Dance-Enthusiast.com Features

MOVING VISIONS: Can Dancing Raise Climate Consciousness?

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"...there are dance artists in the New York area who are highlighting our essential connection to the earth. They are dedicated to tackling climate change, promoting sustainability, and engaging with their communities to raise awareness. While there is no guarantee that any form of performance can put a dent in the increasing assault on the planet, these artists remain deeply committed to making a difference..." Wendy Perron, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Dutch National Ballet at New York City Center

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

An ensemble work by artistic director Ted Brandsen opens the four-performance season of the Dutch National Ballet at New York City Center in November. After a moment in a spotlight, a single woman finds herself surrounded by a cluster of onrushing people all clad in white, unisex dresses that swing freely from tightly fitting leotard tops. Brandsen choreographs to the music of John Adams, and presumably as a nod to this eminent American composer, uses the title of the composition, The Chairman Dances.

- Henning Rubsam, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Hilary Easton's Thoughtful Dance-Theater "Ringelblum" at Gibney Dance

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"The dance invoked throughout Ringelblum is a fictional, deliberately mutable recollection, while the historical figure Emanuel Ringelblum, whose name it bears, was real." — Catherine Tharin, New York

THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST ASKS: Martha Graham Dance Company's Legacy, Photographed by Deborah Ory and Ken Browar

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"The company is touring the entire world, but they may not come to every city and they may not be in every city at a date when you can go. For people to get a taste of the 100 year celebration even if they can't get to a performance is wonderful. They can take it home with them." — Deborah Ory, NYC Dance Project

IMPRESSIONS: Complexions Contemporary Ballet at The Joyce Theater

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Complexions' Dwight Rhoden and Co-Artistic Director Desmond Richardson continue to challenge the boundaries of contemporary ballet, reminding us that this is a genre in constant evolution." — Miranda Stück, New York

IMPRESSIONS: American Dance Machine for the 21st Century in "Gotta Dance!"

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Despite my fervent interest in musical-theatre dance, I’m typically disappointed by full-evening productions comprising discrete dance numbers from different Broadway shows. I find myself appreciating those dances as “artifacts” for scholarly analysis [...] when presented “out of context” [Broadway] choreography loses much of its eloquence. But here, I felt none of that academic “distancing” as I was completely caught up in the drama put forth by each excerpt." — Lisa Jo Sagolla, New York

DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: Marla Phelan's “Birth + Carnage” Threads Galaxies

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"What struck me more than anything,” continues Phelan, “was the amount of friction that it takes for a star to be born — or for anything to be created. I found it inspiring [...] I asked myself: What's the human layer? We discovered that it's the fight to survive.” — Marla Phelan, choreographer and director of Birth and Carnage

IMPRESSIONS: Hélène Simoneau Danse in "Late Bloomer" at 92NY

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Canadian-born Hélène Simoneau’s premiere, Late Bloomer, at 92NY, exists in a state of almost constant motion, a continuum of sleek, superbly performed dancing." — Catherine Tharin, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Tere O’Connor Presents “Construct-a-Guy” and “The Lace” at New York Live Arts

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"41 years on, O’Connor’s voice remains fresh, still full of air and an irascible generosity of sensation that comes through each dancer’s body in its own way. His love of dance — and his love of dancers — shines through his commitment to a world where “choreography becomes a liberatory space.” — Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, New York

DAY IN THE LIFE OF DANCE: Heidi Latsky Dance's "ON DISPLAY" at Wave Hill, Bronx

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Heidi’s vision is “to disrupt space and redefine beauty and virtuosity through performances and discourse" so, in ON DISPLAY, she gathers performers of different ages, races, disabilities, genders, body shapes, and ethnicities. We invite people stare. To take pictures. To make videos. And we look back..." — Amy Meisner -Threet, The Bronx

IMPRESSIONS: "THAT SHOW (long form)" at Judson Memorial Church

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"All of the works featured in THAT SHOW (long form) are poignant and genre-bending. Curators Kayla White and Taylor Schmuelgen bring a clear vision to their effort, with risk-taking and innovation central to every iteration of THAT SHOW. I’m excited to see what's in store for the final show of the year. Don't miss it this Friday, December 12, 2025 at The Gym at Judson Memorial Church." — Rush Johnston, New York

IMPRESSIONS FROM PARIS: “Figures in Extinction” by Crystal Pite & Simon McBurney Conveys "Yearning for Connection"

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"The Netherlands Dance Theater dancers are gorgeous. Their technical skill is excellent, their artistry undeniable, but what stands out here is their cohesion as a community, like a congregation dedicated in prayer. Sparkling wit and humour keep us laughing at our own absurdity as we take in the enormity of what we have become." — Ann Moradian, Paris

IMPRESSIONS: Pete Townshend's "Quadrophenia: a Rock Ballet," with Orchestral Score

The Dance Enthusiast — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"However, what’s most interesting about the spanking new ballet is the opportunity it affords to revisit the historical sub-culture of the Mods, as the dance relates the coming-of-age adventures of Jimmy, an angst-ridden, 18-year-old Mod, suffering from schizophrenia." — Lisa Jo Sagolla, New York

THE DANCE ENTHUSIAST ASKS: Moses Pendleton of MOMIX on Moving with Nature

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"I really believe in “trust the accident” — you make things because you don't know what you're making. It's a process of discovery and then it applies to choreography and life in general. And “let nature finish the sentence” — we're all collaborators with life force and movements and energies." — Moses Pendleton

IMPRESSIONS: Will Rawls' [siccer] at the Keith Haring Theatre, Performance Space New York

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"[siccer] offered one of the most poignant and powerful performances I have witnessed all year. Its ever-evolving structure felt both unpredictable and utterly right for a work so deeply invested in resisting containment." — Kristen Hedberg, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Jack Ferver Presents "My Town" at NYU Skirball

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Jack Ferver knows how to set a scene. They also know how to play a character. In My Town, scenic landscapes emerge as characters just as the interior lives of characters reveal the contours of their psychological terrain. Through a synthesis of words and movement (written and performed by Ferver) with sound and visual design (by Jeremy Jacob), the result is a tense and haunting portrait of trauma and repression in small town America." — Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, New York

IMPRESSIONS: EVIDENCE, A Dance Company Celebrates 40 Years at Billie Holiday Theatre

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"When (Ronald K.) Brown walks onstage supported by a cane and accompanied by longtime associate Arcell Cabuag, the audience rises in appreciation. Brown is a moving reminder of endurance, legacy, and unwavering devotion to the arts." — Sabrina Petrelli, Bed Stuy

IMPRESSIONS: Absorbing Paul Taylor's Choreographic Range at Lincoln Center

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Speaking in Tongues and Gossamer Gallants, both danced brilliantly by this company’s artists, remind us how profoundly Taylor's choreography captures the full range of human experience, whether it explores the power dynamics of a religious congregation or delves into the intriguing mating games of the insect world." — Kristen Hedberg, New York

IMPRESSIONS: "The Seven Bridges (Hashi-zukushi)" at Japan Society

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Choreographer Takuro Suzuki takes a light-hearted approach in The Seven Bridges, the enchanting multimedia dance piece that his company CHAiroiPLIN presented at Japan Society, on November 15, 2025. In this rollicking adaptation of a short story by Yukio Mishima, the choreographer shrinks Tokyo to toy-size; and the city appears as a child might build it." — Robert Johnson, New York

MOVING VISIONS: Some Thoughts on Silence

The Dance Enthusiast — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"When there’s no music to connect you to your sensuality or transport you to a distant memory, there’s no escaping what’s in front of you. While such pieces require patience from the audience, they can also bring a bracing clarity to the experience." — Wendy Perron, Moving Visions Editor, New York

IMPRESSIONS: ZviDance’s World Premiere of “Dandelion” at New York Live Arts

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"ZviDance’s world premiere Dandelion, choreographed by Zvi Gotheiner in collaboration with his dancers [...] unfolds as a series of finely sculpted duets interpreting an eclectic score by Scott Killian." — Sabrina Petrelli, New York

IMPRESSIONS: An Evening of New Work: Baryshnikov Arts Welcomes Back Aszure Barton & Benjamin Millepied

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Baryshnikov Arts is highlighting its residency program. It has supported more than 270 residencies for artists of different disciplines, and Aszure Barton and Benjamin Millepied were among the first. This program, “An Evening of New Work,” was a chance for Barton and Millepied to express thanks to Baryshnikov Arts (formerly Baryshnikov Arts Center) for supporting their work over the years." Wendy Perron, New York

IMPRESSIONS: Martha@BAM—The 1963 Interview

The Dance Enthusiast — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"In our smallness, perhaps the only way we can take Graham’s measure is through parody. Yet the Martha impersonation that drag artist Richard Move revived, October 28, 2025 in BAM’s intimate Fisher Space, is much more than that." — Robert Johnson, New York

IMPRESSIONS: “nothing personal, just everything” at The Chocolate Factory and “Optimistic Voices” at BAM Next Wave

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"This fall continues to bring an absolute deluge of excellent dance and performance across a wide spectrum of styles and scales. Seeing everything is well-nigh impossible (the FOMO is real!)." — Sarah Cecilia Bukowski, New York

IMPRESSIONS: evan ray suzuki Presents "plot hole" at PAGEANT

The Dance Enthusiast — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

"Considering that suzuki’s work engages deeply with the anxieties of the post-internet age, I found myself contemplating questions surrounding our normalized hyperdigital existence. In a society where virtual connection is no longer novel, how can we continue to cultivate sincere experiences?" — Kristen Hedberg, New York