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 […]
This is a story about the most surreal experience I’ve ever had. It may read like a novel by Haruki Murakami or like some modern Alice in Wonderland in which Alice is 33 years old and drives a Subaru. But this story isn’t fiction. It happened to me on Friday, August 18th at Frame Dance. […]
Fifteen years ago, I was sitting in the audience of the Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, scribbling notes in the dark as I watched Program B of that year’s Big Range Dance Festival. My review of that evening was one of my earliest dance writings for Dance Source Houston. All these years later, I found myself again […]
I. Physical Site The Delicate Space took place in the yard of a house in north Houston, just inside the Loop. It is the home where Adam Castañeda, the artistic director of the Pilot Dance Project, grew up. This knowledge immediately lends weight to the production. Words like “childhood home” have emotional content that can […]
In 1968, the whole world was watching one of the most tumultuous years in American history unfold at home on television. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. Bobby Kennedy, still mourning his brother along with the country, was killed only a few months later. The nation’s young adults mobilized in protest against our […]
The great Indian subcontinent celebrated seventy-five years of independence from British colonial rule on August 15, 2022. To commemorate this significant milestone, Silambam Houston, under the executive and artistic direction of Lavanya Rajagopalan, presented Waking Up Free: India’s Journey, on March 31, 2023. The evening-length production, created in collaboration with Shri Silambam Academy in Chennai, […]
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 […]
Joel Aguilera is a choreographer who has been gradually making his mark in Houston over the past few seasons. His work has appeared in several high-profile showcases, including Dance Source Houston’s Barnstorm Dance Fest, Dance Houston’s Annual Celebration of Dance, and Dance Source Houston’s Mind the Gap series. I recognized Aguilera’s rising star a few […]
The power of Stacey Allen, the founder of Nia’s Daughters Movement Collective, is her ability to merge African American-Texas history, pedagogy, Diasporic African concepts and culture, with her extensive contemporary and African dance training. She does so expertly with her latest work, The Fairytale Project, a multi-disciplinary dance theater piece for children that reimagines the […]
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