Reviews & News by Dancing in the District

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 the encroachment of the bored, tired and aging conservative mind. It is especially disenchanting to find these attributes alive and well within the Artistic realms. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules and Christian Henson falls into that group. There comes with this revelation another issue, and that is the fallout which comes with hate. In 2022, we…

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 the show. This dizzying black and white film pictures Thomas brooding over himself and his title of king. A strong outline of his side eye, rounded nose, beard and lip through a bent arm stand out. In one moment he is suspended hanging over a barre at the waist. Another he is seen laying on the…

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 – collaborated in one of the first performances of freshly created and repertory pieces to be showcased at Dance Institute of Washington’s new theater space in the Columbia Heights 14th Street corridor. DIW is often described as the chief minority-led pre-professional dance equity organization in Washington, D.C. The theater is located in a state-of-the-art building that features bold lighting…

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 background. A single couch and lamp sit onstage. We are invited into an intimate yet communal home enveloped by the velvety Brown Sugar and Black Messiah albums by D’Angelo. The virtual program choreographer’s note includes a quote from poet Nikki Giovanni, “Some say we are responsible for the ones we love. Others know we are responsible…

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 McCauley Dance Company gave its “final performance” before the shift of its founder, Lucy Bowen McCauley, to a new phase of teaching and mentoring diverse communities in the DMV region. Circumnavigating the globe in part, this ambitious program offered works inspired by Italian/Neapolitan composer Pergolisi’s rendering of the commedia dell’arte story of the stock puppet character “Pulcinella” through…

MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE at The Kennedy Center by Luella Christopher

Bourne has accomplished the feat of allowing balletomanes to retain other viewings of a more traditional “Swan Lake” in the memory, especially with regard to elements of the majestic music by Tschaikovsky. At the same time, he introduces dramatic themes that both diverge from the narrative of the original story and employ the music in surprising ways. The Swan becomes the Stranger in street attire (leather pants and jacket) at the Royal Ball in Act Three, initially deceiving the Prince as to his identity.

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