A monthly digest of select dance news and performance impressions, primarily from the regions I cover in Ohio, and parts of Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. By Steve Sucato [NEWS AND NOTES] Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre announced the appointment of Nicolas Gaudreau as its new director of development. Gaudreau will begin his role on July 7, 2025, just prior to the start of PBT’s 2025-2026 season. … Continue reading Airings: June 2025
By Steve Sucato At age seventeen, dancer-choreographer Anthony Alterio, as he says, “ran away from Pittsburgh” in order to experience something different. Ever since, the city has been beckoning him back. “I love Pittsburgh, its people, and what the city represents,” says Alterio. “This is where I got my start in dance.” Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, Alterio was raised in Pittsburgh by his mother after … Continue reading Dancer-Choreographer Anthony Alterio Finds A Homecoming In The Launch of this Week’s Pittsburgh Dance Workshop [PREVIEW]
By Steve Sucato With her enviable ballet facility, polished technique, and star quality stage presence, Cleveland Ballet Prima Ballerina Svetlana Svinko ranks as one of the Eastern Midwest’s finest dancers. A standout since joining the company in 2023, Svinko has danced many of the female lead roles in the company’s productions in the past several years, including Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, the Sugar Plum … Continue reading Better Know Cleveland Ballet’s Prima Ballerina Svetlana Svinko [INTERVIEW]
By Steve Sucato As the story goes, Rachael Parini’s dance journey began at age three when she told her mother that she wanted to play football like her father, who was then a player at Florida State University. The next day, her mother enrolled her in ballet class. A native of Snellville, GA, her early dance training began at the Mazza-Smith Dance Studio in Jacksonville, … Continue reading BalletMet’s Rachael Parini To End Her 20-Year Dancing Career with Her First Villainess Role in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ [INTERVIEW]
By Steve Sucato The 21st iteration of Cleveland Public Theatre’s DanceWorks series — the longest-running annual dance series of its kind in the region — will treat audiences to five weeks worth of eclectic dance and dance theatre works, running every Thursday through Saturday evenings, April 17 – May 17, 2025, at CPT’s James Levin Theatre. This year’s line-up of local dance artists will include … Continue reading Murder, Reckoning, and an A Cappella Choir: CPT’s DanceWorks 2025 Presents Five Weeks of Evocative Dance [PREVIEW]
Twyla Tharp Dance – Diamond Jubilee TourKeyBank State Theatre at Playhouse SquareCleveland, OHMarch 8, 2025By Steve Sucato The 21st performance of Twyla Tharp Dance’s coast-to-coast Diamond Jubilee Tour, Saturday night’s performance at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre, was the first by the eponymous company in Cleveland in 23 years and one to cherish as it quite possibly could be its last. One of our greatest … Continue reading ‘Diamond Jubilee’ Tour is Legendary Choreographer Twyla Tharp at her Tharpiest [REVIEW]
Maria Caruso’s Bodiography – EvensongRecorded at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater Pittsburgh, PANovember 15-17, 2024By Steve Sucato Bodiography founder Maria Caruso may now live some 2400 miles away in Los Angeles, but Pittsburgh remains home. The birthplace of Martha Graham, Gene Kelly, and Caruso, the internationally known and celebrated solo dance artist, choreographer, and budding TV and film actress regularly returns to Pittsburgh to work with and … Continue reading Namesake Ballet Shines Brightest in Bodiography’s ‘Evensong’ [DIGITAL REVIEW]
By Steve Sucato Even the brightest of us can disappear from humanity’s collective memory over time. Such was the case for Löie Fuller, a woman made famous for her dances manipulating fabric and her pioneering use of light, color, and shadow in her dance works of the late 19th and early 20th century. A transformative figure in the arts and artist rights, her remarkable contributions … Continue reading Documentary Shines New Light on a Dance and Visual Effects Pioneer [REVIEW]
By Angelina DiFranco The Movement Project’s Cleveland Dance Fest (CDF) is returning for its 9th season at Cleveland’s Ariel LaSalle Theater starting Friday, November 22nd through Sunday, November 24th. The annual three-day festival will feature the work of local and visiting artists in a multitude of events, including a Professional Concerts Series, a Youth Showcase, a free Virtual Dance Film Gallery, and masterclasses for professional … Continue reading Cleveland Dance Fest 2024 to Showcase the Work of 46 Choreographers [PREVIEW]
By Steve Sucato The Pittsburgh Dance Council’s 54th anniversary season will finally get underway on Saturday, November 16, at the Byham Theater with the Pittsburgh debut of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. The season was to open last month with the return of South African dance troupe Dado Masilo and their work Hamlet. Unfortunately, due to travel complications, the company had to cancel its fall … Continue reading Taiwan’s Cloud Gate to Open Delayed Pittsburgh Dance Council Season [PREVIEW]
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