Author: danceasiseeit

April 14, 2019 Live! The Realest MC, one of MacArthur “Genius” Kyle Abraham’s earlier pieces (from 2011), showed me that Abraham really has been at his work for a while. Investigating issues of social relevance, Abraham creates dance that is well-crafted, choreographically specific, and musically resonant. Self-described as “postmodern gumbo,” Abraham has developed what I… Continue reading Kyle Abraham’s “Live! The Realest MC” →

April 8, 2019 There seems to be a “moment” now in the dance world in which female ballet stars are creating gala-style productions outside of the typical company model—productions that showcase themselves, choreography in which they’re interested, and groups of friends and peers they bring together for the occasion. This week’s Pure Dance program of… Continue reading Natalia Osipova’s “Pure Dance” →

March 19, 2019 I spent the first weekend of March in Chicago to see two shows I felt warranted the trip: English National Ballet’s Giselle, choreographed by Akram Khan, at the Harris, and a shared, mixed repertory program featuring local company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and Malpaso Dance Company, hailing from Cuba, at the Auditorium.… Continue reading A “Giselle” for Our Times →

February 9, 2019 New York City Ballet’s Winter season has been running since late January and I have thus far attended five of the six programs (I’m not including in my total the “One-Time-Only” program on the evening of February 9). The strangest, programmatically, has been the “Classic NYCB” program. The program features five works:… Continue reading Recycling/Referencing Gestures in NYCB’s “Classic NYCB” Program →

January 18, 2019 After revisiting saved playbills and tickets, past New York Times reviews, and my calendar, I have gathered my list of the best dance of 2018, seen in New York. I found the exercise of revisiting all of the performances I attended in the past year to be a rewarding way to reflect… Continue reading DAISI’s Best Dance of 2018 →

November 13, 2018 American Ballet Theatre’s fall season at the Koch concluded about two weeks ago, so this post is belated. Nonetheless, I hope it provides some insight. I attended two performances of the two-week run: the gala performance on Wednesday, October 17, and the Friday evening show two days later on October 19. The… Continue reading American Ballet Theatre Fall Season in Review →

October 12, 2018 I attended my last performance of New York City Ballet’s fall 2018 season this past weekend. The season closes Sunday, October 14 with Joaquin De Luz’s farewell performance, which I will unfortunately miss due to travel. The program I saw was titled 21st Century Choreographers II and featured four works: Pulcinella Variations… Continue reading 21st Century Choreographers at New York City Ballet →

October 5, 2018 New York City Ballet’s fall season has been running for close to three weeks (out of four, in total) and I’ve been lucky to attend a few performances so far, two of which were George Balanchine’s iconic ballet Jewels, with a different cast each time. Jewels is celebrated as the first full-length,… Continue reading Balanchine’s “Jewels” at New York City Ballet →

September 27, 2018 This past weekend, I went to MoMA with a friend of mine to see a performance of the exhibit, “Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done,” which features the 1960s creations of six artists who showed their dances at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village. These artists—Yvonne Rainer, Simone Forti,… Continue reading Post-Modern Dance at MoMA: Yvonne Rainer →

July 19, 2018 This past Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing Available Light, the epic evening-length work that is a collaboration among Lucinda Childs (choreography), John Adams (music), and Frank Gehry (stage design). It was programmed for two shows (alas, only two!) as a part of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, and performed at… Continue reading Lucinda Childs Brings Light to Lincoln Center →