Category — Dance

From now through April 1st, the Paul Taylor Dance Company is performing at Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater.

Now that doesn’t sound so extraordinary, does it? But this is the first time a major American modern dance company has performed a season at the Koch.  This marks a major moment in the history of Lincoln Center, one of the country’s preeminent performing arts centers, and in the history of modern dance.

The company will perform 21 dances during its spring season. Some date as far back as 1956, and one is a new piece that Taylor choreographed just months ago. Taken together, the dances will highlight why Taylor has been acclaimed as a master choreographer whose work captures everything from darkness to humor, from ugliness to beauty.

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Charles Reinhart, former director of the American Dance Festival, serves as Dance Chair for TDF’s Board of Directors

Choreographer Jody Oberfelder follows the heart

When it comes to art and music, nothing is more cliché than “matters of the heart.” So when choreographer Jody Oberfelder began work on THROB, a new piece about the vital organ, she knew she had to be innovative. Fascinated by both science and emotion, Oberfelder read textbooks, interviewed cardiologists, and looked deeply into her own visceral experience. “I want to be sure it’s not a Hallmark card,” she explains. “I’m going more for the endurance and heroics of life itself.”

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The epic emotion in Crystal Pite’s choreography

In Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite’s The You Show, dancers are superheroes. While they may not be literally scaling walls of burning buildings or flying through the night, they bear love and loss with the gusto of everyday champions.

At the U.S. Premiere of The You Show, which runs this Thursday and Friday at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Pite hopes audiences will absorb heroism and recognize it in their own personal stories of grace and power.

Pite’s dance company, Kidd Pivot Frankfurt RM, began in Canada but has recently taken up a 3-year residency in Frankfurt at Küstlerhaus Mousonturm

Originally a member of William Forsythe’s Ballet Frankfurt, Pite’s captivating perspective in recent pieces such as Dark Matter and The Tempest Replica have provoked both acclaim and curiosity.

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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.

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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

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