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 Dance artists find inspiration just about anywhere, from fairy tales to world conflicts. But perhaps the most fertile area for inspiration is human relationships. For dancer/choreographer Ronald K. Brown, the death of close friend and mentor Sherrill Berryman Johnson from cancer, in 2010, and her memory inspired the positive messages behind the two works his company Ronald K. Brown/Evidence will perform Feb. … Continue reading Ronald K. Brown/Evidence brings 30th Anniversary Tour to Pittsburgh
By Steve Sucato A one-time ballet prodigy, “beautiful boy” and heroin addict, Scottish dancer/choreographer Michael Clark created a Warhol-esque persona for himself in the 1980s. A cultural celebrity and iconoclast, Clark traded a promising mainstream dance career for one influenced by punk, with a desire to shock audiences with sexual content, gender-bending and provocative social messages. Clark’s globe-trotting, London-based troupe, the Michael Clark Company, makes … Continue reading Internationally known troupe makes rock-infused 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 Dancemakers have always sought to take the art form in new directions. Developing new techniques and styles, pushing the boundaries of what is considered dance … and even, in recent decades, beginning to view dance as “creative science.” Choreographer Elizabeth Streb, for instance, has worked with engineers at MIT to find new ways of testing the human body’s physical limitations, while choreographer … Continue reading Neuroscience and the Age of Enlightenment come together in Wayne McGregor/Random Dance’s ‘Far’
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 Canadian choreographer Marie Chouinard says she has butterflies in her stomach over her latest work, “Gymnopédies.” That’s because when I spoke with her recently about the work that premiered in Lisbon, Portugal, this past June, she was still revising it. “I am sure it will turn out good, but my stomach doesn’t know that yet,” joked Chouinard, by phone from Montreal. With … Continue reading Montreal’s Compagnie Marie Chouinard stages U.S. premieres 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
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