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MARCH 2004
in this issue
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(Click
to jump to a section)
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interviews
Far From Sweden: Jonas Kåge, Ballet West
by Dean Speer and Francis Timlin
"Ballet West is in a renaissance. I hope to get the Company out more and we need to tour"
read more...
Cinderella,
Hamburg Style: Interview with Ivan Urban and Anna Polikarpova of Hamburg
Ballet
by
Catherine Pawlick
"Everything
was strange for me, but I wanted to try something new."
read
more...
Choreographing Memory and History: Kimi Okada and Claudia Bernardi discuss making 'Flight to Ixcan'
by Toba Singer
"I thought, 'I know how I can get at this now, trying to make a work of art centered on something deep and personal.'"
read more...
Flying
High: Jason Hartley, Washington Ballet
by
Carol Herron
"It seems
like all the things that I learn in my life, movement oriented, all start
coming together and improve upon each other."
read
more...
Finding
Voice of Her Passion Through Dancing: Louise Nadeau, Pacific Northwest
Ballet Principal Dancer
by
Dean Speer and Francis Timlin
"Dancing
is a response to the music and the choreography. By the time I get to
performance, I let the music carry the dancing."
read
more...
company focus
 
Image Gallery
| Specials for the Magazine |
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Merce
Cunningham and Contemporary Music
by David Vaughan
From the beginning, working in this
manner gave me a feeling of freedom for the dance, not a dependence
upon the note-by-note procedure with which I had been used to working.
read
more...
Merce
Cunningham and the Visual Arts
by David Vaughan
I did not tell him what to make, only
that it could be something that was in the dance area, that we could
move through it, around it, and with it if he so liked.
read
more...
|
Features & Interviews |
| Merce
Cunningham - 'Resident Master'
by Donald Hutera
Weather
or Not:
Val Bourne and Daniel Roberts on Merce Cunningham at Tate Modern
by Donald Hutera |
Reviews |
|
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - 'Suite for Five,' 'MinEvent' with
the Kronos Quartet, 'Fluid Canvas'
by Jeff Kuo - 2003, Berkeley
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - 'Suite for Five,' 'MinEvent' with
the Kronos Quartet, 'Fluid Canvas'
by Mary Ellen Hunt - 2003, Berkeley
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - 'Split Sides' 'Fluid Canvas'
by Alyson Abriel - 2003, New York
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Event at Tate Modern
by Katherine Phillips - 2003, London
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Pictures, Interscape
by Diane Busuttil - 2002, Berlin
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Fluid Canvas, Interscape
by David Slade - 2002, London
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Fluid Canvas
by Lootie Bibby - 2002, London
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Way Station, Loose Time, How to
Pass, Kick, Fall and Run
by Cassandra - 2002, London
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Fluid Canvas, Interscape, Way Station,
Loose Time, How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run
by Stuart Sweeney - 2002, London
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Loose Time, Interscape
by Lisa Marie Claybaugh - 2002, Berkeley
Merce Cunningham, David Vaughan, Brian Collins - James Joyce, Marcel
Duchamp, Erik Satie: An Alphabet
by Mary Ellen Hunt - 2002, Berkeley
Merce Cunningham Dance Company - Biped and Summerspace
by Marie - 2001, Montreal |
in our forums
Letter from the Editors
In this month's Ballet-Dance Magazine we focus on Merce Cunningham.
The term "innovator" is often bandied about, but Cunningham
is the real thing: introducing chance into dance composition, detaching
movement from the accompanying music, working with computer technology
to create dances - the list goes on and on. We are delighted to have two
articles by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company's Archivist and internationally
famous author, David Vaughan, together with reviews from four countries
and a wealth of other material from our archives.
Our Resolution! coverage continues and we welcome Sanjoy Roy, who
writes for 'The Guardian' and "Dance Now" and reviews
the final performance of this UK festival of new dance makers.
Spring finds companies both on tour and at home. The Hamburg Ballet's
'Nijinsky' generated deep interest during their US tour.
And selected from our very busy French language forum 'Danser en
français', we have several reviews of the Paris Opera Ballet's
'Giselle'. The Royal Ballet's Alina Cojocaru arrived
to guest and seems to have charmed everyone as she invariably does in
London.
As always, we love to hear what you think. Please post your comments
in our
Magazine Feedback Discussion Topic in the CriticalDance forum. And,
if you want the magazine delivered right to your inbox, subscribe!
The Editors of
Ballet-Dance Magazine
PS - If you're enjoying
this issue of Ballet-Dance Magazine, please
forward it to a friend!
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features
British Dance Edition 2004
by Stuart Sweeney
So what's the most important dance event of 2004?
My guess is that for most UK dance companies it will be British Dance
Edition 2004 (BDE), held in Cambridge.
read more...
Fungi
Form: The Story of Pilobolus Dance Theater
by Dina McDermott
February, 2004
There is no preparation
or cultural underpinning needed to appreciate the choreography of Pilobolus.
read more...
Words of Dance. Book by Alberto Testa and Photography by Alessio Buccafusca
Book Review by Patrizia Vallone
"Parole di danza" describes dance with a mix of words and
frozen images - a real challenge, because these two elements are just
what the art of movement lacks...
read more...
Ballet Black: Questioning the Color of Ballet
by
Thea Nerissa Barnes
February 21-22, 2004 --
Cochrane Theatre, London
In her program notes, Pancho mentions Arthur
Mitchell and Dance Theatre of Harlem as an example of an 'all-black
ballet company' and states there is no equivalent in the UK.
read
more...
Arthur
Mitchell at San Francisco Performing Arts Library with Sheryl Flatow
and Brad Rosenstein
by Toba Singer
Mitchell describes himself as "a man
who happens to be Black," as opposed to "a Black man."
read
more...
Belling the Slayer: A Closer Look
at Death and the Maidens
by Stephen Arnold
February, 2004
Integrated
into a tightly structured lexicon of gestures, "Belling the Slayer"
focuses the broad and melancholy subject of life's relation to death.
read
more...
Pacific
Northwest Ballet's Open Rehearsal - Balanchine Centenary Program
by Francis Timlin
Something for everyone, whether you
are a classicist ("Divertimento No. 15"), a modernist ("Agon"), or a
romantic ("Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet").
read
more...
|

January
/ February, 2004 at The Robin Howard Theatre, The Place, London
Click
here for the first part of our
Resolution! coverage
In
Our own Company 'CCC'; Jean Abreu 'O LUNGO DROM'; Naked Fish Productions
'Nocturne for Night Cleaning'
by Sanjoy Roy
February 14, 2004 -- The Place, London
Resolution! opened with three of the best
from last year, selected by The Place director John Ashford, and
it closed with new works from the same companies. A seal of approval,
certainly, but also a record to live up to, like that notoriously
difficult second novel.
read
more...
Physical
Physics 'Cassis Caput,' Zephyr in Zanussi 'Zero Aviation,' Caller
Company 'Lyrical Request'
by Lyndsey Winship
February 12, 2004 -- The Place, London
It's like something out of
"Looney Tunes" -- cruel, clever and very funny -- but I'd hate
to count the bruises at the end of the night.
read
more...
LISCHE - 'Lo spazio accessible,' Wired (Aerial Theatre) - 'Stuffed,' Max Barachini - 'Vulnerable: part two'
by Vicky Costello
February 13, 2004 -- The Place, London
The music changed as frequently and as abruptly as the movement, as did the dancers' expressions -- they appeared vulnerable, strong, curious, secretive, psychotic, puzzled, or in pain.
read more...
Selfish Shellfish (Germany) 'Dressed Dance,' Erica Stanton and Dancers 'Matter of Gravity,' Kate Brown 'having begun'
by Vicky Costello
February 6, 2004 -- The Place, London
Some captivating moments of simple
suspension and falling -- in fact, it was the simplest moments
that were the most interesting.
read more...
Joe
Landini '4 Stories,' Pasgetti 'Going Nowhere Fast,' Satu Tuomisto
Dance 'Toxic'
by Katie Phillips
February 3, 2004 -- The Place, London
A duet exploring social politics is
juxtaposed with a solo; dancers run past the solitary dancer,
adding to sense of remote loneliness.
read
more...
Tight
Corner Dance Company - 'Perfectly Valid,' In:House - 'Out of Body,'
OKKO Dance Company 'Lonbo'
by Lyndsey
Winship
January 29, 2004 -- The Place, London
The dancers were forced in different
directions, weaving in parallel lines like threads in a loom.
Each had her own style and motifs but they all shared a common
language, and danced, if not with passion, then with a clear focus.
read more...
'Tango
Art,' '[a conversation],' 'Tea and Apathy'
by Katie Phillips
January 9, 2004 -- The Place, London
Their tango steps were fluid and flitting,
with swishes, kicks, and cross overs, but frustratingly intercepted
by a hyper-complicated argument of leading, resisting, relaxing,
and accepting -- it didn’t matter that lines were forgotten in
this pseudo-acting skit.
read
more...
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Opéra de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Valérie Beck
24 février 2004 -- Palais Garnier / Paris
Si Nicolas s'est blessé
hier, cela ne s'est pas vu sur scène sauf que: sa toute dernière
variation exige, je crois, un développé seconde ( saut assemblé,
et développé seconde, vous voyez ce que je veux dire?) et je
n'ai pas vu ce pas, c'est à dire la jambe droite qui développe
après le saut.
read more...
Opéra de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Catherine Schemm
7 février 2004 -- Palais Garnier / Paris
Une soirée mouvementée !
Ce soir avait lieu les débuts dans le rôle titre
de Giselle de Mélanie Hurel. Cette prise de rôle
était très attendue, rares sont les premières
danseuses à avoir ce rôle !
read
more...
Opéra
de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Catherine Schemm
5 février 2004 -- Palais Garnier, Paris
Un couple sublime !
Pour cette série de Giselle, l'Opéra a prévu
une belle alternance de couples et après Aurélie/Nicolas,
Alina/Manuel nous pouvions découvrir ce soir Agnès
Letestu et José Martinez.
read
more...
Opéra
de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Monica Ileana Desson
3 février 2004, Palais Garnier, Paris
Sous le charme d'Alina
Comme beaucoup de spectateurs de l'Opéra
Garnier, je découvrais hier soir Alina Cojocaru, jeune
danseuse roumaine de 22 ans au parcours exceptionnel.
read
more...
Opéra
de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Catherine Schemm
3 février 2004 -- Paris, Palais
Garnier
Une Giselle conventionnelle et décevante
!!!
La direction de l'Opéra de Paris
a eu la bonne idée d'inviter Alina Cojocaru, jeune étoile
du Royal Ballet à danser le rôle qui lui avait
valu le titre suprême en Angleterre, à savoir Giselle.
read
more...
Opéra
de Paris - 'Giselle'
Par Catherine Schemm
2 février 2004 -- Paris, Palais Garnier
Une Giselle inoubliable ! Cette version
a été quelque peu remaniée par Patrice
Bart, notamment avec l'instauration d'une danse au sein du pas
de deux des vendangeurs pour les petites amies de Giselle.
read
more...
Opéra
de Paris
Soirée Kylian : 'Stepping Stones', 'Il faut qu'une
porte…', 'Doux Mensonges'
Par Valérie Beck
21 février 2004 (matinée)
-- Paris, Palais Garnier
D'abord, les décors : trois statues de chats
dorés, au fond de la scène, dressent leurs silhouettes
mystérieuses, bienveillantes, mais spirituelles, à
trois stades d'enfouissement dans le sol: un triangle percé
est suspendu dans les cintres d'où s'écoule une
lumière dorée, qui dessine un cercle sur la scène
noire...
read
more...
Opéra
de Lyon - 'Spectacle Mats Ek'
by Lili
3 février 2004 -- Paris, Théâtre de la Ville
Le programme débute par Solo for
two créé initialement pour la télévision
par Niklas Ek et Sylvie Guillem, la transposition scénique
de ce duo est tout à fait réussie.
read
more...
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editors' picks
Los Angeles
· Shen
Wei Dance Arts - 'Rite of Spring,' 'Folding'
March 19-20, 2004 - Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles. Two of Shen
Wei's works of East/West inspired dance art and fusion.
·
Nederlands
Dans Theater - 2 repertory programs
March 31-April 4, 2004, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa
Mesa.
A chance to experience one of Europe's most contemporary
companies.
New
York
·
Brian
Brooks Moving Company - 'Acre' and Julie Atlas Muz - 'The Rite of Spring'
March 24-25, April 2-3,2004 - DTW. Lots of sequins, satire, and shades
of green in this shared evening.
·
It
Takes Two - ABT Studio Company and Ailey 2
March 30-April 4, 2004, Joyce Theater.
The "rising stars of dance" at The Joyce for the first time.
San Francisco Bay Area
· Paul
Taylor Dance Company - 50th Anniversary Season
March 24- April 4, 2004, San Francisco Performances, Yerba Buena Center,
SF. The master modern dance maverick celebrates with two premieres on
three programs.
·
Company
Chaddick - 'Eclipse'
March 25-27, April 1-3, ODC Theater, SF. New works and collaborations
mark the fluid Chaddick's 19th Anniversary.
Philadelphia
·
Philadanco
- 34th Annual Spring Concert
April 1-3, 2004, Kimmel Center.
Philadanco, famous for its innovative choreography, unleashes its annual
spring concert on the Perelman Theater's stage at the Kimmel Center.
·
Les
Ballets Jazz de Montreal
March 25-27, 2004, Zellerbach Theater.
Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal brings its energy to Philly as part of
the Penn Presents Dance Celebration Series.
London
·
Northern
Ballet Theatre - 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'
17 - 27 March 2004, Sadler's Wells. Set in a ballet company and a hit
with critics and audiences.
·
Tango
por Dos
17 March - 24 April 2004, Peacock Theatre. A favourite in the UK returns
for a 5-week run.
·
George Piper Dances - 'Broken Fall' / 'Mesmerics'
23-27 March 2004, Queen Elizabeth Hall. The Ballet Boyz return with
a very strong programme of award-winning pieces.
Paris
·
Opéra de Paris - Hommage à Claude Bessy
30 mars 2004, Palais Garnier. Une soirée d'hommage pour les adieux
définitifs de Claude Bessy.
·
Opéra
de Paris - 'Signes de Carolyn Carlson'
16 mars au 3 avril 2004, Bastille. Reprise du ballet créé
pour Marie-Claude Pietragalla sur une musique de René Aubry et
des décors d'Olivier Debré.
Toulouse (Blagnac)
·
Tournée
de l'Opéra de Paris - 'Jewels'
19 - 21 mars 2004, Odyssud. Tournée officielle de l'Opéra
de Paris avec Jewels, le tryptique de George Balanchine.
Vilnius, Lithuania
·
Lithuanian
National Ballet - 'Romeo and Juliet'
April 2 2004, Opera House. The widely toured version by Vladimir Vasiliev.
·
Lithunian
National Ballet - 'The Sleeping Beauty'
March 28 2004, Opera House. Renewed version by Pyotr Gusev.
Rome
·
Maria
Pagés Flamenco Company - 'El Perro andaluz. Burlerias', 'Flamenco
Republic'
March 9 - 21 --Teatro Olimpico. The famous flamenco company is back
in Rome with two pieces.
·
Roma
Opera Ballet - 'Figaro's Trilogy'
March 13, 14, 19 - Teatro Nazionale.
A brand new ballet by Luciano Cannito, from Beaumarchais' plays.
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reviews
Pennsylvania Ballet - 'The Taming of the Shrew': Nothing Tame About This Shrew
by Lori Ibay
February 28, 2004 -- Academy of Music, Philadelphia
Billed as the ultimate battle of the sexes, Pennsylvania Ballet's production of John Cranko's "The Taming of the Shrew" boldly promised "a perfect blend of comedy, slapstick and superb dance."
read more...
Pennsylvania Ballet - 'The Taming of the Shrew'
by Lew Whittington
February, 2004 -- Academy of Music, Philadelphia
PAB's corps women are often letter-perfect and they had typical great moments here, but it was the men who have really been polished for this production.
read more...
Walker
Dance Park Music - 'Silence of the Soul'
by Lyndsey Winship
February 27, 2004 -- Linbury Studio
Theatre, London
...this is Walker’s first full-length
work, and it’s interesting to see whether her quick-fire choreography
can fill a whole evening.
read
more...
San Francisco Ballet - Classical, Contemporary, and Comical
by Catherine Pawlick
February 26, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
The year that has passed since the company's premiere
of this version of "Paquita" on their home stage has benefited not only
the audience, but apparently the dancers too.
read more...
Northern
Ballet Theatre - 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': A Modern Dream for a Midsummer
Night
by Kate Snedeker
February 24, 2004 -- Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
With a upside-down silver train, giant eye
and beds hanging from the ceiling, Hayler creates a truly unique fantasy
world, equal parts James Bond and fantastical fairyland.
read
more...
Martha
Graham Dance Company in Italy: Graham Pleasing and Political
by Rosella Simonari
February 22, 2004 --
Teatro Comunale, Ferrara, Italy
During the press conference, Christine Dakin
highlighted Graham's attachment to Italy and the Company's intention to
reinforce this important bond which is further strengthened by the presence
of a couple of Italians as members of the Company.
read
more...
ODC/San Francisco - 'Flight to Ixcan': The Personal and Political Converge
by Toba Singer
February 20 , 2004 -- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
Kimi Okada, in collaboration with Claudia Bernardi, come as close as may
be possible to redressing and redeeming catastrophic loss through a work
of art.
read more...
ODC/San
Francisco - 'Dancing Downtown': '24 Exposures,' 'Last Hello,' 'Pass'
by Toba Singer
February 20 , 2004 -- Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
He is buoyant yet commanding,
and when the entire company falls in with a new, improved and dazzling
ensemble look, it makes you think of what's left after a casting loses
its wax.
read more...
Mikhail
Baryshnikov - 'Solos with Piano or Not'
by Cassandra
February 17, 2004 --
Barbican, London
His stock in trade was always virtuosity.
You went to see Baryshnikov for dazzling displays of technique and you
were seldom disappointed.
read
more...
Savage
Jazz -Benefit for Oakland School for the Arts: Jammin' and Clappin'
by Mary Ellen
Hunt
February 15, 2004 -- Alice
Arts Center, Oakland, CA
With more of the madness than freedom, the
piece has a violent edge to it driven along by the percussives of the
score.
read
more...
Ballet West: 116 Year old Marries 21 Year Old - Sleeping Beauty Awakens Modern Audiences
by Dean Speer
February 14, 2004 -- Capitol Theatre, Salt Lake City, Utah
Wright owned the stage right from
her radiant Act I entrance and sustained high level of energy and youthful
delight at her birthday/coming out party right up to the time she pricks
her finger...
read
more...
Pilobolus
- 'Megawatt,' 'Symbiosis,' 'The Brass Ring,' 'Wedlock': Trying to Forget
by Marshall Huntenberger
February 13, 2004 -- Community Theater, Morristown, NJ
They should consider labeling themselves something other
than dance. I could help them, but this is a family program.
read
more...
Hamburg
Ballet - 'Nijinsky': A Rite of Spring
by Azlan Ezaddin
February 13 - 14, 2004 -- Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa
Mesa, CA
"Nijinsky," the ballet, is full of allusive images
and ideas, some obvious but many subtle, so much so that it can become
intimidating to even knowledgeable balletomanes.
read
more...
Hamburg
Ballet: Neumeier's Nijinsky - Beautiful and Haunting
by Ed Lippman
February 14, 2004 -- Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa,
CA
An undertaking full of potential to thrill and amaze,
'Nijinsky' delivers for the eyes as well as the imagination
in ways pleasing and unexpected.
read
more...
Hamburg
Ballet - 'Nijinsky': Nijinsky as Text
by Jeff Kuo
February 13, 2004 -- Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa,
CA
But, even beyond the deliciousness
of its psychosexual dramatics, there are startling images suggesting a
rebuttal of modern dance's critique of ballet's disengagement with real
life.
read
more...
Rosemary
Butcher - 'White'
by Annie Wells
February 13, 2004
Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Britain's original radical choreographer Rosemary
Butcher marked her return to London with her latest 'conceptual' dance
work "WHITE", a captivating cross-arts response to reports of
the final days of Scott's ill-fated Antarctic Expedition.
read
more...
Cincinnati
Ballet - 'Romeo and Juliet': Two Shows, Both Alike in Dignity
by S.E. Arnold
February 13-14, 2004 -- Aronoff Center, Cincinnati, OH
...the
dramatic focus of Victoria Morgan’s "Romeo and Juliet" on the transcendence
of love clears the clamor of interpretations that want to cloud Shakespeare’s
play.
read
more...
San
Francisco Ballet - 'Le Quattro Stagioni, Study in Motion, Tu Tu': Possokhov's
Brilliant Pairings
by Toba Singer
February 10, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Yuri Possokhov, who not only never disappoints his audiences,
could be lauded as the most astutely creative U.S.-based choreographer
of his generation.
read
more...
IRIE!
Dance Theatre: Joy and Jubilation Begin IRIE!'s National Tour
by Thea Nerissa
Barnes
February 10, 2004 -- The Albany Theatre, London
Founded in 1985, IRIE! has distinguished itself as a dance
theatre company that specialises in varied educational activities and
performances rooted in African and Caribbean aesthetics.
read more...
Pacific Northwest Ballet - ‘Divertimento No. 15,' 'Agon' and ‘Brahms-Schoenberg
Quartet': Northwest-ward,
Ho!
by Azlan Ezaddin
February 7, 2004 -- Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle
Given the recent criticism of NYCB's quality and given
the detail to attention evidenced in this program of Balanchine works
by PNB, not only is there little reason for US West Coast Balanchine balletomanes
to travel eastward, but perhaps it is the US East Coast fans who should
travel westward.
read more...
National
Ballet of Canada - 'The Contract': X-Rated Fairy Tale!
by Michael Goldbarth
February 6, 2004 -- The Hummingbird
Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto
Kudelka devotes an inordinate
amount of time showing us the death of creativity delivered to this reviewer's
eyes in the form of a virus attacking the body of humanity.
read
more...
San
Francisco Ballet - 'Don Quixote': A Grand Kitri for LeBlanc
by Mary Ellen
Hunt
February 5, 2004 -- War Memorial Opera
House, San Francisco
For a first go at this lengthy ballet,
they seem to have worked a great deal on the comic timing so integral
to the first act. Technique is never a problem for either of them, although
a couple of small bobbles here and there indicated to me that they felt
the pressure.
read
more...
Paris
Opera Ballet - 'Giselle': Bewitched by Alina
by Ileana
February 3, 2004 -- Palais Garnier,
Paris
...That night, like many in the audience
at the Garnier Opera House, I discovered Alina Cojocaru, a 22-year-old
Romanian dancer with an unusual career. Trained at the Kiev school, Cojocaru
won the Lausanne prize at sixteen, which gave her the opportunity to round
off her studies by six months at the Royal Ballet School in London..
read
more...
Limon
Dance Company: A Newbie's View of Limon
by Mary Ellen
Hunt
January 26, 2004 -- Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco
The 57-year old Limon Dance Company brought a historical
whiff to an appreciative audience at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco
with a program of works spanning some 37 years...
read
more...
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Coming up...
· Nederlands Dans Theatre tours the
US
· Interviews
with Artur Sultanov and Andrei Uvarov
· DanceUK
· The Nureyev Gala in Italy
· More reviews
· More interviews
· More features
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