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Summer Dance in Pittsburgh

Image of IdiosynCrazy Productions from KST's website

Well, most companies in our small city of Pittsburgh take the summer off. Student intensive courses are poised to begin at Point Park, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Father Ryan Arts Center and at many more locations. But for those in Pittsburgh this summer who want to see some dance, the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater (KST) has come through again.

While many organizations go into organizational mode over …more…

The Season of Dance Parties Continues With FULL BLOOM

The coming of spring in Pittsburgh triggers a few distinct events. First, there is the flooding of the city with attendees of college graduations. Then there is the emptying of the city as students leave for their hometowns. And when the Pittsburgh natives come out of their winter hiding places, it is time to dance.

Spring, favored by many arts organizations in the area for benefit events concludes with a series …more…

newMoves in Full “Bloom”

Image of BLOOM! Dance Collective from KST website

The Kelly Strayhorn Theater will be hosting a number of local, Ohio, Philadelphia and New York choreographers as well as BLOOM! Dance Collective from Hungary as a part of newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival.

The three-day program will feature 16 choreographers, 42 dancers and 5 live musician. For the first time, the festival will also include symposiums, “featuring leaders in the dance community from …more…

A big weekend for local dance in Pittsburgh!

Image from Attack Theatre's website

Two local companies are presenting new works this weekend in Pittsburgh.

Gia T. Presents, the company of improviser Gia Cacalano, will be performing in BLINK with dancers England/Amsterdam’s Vincent Cacalano, New York’s Wendell Cooper and Philadelphia musician Michael McDermott as well as a cast of local performers–Jil Stifel, Jeff Berman, David Bernabo, Hill Jordan and Dr. Nelson Harrison. BLINK is an interdisciplinary improvised score with live …more…

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust ushers in another US dance premier with its Distinctly Dutch Festival!

Image from Cultural Trust website

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has done a great job bringing in dance works for the Dance Council season as a part of its Distinctly Dutch Festival–at the end of February, Dance Works Rotterdam’s Anatomica and now the US premier of Last Touch First.

Last Touch First is the work of Jirí Kylián, the former artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater and Michal Schumacher, an expat well-known for …more…

Thodos Dance Company Performs Beyoncé… errr, Fosse… in Alaska

Chicago’s Thodos Dance Company is performing in Anchorage on Thursday, April 19, and if that’s news to you, you’re not alone. I just stumbled on the information myself, hidden away on the CenterTix website. The show has hardly been advertised and hasn’t appeared on most local arts calendars, and tickets aren’t yet for sale. But no, Beyoncé is not in the dance company. I’ll get to her in a minute. ...more...

Ultra Music Festival XIV serves up an electronic music feast to Miami – March 23, 24, 25, 2012

All eyes are focused on the upcoming ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL, one of the nation’s largest electronic music festivals. The fest returns to Miami’s downtown Bayfront Park area and will be happening from March 23 – 25, 2012 as part of Music Week in Miami. The lineup for Miami’s annual Ultra Musical Festival promises to be an absolutely stacked affair.

Aficionados de la música electrónica y festivales artísticos esperan ansiosamente por el …more…

Dancer Spotlight: Stephanie Paul – Be The Groove

It is both a risk and a dream to start your own company.  You raise it like a child giving it your time and energy.  And it takes all of your experience and more to raise it.  Be The Groove, created in 2006, is the rhythmic loving child of Stephanie Paul and Davora Sides.

Stephanie Paul grew up as an athletic child.  She danced from a young age until she was …more…

Upcoming: Amitage Gone! Dance in Pittsburgh

Karole Armitage, known for her punk approach to classical dance, will present the work Three Theories this Saturday as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Dance Council season. Armitage’s company Armitage Gone! Dance is known for their exciting speed of movement and their ability to contrast the fractured lines and asymmetrical forms of the choreography with the continuous and symmetrical forms of ballet.

Three Theories is based on the best-selling book …more…

Kota Yamazaki to dance in the Warhol’s Off the Wall series

The Warhol, a favorite Pittsburgh museum and namesake of Pittsburgh native and revered pop artist Andy Warhol, will be including dance among its offerings for the 2012 Off the Wall series. Butoh-trained and Bessie award-winning dancer/choreographer Kota Yamazaki will be performing a work inspired by an essay entitled In Praise of Shadows. ...more...

The American Underpinnings of Pina Bausch

Wim Wenders’ recent movie Pina has opened up a wealth of discussions, panel presentations, commentary, and musings on the artist, as well it should.  As one of the best films on Dance covering one of our century’s great Dance artists, Pina is as evocative as the woman it portrays. ...more...

Saving Humanity One Dance At A Time

Pablo Malco, choreographer and director of The Hip Hop Symphony, the dance performance extravaganza hosted by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on January 29, 2012, tells us about how he got into dance, the making of The Hip Hop Symphony and the dance company turned foundation (www.pablomalcofoundation.org) that brings the art of dance into the community. ...more...

Tontlawald Coming Soon

The Cutting Ball Theater gives audiences a selection of four plays during their season-in-residence at the EXIT on Taylor, and each one is an exquisite gem of experimental theater. Last fall’s performance of Pelleas and Melisande (directed by Rob Melrose) wove the childlike delight of a fairytale into the dramatic interpretation of universal human anguish. The set design employed an onstage pool of water, gorgeous blue and white lighting, and a spectral musical accompaniment that infused the piece with the ghostly, yearning quality of love forever lost. Cutting Ball’s upcoming production of Tontlawald promises to be no less impressive. ...more...

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Uncommon to feature Dwight Rhoden premiere at August Wilson Center

via PBT website

In an uncommon move, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) will stage its first work in partnership with August Wilson Center for African American Culture. The show, Uncommon, will open the post-holiday season for the well-established Pittsburgh company and will feature a world premiere by Complexions Contemporary Ballet‘s Dwight Rhoden.

Uncommon will be performed with a live chamber orchestra that will play works by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. The show …more…

Chinese New Year: The Year Of The Dragon

The Chinese New Year celebrations are cascading across the city.  Las Vegas has several annual Chinese New Year celebrations; tour any of the large casinos in late January and early February, and one can expect to see a wealth of traditional symbols such as red lanterns, bamboo shoots, fruit-bearing trees and the animals from the zodiac.   This is the Year of the Dragon, representative of those born in the …more…

Performing This Weekend: Pulse, Anchorage’s Thrilling New Dance Ensemble

Anchorage’s Pulse Dance Company is performing this weekend, and it promises to be the most exciting dance concert in Alaska this spring. That may be a brash and hyperbolic statement, but I can’t help it. Watch a couple videos of Pulse for yourself (there are several on their website). You may decide that you agree with me.

First, the need-to-know: Pulse performs at 8:00 pm on Friday and Saturday, January 20 and 21, 2012 ...more...

Pittsburgh Dancers: Spotlight on Gene Kelly

While there is some post-holiday downtime in the Pittsburgh dance scene, I thought I’d take the time to highlight some Pittsburgh dancers who have great historical significance for both the city and American dance as a whole. First, one of my childhood favorites, star of Singin’ in the Rain and other hit shows, Gene Kelly.

Gene Kelly was born in 1912 in Highland Park. While he was initially resistant to dance …more…

Dance for the Holidays!

kNOT Dance from First Night website

The holiday dance shows are wrapping up in Pittsburgh. Uniquely Pittsburgh in flavor, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s The Nutcracker closed on December 23rd with great reviews from local critics for revisions by choreographer and artistic director of the company Terrence Orr.

Attack Theatre’s contemporary take on seasonal dance, Holiday Unwrapped finished its short run for the public in early December. The company will not perform …more…

Resident dance company to premier OCTAVIA at Strayhorn

The work OCTAVIA promises to be particularly engaging for the Pittsburgh dance aficionado as it is performed by KST’s new resident company under the direction of choreographer Staycee Pearl. In conversation with another local dancer who has seen rehearsals of the show, Pearl has taken her breed of contemporary dance in a new direction with OCTAVIA, integrating her multimedia explorations on a higher level and creating a unique movement vocabulary. ...more...

Guide to Dance Classes for Adults in Pittsburgh

While Pittsburgh has many available resources when it comes to dance, they are not always easy to find! Maybe you are new to the area, or maybe, like me, you are returning to Pittsburgh and find the dance scene much different than it was before. Either way, it can be difficult to know where to look.

It has recently come to my attention that it can be difficult …more…

Merger Between Dance Alloy and the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater

Michael Walsh of Dance Alloy Theater; Photo from website

On October 19th Dance Alloy Theater and the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater officially announced their merger. This comes after months of rumors in the artistic community about the future of Dance Alloy. The Strayhorn will manage all of the dance classes at the Alloy’s school and will use the Alloy’s venue for rehearsals, performances and residencies. The Alloy’s dance company, the longest-established …more…