Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company Returns to Cleveland with Program of Quiet Brilliance

Malpaso Dance Company Playhouse Square’s Allen Theatre Cleveland, Ohio August 10, 2019 Reviewed by Steve Sucato With previous performances in Cleveland in 2016 and 2017, Malpaso Dance Company’s return this past Saturday to Playhouse Square and the Allen Theatre felt like seeing a dear friend again. Presented by DANCECleveland in collaboration with American Dance Festival to close out the third annual American Dance Festival in … Continue reading Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company Returns to Cleveland with Program of Quiet Brilliance

With its Second Season Production ‘Collide,’ Deos Contemporary Ballet Looks to Up its Visibility around Western Michigan

By Steve Sucato Tess Sinke’s Deos Contemporary Ballet enters its sophomore season with a new mixed repertory program of dance works and bit of growth as an organization. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based, summer-only troupe consisting of local professional dancers and those from around the country, will not only be returning to downtown Grand Rapids’ Peter Martin Wege Theatre for performances of its latest production Collide … Continue reading With its Second Season Production ‘Collide,’ Deos Contemporary Ballet Looks to Up its Visibility around Western Michigan

BalletX Marked the Spot for Great Dance at ADF in CLE

BalletX Playhouse Square’s Ohio Theatre Cleveland, Ohio July 27, 2019 Reviewed by Steve Sucato Philadelphia’s BalletX opened DANCECleveland’s 2019-2020 season this past Saturday as part of year three of the annual American Dance Festival in Cleveland. The contemporary ballet company founded in 2005 by former Pennsylvania Ballet dancers Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, made its Cleveland debut at Playhouse Square’s Ohio Theatre in a program … Continue reading BalletX Marked the Spot for Great Dance at ADF in CLE

Physical Theater and Dance a Solid Presence at Inaugural ‘BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival’

By Steve Sucato With Playhouse Square, the second largest performing arts center in the United States outside of New York, the Tony Award-winning Cleveland Playhouse, America’s first professional regional theatre, as well as one of the finest alternative theaters in the nation in Cleveland Public Theatre and others in the area, it is a wonder […]

Continue reading Physical Theater and Dance a Solid Presence at Inaugural ‘BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival’

Of Sideshows, Photo Memories and Atoms: GroundWorks Dance Theater’s ‘Summer Series’ Promises a Carnival of Visual Delights

By Steve Sucato Childhood memories of Looney Tunes cartoons and circus sideshows provided the creative spark for GroundWorks DanceTheater artistic director/choreographer David Shimotakahara’s latest dance work, “Sud Buster’s Dream”. The animated work will make its premiere as part of GroundWorks’ season opening Summer Series program this weekend, July 19-21 at Cain Park’s Alma Theater in Cleveland Heights. The 30-minute contemporary dance work is set to an early … Continue reading Of Sideshows, Photo Memories and Atoms: GroundWorks Dance Theater’s ‘Summer Series’ Promises a Carnival of Visual Delights

Squirt Guns, T.S. Eliot and Live Music are all part of Chamber Dance Project’s ‘New Works +’

By Steve Sucato Award-winning choreographer Diane Coburn Bruning’s Chamber Dance Project celebrates its sixth Washington season with New Works +, June 20-22 at D.C.’s Sidney Harmon Hall. The summer-only, project-based company whose model is to bring together dancers when they are on layoff and pair them with musicians to create new work was founded in New York in 2000 and has continued its commitment to … Continue reading Squirt Guns, T.S. Eliot and Live Music are all part of Chamber Dance Project’s ‘New Works +’

Integrated First: Dancing Wheels’ Program to Highlight Works by Choreographers with Disabilities

By Steve Sucato Quite possibly the first dance production of its kind in the United States, Cleveland’s Dancing Wheels, America’s oldest physically integrated dance company (dancers with and without disabilities), will present Reverse.Reboot.Reveal! featuring a trio of commissioned works by a trio of choreographers with disabilities. The program, Friday, June 14 at Playhouse Square’s Allen Theatre will also coincide with the national Dance/USA Conference being … Continue reading Integrated First: Dancing Wheels’ Program to Highlight Works by Choreographers with Disabilities

Joint Bodiography and Graham 2 Program a Triumph

Bodiography and Graham 2 – Horizons Byham Theater Pittsburgh, PA April 26-27, 2019 Reviewed by Steve Sucato For the first-ever collaboration of its kind for both Pittsburgh-based Bodiography Contemporary Ballet and New York’s Graham 2, the joint program Horizons, on April 26 at Pittsburgh’s Byham Theater, offered up a unique look at what each company does best; the ballets of their respective company founders, Maria … Continue reading Joint Bodiography and Graham 2 Program a Triumph

Quantum Physics, Environmentalism and the Me Too Movement: Cleveland Public Theatre’s Annual DanceWorks Series Continues it Daring Dance Ways

By Steve Sucato Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT)’s annual DanceWorks series returns for its 21st season, May 16 – June 15 with five weekends of thought-provoking dance performances by eight area dance companies at CPT’s historic Gordon Square Theatre. DanceWorks 2019 will feature a diverse lineup of dance works and styles from first-time participants and series veterans including Travesty Dance Group co-founder/artistic director Kim Karpanty in her … Continue reading Quantum Physics, Environmentalism and the Me Too Movement: Cleveland Public Theatre’s Annual DanceWorks Series Continues it Daring Dance Ways

Grand Rapids Ballet’s ‘Extremely Close’, Extremely Good [REVIEW]

Grand Rapids Ballet – Extremely Close Peter Martin Wege Theatre Grand Rapids, MI April 12-14, 2019 Reviewed by Steve Sucato In the company’s first season under new artistic director James Sofranko, Grand Rapids Ballet appears to be continuing on the path of upward trajectory begun by former artistic director Patricia Barker now the director of The Royal New Zealand Ballet. The company’s program Extremely Close, … Continue reading Grand Rapids Ballet’s ‘Extremely Close’, Extremely Good [REVIEW]