Celebrate Dance returns to the Alex Theatre in Glendale for its fifth-anniversary show this Saturday, March 13, at 8 p.m. The festival celebrates the vibrance and diversity of our local dance community by showcasing nine Southland companies in a single evening of performance that received the Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Achievement for a [...]

When Trisha Brown and her fellow dance rebels of the 1960s and ’70s began using movement “scores” – directions that require performers to solve problems in the moment of performance – in lieu of “set” choreography, the shift was both aesthetic and political. By redistributing the choreographer’s power of artistic decision to the dancers, scores [...]

A man steps forward into bright light, and we are confronted with his flesh – tinted the sickly green of camouflage or radioactive glow. Joni Mitchell’s voice rings out a mournful melody: “And so once again … My dear Johnny my dear friend … And so once again you are fightin’ us all….” Dancers emerge [...]

If anyone doubted the production prowess of Lineage Dance, the third annual Pasadena Dance Festival proved them wrong. Managing Director Peggy Burt and Associate Director Caterina Mercante, who served as festival coordinator, pulled off an extraordinary event. Between the obvious varieties in the audience, the marketplace of the lobby, and the stunning range and skill [...]

With “See the Music, Hear the Dance,” an evening of three challenging choreographies by George Balanchine at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, Los Angeles Ballet has reaffirmed its ascendance as the ballet company for which Los Angeles has waited decades.
Chosen from the vast catalogue of works from Balanchine’s prodigiously long career, the LAB premieres of “Kammermusik No. [...]

Los Angeles Ballet presents an all-Balanchine program, “See the Music, Hear the Dance,” in venues in and around LA between Feb. 20 and March 6. The program includes the LAB premieres of Kammermusik No. 2 and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as the return of “Serenade.”
Balanchine choreographed Kammermusik No. 2 to Hindemith’s Op. [...]

Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” was an instant success when it debuted at the Théatre de Babylone in Paris in January 1953. It ran for 400 performances and received critical praise from such writers as Tennessee Williams, Jean Anouilh, Thornton Wilder and William Saroyan.  Greeted with jeers and boos from some audience members at its [...]

The genius loci of modern dance in Los Angeles can certainly be found at Anatomy Riot.  On Monday night, Riot #35 (which was more like a peaceable gathering) brought familiar faces from companies and improv jams alike to MiMoDa, a studio venue in West LA.  There were no programs, and this reviewer took no notes.  [...]

At the close of Friday night’s performance, an LA Improv Dance Festival director thanked the attendees, pointing out that the show had demonstrated where the art of improv dance has been going lately.  Jones Welsh (of Making Faces Productions) is correct.  From the blurry intentions of a meandering group demonstration to the spot-on dance culture [...]

Ashley Brown has the title role in “Mary Poppins,” the award-winning Broadway musical which plays at the Ahmanson Theatre through Feb. 7. Dana Feldman interviewed Brown for Culture Spot LA.
Growing up in the small town of Gulf Breeze, Fla., Ashley Brown never thought that she would end up where she is today. At [...]