Sadler’s Wells London 13th April 2024 Stuart Sweeney The Elixir Festival was a Sadler’s Wells initiative bringing together performers across the age spectrum. Their website explains, “How do we express our changing bodies and minds as we grow and age? Elixir Festival challenges perceptions around dance and age with works by iconic artists from around the world alongside inspiring performances from dancers drawn from our local communities in north and east London.” The Festival provided two weeks of performances, films and talks and the opportunity to take part in workshops to experience a new ..read more

Sydney Dance CompanyThe Joyce TheaterNew York, New York April 16, 2024ab [intra] Jerry Hochman On April 16, the opening night of Sydney Dance Company’s week-long engagement at the Joyce Theater, I took my seat looking forward to seeing the company again. Although I was critical of some of the three dances then presented (seven years ago), I had nothing but praise for the company’s dancers. Judged by the one piece presented here, ab [intra], a 70-minute dance choreographed by the company’s Artistic Director Rafael Bonachela, the situation hasn’t changed much. The dancers, though different from ..read more

In Conversation with Maria Khoreva, Episode Two April 14, 2024 Jerry Hochman When I last saw Maria Khoreva in person, the Mariinsky First Soloist had only recently joined the company following her graduation from the Vaganova Academy. The occasion that prompted the interview was her appearance in City Center’s 2018 Celebration of George Balanchine. I saw her the evening before her first New York appearance on November 1st, performing as Terpsichore in Balanchine’s Apollo (together with two other Vaganova graduates from the same class who had also been accepted into the company, Anastasia Nuiki ..read more

Megan Williams Dance Projects & Eve BeglarianMark Morris Dance CenterJames and Martha Duffy Performance SpaceNew York, NY  April 7, 2024Smile, though your heart is aching Kristen Hedberg Smile, though your heart is aching, a vibrant performance creation, speaks to perseverance through sorrow. The companionship between live music and dance builds a bright world, even while showcasing the shadows of heartbreak. Megan Williams/Megan Williams Dance Projects and composer Eve Beglarian premiered Smile, though your heart is aching April 5-7, 2024 at the James and Martha Duffy Performance Spa ..read more

Megan Williams Dance Projects & Eve BeglarianMark Morris Dance CenterJames and Martha Duffy Performance SpaceNew York, NY  April 7, 2024Smile, though your heart is aching Kristen Hedberg Smile, though your heart is aching, a vibrant performance creation, speaks to perseverance through sorrow. The companionship between live music and dance builds a bright world, even while showcasing the shadows of heartbreak. Megan Williams/Megan Williams Dance Projects and composer Eve Beglarian premiered Smile, though your heart is aching April 5-7, 2024 at the James and Martha Duffy Performance Spa ..read more

Preview: “Ageless Dancers” A book of photographs by Betti Franceschi Jerry Hochman I once read a review that asserted that dance is about bodies: young and beautiful humans at optimum fitness in the context of art. Whether or not that’s a fair statement, sooner or later, even for dancers, age happens. We all hope it’s later, or that it could be put off indefinitely, but it’s a biological fact – and in most cases, it beats the alternative. But aging brings with it a host of unwelcome developments (to which I can attest) that can end up making the process, natural though it may be, a pain. A lot ..read more

Oregon Ballet TheatreNewmark TheatrePortland, OR April 6, 2024, evening“Wooden Dimes” Program: Three Preludes, Just Above the Surface, Wooden Dimes Dean Speer I and my subscription kaffeeklatsch of long-standing were excited to see Oregon Ballet Theatre’s latest foray onto the boards with their first program of Spring 2024, a mixed bill program entitled, “Wooden Dimes,” which premiered at Portland’s downtown mid-sized theatre complex, the Newmark. Oregon Ballet Theatre in Dani Rowe’s “Wooden Dimes” Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert It began with Eva Burton and Isaac Lee reprising (OBT first did ..read more

The Place London 28 March 2024 Maggie Foyer Mark Bruce gained attention as a master of Gothic Horror with his very successful Dracula and he seals his position with Frankenstein in a production to chill the blood. It’s an old theatrical device, the row of bright electric light bulbs front stage that effectively black out everything behind but it works a treat in this production. The first vision to light up is Prometheus, a crouching winged figure, motionless as though carved in rock. The front lights flare and the vision fades to reappear seconds later this time unsettlingly close to the audi ..read more

New York Library for the Performing ArtsThe Jerome Robbins Dance DivisionNew York, New York March 27, 2024: Program: The Dance Historian Is In – Diana Byer and Jane Pritchard on 1930s England Jerry Hochman On March 27 I attended a program presented by the New York Library for the Performing Arts, presented by the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, titled: Diana Byer and Jane Pritchard on 1930s England – part of its The Dance Historian Is In series. The focus of the program was London’s Mercury Theater and the interaction and choreographic output of three persons who studied, performed, and choreog ..read more

[Editor’s Note – If I obtain photos from the program discussed, they will replace some or all of the photos below.] New York Library for the Performing ArtsThe Jerome Robbins Dance DivisionNew York, New York March 27, 2024: Program: The Dance Historian Is In – Diana Byer and Jane Pritchard on 1930s England Jerry Hochman On March 27 I attended a program presented by the New York Library for the Performing Arts, presented by the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, titled: Diana Byer and Jane Pritchard on 1930s England – part of its The Dance Historian Is In series. The focus of the program was London ..read more