Jane Franklin Dance at Black Rock Center for the Arts by Luella Christopher
Jane Franklin’s Dance: “NEXT”
Black Rock Center for the Arts
Dance Festival April 14-16, 2023
Germantown, Maryland
May 20, 2023
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
The April 16th exhibition by Jane Franklin Dance at the conclusion of a three-day dance festival at Black Rock Center for the
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Anti-Trans Spitfire Audio Co-Founder Christian Henson emboldens Hate in the Composing Community
You would think, in the year 2022, we would have accomplished the great feat of tolerance and acceptance by now. Especially when it comes to the act of choosing your own life and freedom of body autonomy, yet there remains
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OUT OF THE BOX/INTO THE WORLD at DIW
”OUT OF THE BOX/INTO THE WORLD”
Fabian Barnes Black Box TheaterDance Institute of Washington3400 14th Street N.W.Washington, D.C.April 30 - May 1, 2022By LUELLA CHRISTOPHER, PhD
Four DMV choreographers - Sylvana Christopher, Stacey Yvonne Claytor, Roxann Morgan Rowley, and Malcolm Shute -
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ICONS ChoreoGraphic institute thesis dance concert 2022 at Dance Loft on 14
Featuring works by William L. Miller, Jr., Mimi Noorani, Millicent Parker, Elizabeth Watson
Sunday May 15, 2022
DANCE LOFT ON 14
4618 14TH ST. NW, DC
By SYLVANA CHRISTOPHER, BFA
Mimi Noorani’s film Richard with prolific dancer Rasta Thomas personifying Shakespeare’s King Richard opened
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Kyle Abraham's "A.I.M" at The Kennedy Center
A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham An Untitled Love
Friday April 29, 2022
The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater
By Sylvana Christopher
Groovy music plays in the majestic Eisenhower theater with a striking Joseph Buckingham Basquiat-like art projection art with line drawings and phrases on a blue
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BOWEN McCAULEY DANCE COMPANY at the Kennedy Center by LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
25th Anniversary: “An Evening to Remember”BOWEN McCAULEY DANCE COMPANYKennedy Center for the Performing ArtsEisenhower Theater, Washington, D.C.September 14, 2021
By LUELLA CHRISTOPHER, Ph.D.
A dazzling array of dance genres and musical styles filled the Eisenhower Theater on Tuesday, September 14th as Bowen
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MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE at The Kennedy Center by Luella Christopher
MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE
A NEW ADVENTURES PRODUCTION
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
January 22, 2020
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
It’s hard to believe that the ballet world once found shocking the notion of male dancers portraying Swans as viable characters
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CITYDANCE CONSERVATORY at Strathmore by LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
CREATING THE MAGIC
CITYDANCE CONSERVATORY
The Music Center at Strathmore
North Bethesda, Maryland
December 8, 2019
BY LUELLA CHRISTOPHER, Ph.D.
A theater-goer might well ponder whether he or she has just gazed upon a company of young professionals at the conclusion of Sunday’s matinee performance on
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BOWEN McCAULEY DANCE CO. at DANCE PLACE by LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
24th SEASON ENCORE PERFORMANCE
BOWEN McCAULEY DANCE CO.
DANCE PLACE
Washington. D.C.
November 17, 2019
By LUELLA CHRISTOPHER, Ph.D.
Lucy Bowen McCauley can’t resist a penchant for wryness even when her subject matter is somber and poetic, as is the case with “Sneak Peak” - offered
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Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE at Strathmore by Sylvana Christopher
Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE
Fri Nov 8, 2019
Music Center at Strathmore
Dance Review by Sylvana Christopher
To the Music Center at Strathmore to witness a DC favorite: Ronald K. Brown with the bonus of live Latin Jazz by The Arturo O’Farill Band. The balcony
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DANCE ICONS THESIS CONCERT at Dance Loft on 14 by Luella Christopher
DANCE ICONS THESIS CONCERT
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Dance Loft on 14
Washington, DC
May 14, 2019
Seven freshly minted graduates of the ICONS Choreographic Institute presented their new works at Dance Loft in a smorgasbord of world premières on May 11 and 12, 2019,
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Spacetime Suite at Dance Loft on 14 by Sylvana Christopher
Spacetime Suite Dance Review
Opening Night - September 29, 2016
Dance Loft on 14
Spacetime Suite by Katie Sopoci Drake, with A-list DC modern dance cast, exhibited a nerdy athletic look at astrophysics for the lay person. Amanda Blythe, Keira Hart Mendoza, Erica
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Dance Faculty Concert at Smith Theatre by Luella Christopher
INTO THE WOODS FOR DANCE AT HOWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Smith Theatre
Howard Community College
Columbia, Maryland
September 23-24, 2016
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Contempomodern gems captivated balletomanes and friends descending on the wooded Columbia campus of Howard Community College (HCC) on the first fall weekend of
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ZviDance at ADI by Luella Christopher
ZVIDANCE: A SPIRITED "ON THE ROAD" (A.K.A. JACK KEROUAC)
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
September 9-10, 2106
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Zvi Gotheimer is a "Zen-like" firebrand. Arriving in New York in 1981 on scholarship from America-Israeli Cultural Foundation to study dance, he promptly
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DancEthos with Deviated Theatre at Cultural Arts Center
CORNUCOPIA OF INNOVATIVE CHOREOGRAPHY: FROM THE ABSTRACT AND CONTEMPLATIVE TO THE DARING AND WHIMSICAL
DancEthos with Deviated Theatre
Cultural Arts Center, Montgomery College
Silver Spring, Maryland
May 22, 2016
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
In an afternoon of choreography as full and wide-ranging as that of
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DORRANCE DANCE AT BLACKROCK CENTER FOR THE ARTS
FIESTY, FACILE, FUNKY, FLUID: MICHELLE DORRANCE'S EXPLORATIONS AND EXPANSIONS OF THE TAP GENRE
Dorrance Dance
BlackRock Center for the Arts
Germantown, Maryland
May 14-15, 2016
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Virtuoso tap claimed the Main Stage at BlackRock Center for the Arts on a recent Saturday night.
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Big Dance Theater at ADI by Luella Christopher
BIG DANCE: SHORT FORM (STICK, SLED, SLIPPERS, HEARTH, BOOK, BUNDLE, BALL)
Big Dance Theater
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
November 6, 7 and 8, 2015
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Wild, wacky and wonderful to such a degree that it's hard to decide where to focus. Big
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Company E at the John F. Kennedy Center by Luella Christopher
GENERATIONS: POLAND - FOUR GENERATIONS OF DANCE AND MUSIC
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
March 16-18, 2016
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Quirky, somber, provocative and epic. These terms describe, respectively, the four works - "Who Let the Dogs Out?",
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Jonah Bokaer at ADI by Luella Christopher
MEMORABLE MOTIONLESSNESS: WHY PATTERNS/RECESS BY JONAH BOKAER
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Md. 20850
February 26-27, 2016
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Jonah Bokaer is a revolutionary choreographer in the best possible way. As relayed to New York Social Diary on July 18, 2008, the
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The Washington Ballet's The Nutcracker at The Warner Theatre by ddespair
The Washington Ballet
The Nutcracker
The Warner Theatre
12.26.2015
by ddespair
Preface
Let me start out by saying, every Christmas, I have listened to 97.1 WASH-FM every year since the dawn of time. Like clockwork, they invariable hawk The Washington Ballet's Nutcracker. But here's where it
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Pavel Zustiak and Palissimo Company at ADI by Luella Christopher
“CUSTODIANS OF BEAUTY”: WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND
By Luella Christopher, Ph,D.
Pavel Zustiak and Palissimo Company
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Md.
November 20, 2015
Mental somersaults. A day after watching "Custodians of Beauty", I'm still doing them. This is exactly
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Christopher K. Morgan & Artists at ADI by Luella Christopher
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING:
TREASURES FROM CHRISTOPHER MORGAN’S HAWAIIAN TROVE
AND OTHER STAPLES FROM THE COMPANY REPERTORY
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Christopher K. Morgan & Artists
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Md.
October 9 and 10, 2015
Christopher Morgan's Hawaiian heritage bubbled vigorously to the surface in his company's 5th
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Vertigo Dance Company at BlackRock Center for the Arts by Luella Christopher
ARE WE UPRIGHT OR FALLING? HOW SERIOUS IS YOUR VERTIGO?
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Vertigo Dance Company
BlackRockCenter for the Arts
Germantown, Md.
October 22, 2015
Vertigo Dance Company, founded in 1992 in Israel by American-born Noa Wertheim and husband Ali Sha’al, gave the
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Dance Theatre of Harlem at Sidney Harman Hall by Luella Christopher
EXCULPATORY AND EROTIC:
SHOCKERS AND SIZZLERS DOMINATE HARLEM DANCE THEATRE’S VISIT TO D.C.
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Sidney Harman Hall
Washington, D.C.
October 10, 2015
The much anticipated return to the nation's capital of New York-based Dance Theatre of Harlem generated the same
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CHRIS SCHLICHTING at ADI BY LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
A GENTLY VISCERAL “STRIPE TEASE” BY CHRIS SCHLICHTING
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Md.
October 2-3, 2015
Life-affirming choreography can be elusive in the Millennium. Chaos and conflict predominate to such an extent that audiences leave the theater feeling like deflated balloons.
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JILLIAN PEÑA AT ADI BY LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
SIBLINGS, LOVERS, RIVALS, DOLLS OR FAIRY TALE CHARACTERS?
JILLIAN PEÑA’S DOPPLEGANGERS AT ADI
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
American Dance Institute, Rockville, Md.
September 11 and 12, 2015
Jillian Peña’s "Polly Pocket Expansion Pack" signifies a German-made toy for children, a kind of doll-house. That's all
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Christopher K. Morgan & Artists's LIMITED VISIBILITY at ADI BY LUELLA CHRISTOPHER
CHRISTOPHER K. MORGAN AND ARTISTS IN A STUNNING
"LIMITED VISIBILITY"
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
May 29/30, 2015
Christopher K. Morgan’s new piece is visually dynamic in its simultaneous use of different levels (tables), different types of lighting (especially worklights, as opposed
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Dance Metro DC’s 2015 Choreographers’ Commission Showcase at Dance Place
Triple Threat!
Dance Metro DC’s 2015 Choreographers’ Commission Showcase
Saturday, September 12 at 8pm
Dance Place, Washington, DC
Before we begin as we do at the beginning and end as we do in the end, I'd like to make it clear that this is
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30th ANNIVERSARY WORKS BY URBAN BUSH WOMEN at ADI by Luella Christopher
NOT YOUR TYPICAL DYING SWAN
AND OTHER 30th ANNIVERSARY WORKS
BY URBAN BUSH WOMEN
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
April 1718, 2015
"Dark Swan" (2014) is beyond parody and distinctly so. Choreographer Nora Chipaumire, inspired by the Russian masters’s contributions to dance, gives
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NEIL GREENBERG AND DAVID NEUMANN at ADI by Luella Christopher
NEIL GREENBERG AND DAVID NEUMANN ADVANCED BEGINNER GROUP:
INSCRUTABLE PAIR OF MINIMALIST CHOREOGRAPHERS
By Luella Christopher, Ph.D.
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
Nov. 14-15, 2014 and March 27-28, 2015
Difficult to grasp and appreciate such were my initial reactions to two programs in the 2014-15
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