By Michael Wade Simpson When Beth Gulledge-Brown from Uptown Dance Company approached Randall Flinn, director of Ad Deum, with an idea about collaborating, she wasn’t just asking him to choreograph for her company. Her idea was more radical—to turn both groups into one company over a two month period—a complete blending of dancers, directors and […]
Samskriti Dances the Stories of Vishnu Dashavatar. It has a simple meaning. “Avatar” means “incarnation.” “Dasha” means “ten.” Hence, Dashavatar refers to the ten incarnations of the Hindu deity, Vishnu. Samskriti, a Houston based Indian performing arts company, will be presenting Dashavatar on Sunday, April 6, at 5pm at the Cullen Theater, Wortham Center. Conceived […]
If you’ve been watching dance in Houston for less than a decade, it is possible the name Dana Nicolay won’t ring a bell. Nicolay’s company, Nicolay Dance Works, brings Timeline to The Barn (formerly Barnevelder Movement/Arts) February 28 and March 1. Those longer acquainted may recall that Nicolay first arrived as a Houston Ballet apprentice […]
Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq: War, terrorism, and the atrocities committed daily by human beings against each other have become so widespread that it is almost impossible to take in. World War II seems a million years ago. Choreographer Carolyn Dorfman was raised by Holocaust survivors. Her mother and aunt escaped annihilation in a prison camp […]
Dance Month Honors Betty Morgan with New and Old Faces By Toni Valle Dance Month at the Kaplan Theatre is aptly named – it’s an entire month of dance works, choreographers, master teachers, companies and dancers. 2014 marks its thirty-fourth year, and though it may not seem like a milestone, it also happens to be […]
Escape is the chief appeal of fantasy. Whether it’s Narnia, or Middle Earth, or say, the world of My Little Pony, fantasy offers an alternate realm where imagination is the all-powerful prime mover. For Maggie Lasher, artistic director of ChinaCat Dance, fantasy is also the wellspring of creation. In addition to those adorable, starry-eyed equines, […]
Amanda K. Miller-Fasshauer always hopes for a very organic process when making art. Her medium is movement. She is a choreographer and a dancer, but sees herself very much like a gardener. “I plant the seeds: poetry, ideas, music, wishes, and then watch it grow. And, like a gardener, I tend to it meticulously, care […]
Typically people keep their most intimate thoughts to themselves. Pubescent girls with sneaky younger brothers or the particularly paranoid may even keep theirs under lock and key. Artists like Amy Llanes, however, process intimate thoughts through choreography and then share them publicly on stage. Her company Rednerrus Feil Dance presents its first full-length event, Into-Me-See, […]
Two to Watch: Laura Edson and Sidra Bell Create New Works for The Houston Met’s 2|2 By Michael Wade Simpson Houston Metropolitan Dance Company’s artistic director, Marlana Doyle, clearly has a mission in bringing freelance choreographersfrom all over the US to work with her dancers. “The diversity of dances creates more versatile dancers, and the […]
Jessica Lang Dance stops in Dallas and Houston Jessica Lang paints movements in broad strokes, making her one of the most visually exciting choreographers in the dance world. Houston’s Society of Performing Arts presents Jessica Lang Dance (JLD) on Sept. 20, following the TITAS presentation in Dallas on Sept. 14. My first introduction to Lang […]
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