Category — Dance

How Kate Skarpetowska created striking dances of her own

Buoyant, vivid movement; sensual partnering; and relatable themes have made Parsons Dance a New York staple since 1985. With his stable of sexy, muscular dancers, founder David Parsons has crafted 50 trademark works, often including of-the-moment elements like contemporary rock music. Through January 22nd at the Joyce Theater, audiences can catch both Parsons’ work (including the premiere of his Round My World), as well as the choreography of a former company member, Kate Skarpetowska. “To be able to produce young artists is a complete joy,” Parsons says. “For me, it’s a part of dance.”

In the haunting and aptly titled A Stray’s Lullably (pictured above), Skarpetowska explores the world of the underdog. As car horns and street noise drift in and out, four dancers torque and twist in rounded phrases, hands reaching out and eyes focused down. They move in unison and then writhe separately, melting into hunched positions in slow motion as if floating in sea water. The two solos and duet tell the stories of four downtrodden pedestrians, each with yearning gestures and space-gobbling phrases.

[Read more →]

Two services push the theatre into online publishing

And then suddenly, the theatre entered the world of online publishing.

Until this year, scripts were largely absent from the booming field of ebooks, stranding readers who wanted to add their favorite dramas to their Kindle or Nook. In recent months, however, two services have emerged to fill the void.

In November, prominent play publisher Samuel French launched its eBook program. Customers can visit Apple’s iBookstore to download plays and musical by writers like Charles Busch and Israel Horovitz, with new titles being added regularly. Most scripts retail for $8.99, and soon, Samuel French will make them available at all digital retailers

[Read more →]

Inside Elizabeth Streb’s “extreme action” performance

When audiences enter the Park Avenue Armory for STREB: Kiss The Air, they will see a stadium of hardware and obstacles, complete with a pool, zip lines, a rotating 20-foot ladder, and a scaffold tower with three diving platforms. This is the STREB Extreme Action Company’s playground, where dancers fall, crawl, climb, and fly.

[Read more →]

David Hallberg is a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, and he recently made headlines by becoming the first American to join Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet.

Our friends at DancePulp, a website for professional dance and dancers, recently produced this outstanding video about Hallberg’s career and his ideas about dance. You can watch the video below, and to see more interviews with great dancers and choreographers, visit DancePulp here.

Chunky Move changes the rules of dance

There’s a massive paper net hanging over the floor. It’s suspended in the air by dozens of strings, and when they move, the net springs to life, undulating like a wave or swinging like a pendulum.

And then there are dancers. They move beneath the sculpture and beside it, creating elegant shapes with their paper partner. It’s an eerie, beautiful effect, and it makes Connected, the latest show from the Australian dance company Chunky Move, a striking part of the Joyce Theater’s fall season.

“[The sculpture] is mesmeric and organic,” says Gideon Obarzanek, the company’s founder and artistic director. “When it first moves, the audience gasps, giggling in awe. It’s very gratifying.”

[Read more →]