Cubanísimo! at The Soraya

Dance · Music
malpaso dancers / arturo o’farrill Ed. note: This story by dance critic Debra Levine, commissioned and originally published by the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for the Arts, is reprinted with permission. The havoc Hurricane Ian wreaked on the Caribbean and Florida, in an indirect way, nearly extended all the way to The Soraya’s stage. ...

‘Hustling’ at the Guggenheim Museum

Dance · Reviews
Seems like an odd fit, right? Yes, it’s a fabulous idea to honor “The Hustle” in its 50th anniversary. The fast-paced, stepping social dance has a name conducive to the city from which it emerged: New York, a place that is full of it, and by that we mean hustle. But to throw a birthday ...

To Untermyer Gardens with Duncan dancers!

Architecture & Design · Dance
The dancers trained in the technique and philosophy of modern-dance pioneer Isadora Duncan (1878 – 1927) already danced at Untermyer Gardens! Having missed both opportunities (first in 1922, then in 1932), I’m so grateful to be attending an update of this essential American modern-dance history on Labor Day weekend. That’s this Sunday evening at six ...

Italy’s Kilowatt Festival: dancing an ‘ethic of living’

Dance
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Detail from Piero della Francesca’s “Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels” In the hometown of Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca, the Tuscan borgo of Sansepolcro, the Kilowatt Festival, in its 20th year, examines how contemporary performance can foster “urban regeneration.” This year’s theme, “Excess of Reality,” entrusts performance with reformulating “a forgotten ethic of ...

REVIEW: Kyle Abraham/A.I.M. at Lincoln Center ‘Summer for the City’ 1

Dance
To take a summer break by visiting New York City (as I am), at a time when dance is mostly happening at bucolic out-of-town festivals, and to run into the prodigious choreographer Kyle Abraham‘s newest work for his Cadillac of a dance company, Abraham in Motion (A.I.M.) — is to luck out. The 70-minute, intermission-less ...

Rejoicing to be Joyce’ing!

Dance
rennie harris LIFTED – photo nikki lee Who in their right mind comes to New York in August? Well, that would be your friend artsmeme. Yes, it is a blazing inferno here. But that doesn’t stop the dance presentation. We’re mostly “off” season, but there’s still so much to see. There’s a three-part program presented ...

Plethora of Vail Dance Festival ballet premieres livestreamed

Dance
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Limón Dance Company in ‘The Waldstein Sonata’ 2022 Vail Dance Festival. Photo Christopher Duggan The bountiful convergence that is the Vail Dance Festival is now in high gear, and along with forming new partnerships and taking on new roles (Roman Mejia performing Jose Limon’s Chaconne was one of this year’s intriguing expansions of a major ...

artsmeme newsletter will see you in september!

Dance · Film · Music
brigitte bardot, 19, hits the beach at cannes artsmeme newsletter will see you in September! As we approach out 15th anniversary (that’s next May 2023) we’re saving all our energy to report on the coolest and funnest arts happenings when the season opens — in September. Just like our pal Mlle Bardot, above, we do ...

Italy’s Santarcangelo Festival counters apocalyptic narratives through dance

Dance
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Every July since 1971 the Italian borgo of Santarcangelo di Romagna, a town in the Apennines, six miles from the Adriatic Sea, becomes the European hub for cutting-edge performance. The summer 2022 edition of the Santarcangelo Festival, “Can you feel your own voice,” thankfully does not allude to pandemic nightmares (i.e., one’s own echoing voice ...

Dudamel to lead stars of Paris Opera Ballet at Hollywood Bowl

Dance · Music
gustavo dudamel, courtesy los angeles philharmonic Our man at the helm of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, who was recently named Music Director of the Paris Opera, has invited a few of his new-found friends, stars of the Paris Opera Ballet (“etoiles”) to perform classic and contemporary ballet repertoire on the Hollywood Bowl stage ...