Reviews

Chapman Dance Provides a Welcome Sanctuary

Chapman Dance Provides a Welcome Sanctuary

Standing in line at the MATCH box office; sliding into a stranger-adjacent seat while sending a wave to an acquaintance on the opposite side of the intimate theater; noting the hush as house lights dim; joining the eruption of applause for our host issuing welcomes and reminders — dancegoing is vaguely familiar. Even if we […]

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The Rhythm Lives As They Enter – Review of Kalpana Subbarao’s Ritmo Zindagi

The Rhythm Lives As They Enter – Review of Kalpana Subbarao’s Ritmo Zindagi

Foot-tapping is an understatement when describing this heart-pounding work. A pulsating rhythm pumping life into the theater, Kalpana Subbarao’s Ritmo Zindagi (Rhythm of Life) is electrifying. The Spark Dance Grant recipient presented an outstanding new work in Act 1 of Silambam Houston’s August 13th performance at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The performance commences in darkness, with […]

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Dance Gallery Festival’s Eleven Course Texas Experience

Dance Gallery Festival’s Eleven Course Texas Experience

After marking its 13th year in New York City just last weekend, the Dance Gallery Festival (DGF), made its annual leap to Texas, celebrating its tenth year at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville on Oct. 4 and 5. Held at the hilltop James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center, the sold-out Friday evening […]

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Ashley Horn’s The Long Stay—The Pilot Dance Project

Ashley Horn’s The Long Stay—The Pilot Dance Project

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 […]

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Closing the Loop: Jefferson Pinder’s Fire and Movement

Closing the Loop: Jefferson Pinder’s Fire and Movement

I first met Ashley DeHoyos, Assistant Curator for DiverseWorks, Jefferson Pinder, the director of Fire and Movement, and Joseph Lefthand, who led drill instruction for the performers, on a balmy summer day in midtown Houston at a coffee house that was once a gas station. It seemed the perfect location to discuss with the Fire […]

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Gentle/Men – John Beasant and Dancers

Gentle/Men – John Beasant and Dancers

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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Delving Into History In Order To Move Forward

Delving Into History In Order To Move Forward

Delving Into History In Order To Move Forward: the unnamed three’s Hatch, and Brother(hood) Dance’s HAWA (The Ride), in collaboration with the Pilot Dance Project I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.—Bell Hooks If I didn’t define myself for myself, […]

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Bodies of Light – A Review

Bodies of Light – A Review

I’d watched the construction of Nestor Topchy’s inner Loop art compound, Facebook post by Facebook post, but had not visited until the April 13th performance of  Bodies of Light, choreographed by Rebecca French. Few venues would have been as well suited as the Glass Crescent, one of the performance spaces on the property. I sat […]

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“I Don’t Know Who This Is For”: In the loosening grip, jhon r. stronks explores gender performance

“I Don’t Know Who This Is For”: In the loosening grip, jhon r. stronks explores gender performance

As a biracial, queer, nonbinary writer and artist, I always ask a person upon first introduction what pronouns they use. Although I’d met dancer/choreographer jhon r. stronks before, we’d never spoken at any length in person. Over email I asked Stronks what pronouns to use in this review (among other questions), but to this question, […]

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The Dance Gallery Festival/Texas Experience: Offering a Taste of the Trajectory of Contemporary Choreography in New York and Texas

The Dance Gallery Festival/Texas Experience: Offering a Taste of the Trajectory of Contemporary Choreography in New York and Texas

For two nights at the Gaertner Performing Arts Center Dance Theater at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), audiences partook of ten pieces by ten different artists chosen from over 300 submissions, reflecting a tightly woven network between Huntsville, Texas, and New York City. The duet-heavy show offered a progressive dance dinner to the nearly-full house, […]

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