Neil Ellis Orts is a writer and performer, living in Houston. Visit him online at neilellisorts.com.
Since 2015, Houston dance audiences have been treated to the Barnstorm Dance Fest, produced by Dance Source Houston. Bringing together dance artists from Houston and across the nation, it has programmed modern/contemporary, ballet, tap, and classical Indian dance (to name only a few styles) comfortably next to each other. June 2023 will see Barnstorm do […]
Mind The Gap XXIV, March 28, 2023, had a unique lineup of dancers and choreographers. More than half of the pieces presented were of styles originating in India and Sri Lanka. It was a fitting context for Mimi diLuna’s two works, “Snowy-Silver Elephant” and “Hansadhwani: Voice of the Swan.” The two pieces are stories of […]
Heather VonReichbauer, through Bones and Memory Dance, has been building a body of work that explores the macabre and unsettling. Her previous full-length evening shows include Dark Waters (2017), an exploration of Appalachian murder ballads, and Madness, Memories, and Woe (2018) which delved into the life and literature of Edgar Allan Poe. Just before the […]
When Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan takes the stage at the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater, it will be their first performance in the USA since the pandemic began. The artistic director of the company, CHENG Tsung-lung, choreographed the work they’re presenting, 13 Tongues, a piece that incorporates the culture of a busy district in […]
Take a Ride with Open Dance Project’s Bonnie & Clyde Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, May 27-June 4 I’ll state up front that if anyone else in Houston was putting on a dance theater production about Bonnie and Clyde, I doubt that I would have given it a second glance. My interest in […]
A Story, A Song, and a Dance at Asia Society Texas Center, March 26, 2022 Concept and Choreography by Rathna Kumar Storytelling by Jean Donatto Flamenco by singer Irma La Paloma and guitarist Jeremy Garcia Indian music by violinist Abhishek Balakrishnan and percussionist Naga Srinidhi Indian Classical Dance by Rathna Kumar, Venugopal Josyula, and the Anjali Dance Company Artists of all […]
When Koresh Dance Company brings La Danse to the Kaplan Theatre at the Evelyn Rubinstein JCC on February 19, choreographer and artistic director Ronen Koresh brings along a personal history with the dance’s inspiration, Henri Matisse’s painting of the same name. “I had a poster of it in my bedroom as a kid,” says Koresh. […]
Musiqa and Open Dance Project Present Second Collaboration, Inside/Out Inside/Out is a program of two dance-for-film pieces, a collaboration between Houston’s “music collective,” Musiqa, contemporary dance company, Open Dance Project, and film artist James Templeton. The first film, “Moving Pieces,” is set in and around the Midtown Art and Theater Center Houston (MATCH) (“inside”). The […]
The Pilot Dance Project began its new season of projects by various choreographers with a site specific performance created by Ashley Horn. The Long Stay took place across three floors and several rooms in the distinguished downtown edifice known as the Hotel Icon. There were five performances across one Saturday afternoon, start times between 1:00pm […]
The notion of men dancing is often met with mixed reactions, not equally positive and negative. In too many cases, a presumption of homosexuality is made—and indeed, there is a history of prominent gay male dancers. Many male dancers report the awkwardness of often being the only male in a dance class, or at least […]
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