Dancing at the Edge of the World
SPA brings Stephen Petronio’s Underland to Houston “We conjure worlds out of nothing,” wrote Stephen Petronio in his essay “Why I Dance” in Dance Magazine. And what a world the New York choreographer has conjured in Underland, making its Houston premiere on January 11, 2013 through the Society for the Performing Arts. Petronio originally set [...]
Jubilee of Dance: A Tribute to Amy Fote
What a bittersweet night at Houston Ballet’s Jubilee: a Tribute to Amy Fote. Although we could have watched her dance all night, there were other treats in store. As usual, the Jubilee provided a smashing sampler of what’s to come and greatest hits, including Melissa Hough and Connor Walsh’s powerhouse pas de deuxfrom Nicolo Fonte’s [...]
Holiday Gems
There’s a bounty of holiday art activity every year, from the mainstays like A Christmas Carol and The Santaland Diaries at the Alley Theatre to Houston Ballet’s ever-popular Ben Stevenson production of The Nutcracker, this year with principal Amy Fote giving her last performance on a Houston Ballet stage. The Ensemble Theatre returns to Cinderella, [...]
Short Story Dances
Karen Stokes on Vine Leaf Dances Choreographer Karen Stokes switches to short form in Vine Leaf Dances, which includes three premieres – Just Us, Midnight and Distreston & Balia – and one repertory work, Prelude to Three Temperaments. As artistic director of Karen Stokes Dance (KSD) and head of the dance division at University of [...]
Houston Contemporary Dance Squared
Preview: Hope Stone and Houston Met Present squared dancer No, The Stoners and The Metronics are not emerging indie-rock bands. These handles are how Hope Stone and Houston Metropolitan Dance Company members have been referring to themselves as they merge for their joint performance, squared dancer [...]
Double Shift
CORE Returns for a Free Show at Barnevelder Shift is not only the name of CORE’s upcoming free show at Barnevelder on November 2 & 3, but aptly defines the current state of this remarkable Atlanta and Houston based dance organization founded by Sue Schroeder. Shift features work by Houston choreographer Leslie Scates, former company [...]
Review: Dance Gallery Festival
Lots to Look at: The Dance Gallery Festival at Sam Houston State University The Dance Gallery Festival is aptly named; it’s a gallery of sorts where we can observe choreographers from Houston and New York and, this year, even Italy. Started by Astrid von Ussar, the Festival has found a home at Sam Houston State [...]
Incredible India!
Following only a week after the latest Bollywood Blast programming, Samskriti’s Incredible India! event at Miller Outdoor Theatre on September 8 showcased two energetic dance troupes from India, one traditional, one contemporary: NADAM (Nathan Academy for Dance and Music), and Stem Dance Kampni. The operative word of the night [...]
Up a Wall
SPA brings Deborah Colker’s Mix to Houston Society for Performing Arts brings Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker performing their signature work, Mix, on October 12 at Jones Hall. In Mix, an enormous wall becomes a second floor as her über-strong dancer/athletes carry out Colker’s imaginative movement on the vertical plane. Houston audiences [...]
Frame Dance Productions’ The Black Space
Fresh Arts Coalition’s claustrophobic Spacetaker Gallery made a perfect setting for Frame Dance Productions’ The Black Space, a dance/film/installation work about sorrow and forgiveness choreographed by Lydia Hance. With mascara-dripping eyes, Hance, Kristen Frankiewicz and Jacquelyne Boe each took to the corners [...]
Review: Women@Art
Houston Ballet Women@Art September 20-30, 2012 The lady dance-makers rocked the Wortham during Houston Ballet’s Women@Art, an evening of work by Julia Adam, Aszure Barton and Twyla Tharp. Barton’s Angular Momentum proved to the big news of the night. Barton, a rising star with an original choreographic voice, has made her mark across a great [...]
Review: Madame Butterfly
Amy Fote commands the stage as Cio-Cio San in Houston Ballet’s season opener, Madame Butterfly. With Fote’s imminent retirement later this fall, the radiant principal is cherishing every last arabesque, as demonstrated in her masterful performance. There is a completeness present, as if each corner of the choreography has been [...]
