Rivkah French Choreography (RFC) presented the inaugural Limitless Festival weekend of dance November 1-3 of this year at the always inviting DeLuxe Theater on Lyons Street in Houston’s Fifth Ward. The location – and the fact that Fifth Ward residents were invited to participate in the fest for free – is characteristic of RFC’s ethos […]
According to the Sangita Raknakara, a definitive musicological text from 13th century India, when vocals, instruments, and dance come together, “music is born.” On a recent mid-fall evening at the Kaplan Theater at the ERJCC, Kalpana Subbarao and her collaborators prepared to share the virtuosic rhythmic compositions and choreography that made up the 5×5 program, […]
Performers: Ariaza Ariaza, Lindsay Cortner, Gabrielle De La Rosa, Isabella Mireles VikSound piece: Jamie Hernandez 2024 Texas Biennial, Blaffer Art Museum/Dudley Recital Hall, University of HoustonOctober 17, 2024 Just a year ago, the Dance Dish ran an artist highlight on Isabella Mireles Vik that described her work as visceral and challenging, potentially disturbing to an audience. […]
“We’re in the universe and the universe is in us.” Resonating over projected images of the cosmos, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s breathy baritone poetically summarizes our connection not only to the stars in our vast universe but to one another. Science, it turns out, posits what mystics, spiritual teachers and artists have suggested all along: We […]
Choreographing Memory: Mark Aguilar Explores His Sister’s Experiences “Metamorfosis”Choreographer – Mark AguilarPerformer – Aniya Wingate Mark Aguilar’s six-and-a-half minute dance, “Metamorfosis,” starts with a montage of home video, at least one of which is date-stamped in 2009. The focus is children. Driving kiddie racecars and bumper cars. Swinging in a backyard. A family activity taking […]
I imagine each member of the audience for The Pilot Dance Project’s evening-length work Aureate leaving The DeLuxe Theater in Houston’s Fifth Ward mentally clasping their own tendrils of meaning. Within the tapestry woven by Artistic Director Adam Castan͂eda and choreographer/designer Ashley Horn, one might focus on individual themes like the natural world, sacred iconography, […]
On June 7, 2024 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, Silambam Houston presented a curious and intriguing theatrical thesis in mining the commonalities of South Indian and Baroque dance and music. I was eager to see Artistic Director Lavanya Rajagopalan’s vision come to life in The Baroque-Carnatic Connection, as both worlds live as disparate entities in […]
I have been thinking a lot about personal history lately. I have been interested, not so much in genealogy, but the architecture that goes deeper than bone, the family myths that make everyday life extraordinary. When you live in the same community your entire life, you understand that the past, present, and future often exist […]
The Maargam in the south Indian classical dance form of Bharatanatyam has always held a fascination for me. Conceived as a format for the traditional solo recital, the Maargam represents the idea of an emotional, spiritual journey undertaken by a dancer through her repertoire, on which, if the performer is sufficiently skilled, the audience is […]
6 Degrees Artistic Director Toni Leago Valle explores the three-ring circus that is contemporary politics in her latest show, POP DEMO, which runs through September 23 at the MATCH (3400 Main Street). The show’s characters are rendered as political cartoons who inhabit a 1920s-style speakeasy; Travis Prokop as Monsieur Ballista preening at the entrance reinforces […]
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