading Aspen Santa Fe Ballet returns with three commissioned ballets to launch Pittsburgh Dance Council’s season
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
By Steve Sucato Swiss contemporary ballet company Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève opens its five-city North American tour with its Pittsburgh debut Sat., March 8 at the Byham Theater. Presented by the Pittsburgh Dance Council, the acclaimed 52-year-old company is known for its inventiveness, world-class repertory and virtuosic dancers. Moreover, artistic director Philippe Cohen tells CP via email, “the ballet artists from Genève Ballet are men and women whose sole ambition is … Continue reading Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève opens North American Tour with Pittsburgh Debut
By Steve Sucato In a year filled with great dance programs in Pittsburgh, here are seven that transported audiences from their seats to worlds away. Soap Opera (Attack Theatre, Feb. 2-10). Soap Opera mixed dance, mythology and opera music to tell the fictitious story of a terminally ill concert pianist — and his opera-singer lover’s bedside efforts to keep him alive by reading colorful stories aloud. The work … Continue reading 2013’s Seven Most Transportive Dance Programs in Pittsburgh
By Steve Sucato Pittsburgh’s dance scene has seen lots of changes of late, including the addition of new dance troupes Geeksdanz, Maree ReMalia/merrygogo and Yes Brain Dance Theater. Most recently there is ReedDance, the retooled successor to the now-defunct August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble, still headed by Greer Reed. The fall dance season includes both the new and the familiar. Texture Contemporary Ballet goes Nearly Wild in its … Continue reading Pittsburgh’s Fall dance season brings everything from showcases of local talent to international touring companies
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
By Steve Sucato What happens when you cross RuPaul with Carol Burnett and classical ballet? You get the world’s most beloved ballet-parody drag company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Founded in 1974, the New York-based Russian-style troupe with the French name brings its award-winning humor to the Byham Theater for a Pittsburgh Dance Council show Friday, April 5. The Trocks have delighted audiences globally with their faithful renditions of … Continue reading ‘Trocks’ of Fun
By Steve Sucato In the tough neighborhood where Black Grace artistic director/choreographer Neil Ieremia grew up, dancing didn’t figure into everyday life. The son of Samoan parents living in New Zealand, Ieremia says he was exposed to traditional Polynesian singing and dancing at social functions (weddings, funerals) and through school and church youth groups. But it wasn’t until he began seeing music videos from America … Continue reading Amazing Grace
artsair.art 