All stories by Gia Kourlas on BroadwayStars

Friday, January 15, 2021

‘Tiny Pretty Things’ Falls for Big Ugly Ballet Stereotypes by Gia Kourlas

Why is it so hard to show the dance world as it is? This Netflix series about students at a ballet school is yet another cartoonish depiction.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:44AM
Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Ann Reinking: Playful, Refined and With Legs for Days by Gia Kourlas

Discipline and abandon gave the dancer an ingrained elegance, an internal organization of the body that you sense even when it’s not pronounced.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:04PM
Thursday, April 9, 2020

Don’t Box Them In. Their Dancing Belongs to the World. by Gia Kourlas

Heather Lang and Ebony Williams of “Jagged Little Pill,” talk about their work on Broadway and dealing with life on pause.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:32AM
Monday, February 24, 2020

Jerome Robbins: You’re Missed in This ‘West Side Story,’ Daddy-o by Gia Kourlas

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s dances for the Broadway revival swarm and sweep, but Robbins’s choreography was something more central: the libretto.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Wednesday, November 20, 2019

My ‘Face Is My Voice’: A Deaf Dancer Lands Her Dream Role by Gia Kourlas

Alexandria Wailes deftly weaves choreography and American Sign Language in Ntozake Shange’s “For Colored Girls.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:54PM
Tuesday, November 5, 2019

A Choreographer Learns From the Club: ‘Live True, Dance Free’ by Gia Kourlas

Ephrat Asherie collaborates with her jazz pianist brother to place Ernesto Nazareth’s music in a world of breaking, house, hip-hop and vogue.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:03PM
Friday, September 20, 2019

What Happens When Extreme Action Meets Elusive Language? by Gia Kourlas

In Elizabeth Streb and Anne Bogart’s “Falling & Loving,” dancers and actors share the stage with the Guck Machine, which emits a waterfall of food andother objects.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:03PM
Thursday, July 25, 2019

Review: ‘Freddie Falls in Love,’ a Mixtape Dance-ical by Gia Kourlas

In Al Blackstone’s show, the songs are what set the characters on their journey, not the steps.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:06PM
Tuesday, June 11, 2019

This Choreographer Can Make Your Play Move by Gia Kourlas

Raja Feather Kelly, who has left his mark on several Off Broadway shows, specializes in what he calls “virtuosic behavior.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:06PM
Wednesday, May 29, 2019

There’s Great Dance on Broadway. Hello, Tony Awards? by Gia Kourlas

Standard or (worse yet) slight fare gets nominated for best choreography while quality work — “Oklahoma!,”“The Prom” — goes unrecognized. An exception: Camille A. Brown’s dance…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:06AM
Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Home Is Where the Greek Drama Is by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer and performance artist Ann Liv Young is using her Bushwick apartment — and her daughters and animals — in her version of “Antigone.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:54PM
Tuesday, April 16, 2019

A Dark ‘Oklahoma!’ Brings Barefoot Modern Dance to Broadway by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer John Heginbotham and the director Daniel Fish want the dance to “change the way we experience the show.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:39PM
Tuesday, March 19, 2019

She Dances. He Directs. How They Created a Balletic Battle of the Sexes. by Gia Kourlas

The wife-and-husband team of Sara Mearns and Joshua Bergasse talk about working together on “I Married an Angel” for Encores! Reader, she Lindy Hops.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:47PM
Sunday, March 17, 2019

When Extremes Attract: Dance and Horror’s New Pas de Deux by Gia Kourlas

Gaspar Noé’s “Climax” is the latest movie to push the ecstatic, frightening qualities of dance into horror. A body holds plenty of space for terror.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:40AM
Wednesday, February 13, 2019

#SpeakingInDance: The Heartbeat of ‘Choir Boy’ by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Camille A. Brown deftly uses the tradition of step to add “a heartbeat to the story” of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s musical play, now on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:24PM
Tuesday, December 18, 2018

At ‘The Prom’ on Broadway, It’s Time to Dance (and Flip) by Gia Kourlas

A talk with the director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw: “The world has gotten so serious. It’s time to be on a dance floor together.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:18PM
Tuesday, August 21, 2018

A Ballet Crowd, Bustin’ Out All Over ‘Carousel’ by Gia Kourlas

Amar Ramasar, Brittany Pollack and Craig Salstein get a chance to stretch on Broadway. With Justin Peck, they talk about the challenges and rewards.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:18PM
Thursday, June 21, 2018

This Angel in America Takes Wing With Help From 5 Shadows by Gia Kourlas

Using intricate choreography and cues, the Angel Shadows — dancers and puppeteers — propel the Angel into the air and operate her heavy wings.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:18AM
Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The Rockettes Own Christmas. But Spring Is a Tough Nut to Crack. by Michael Cooper and Gia Kourlas

They tried early spring, late spring and Harvey Weinstein. But the Rockettes have yet to create a warm-weather franchise to rival their Christmas show.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Shall They Dance? Making ‘La La Land’ Move by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Mandy Moore worked on Damien Chazelle’s movie musical. Among her jobs: teaching Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling how to dance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:35AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2016

About Last Night: Georgina Pazcoguin on Her First Broadway Opening Night, in ‘Cats’ by Gia Kourlas

Ms. Pazcoguin, a soloist with the New York City Ballet, plays the elegant Victoria in the current revival of “Cats” on Broadway.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:37AM
Sunday, July 31, 2016

Review: In ‘The Winter’s Tale,’ the Silk Flows Better Than the Steps by Gia Kourlas

Christopher Wheeldon’s adaptation of this Shakespearean romance, performed by the National Ballet of Canada, is part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:22PM
Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Channing Tatum Gives ‘Hail, Caesar!’ a Tap-Dancing Kick by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Christopher Gattelli’s “No Dames!” number in the film offered Mr. Tatum a showcase and took him out of his comfort zone.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:10PM
Tuesday, January 12, 2016

A New Director for Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival by Gia Kourlas

Pamela Tatge, the director of the Center for the Arts at Wesleyan University, is to take over beginning April 18.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 08:30PM
Thursday, December 17, 2015

Review: Bread and Puppet Theater Takes Up the Cause of a Puerto Rican Nationalist by Gia Kourlas

“The Seditious Conspiracy Theater Presents: A Monument to the Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera” casts the imprisoned man as a victim.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:44PM
Friday, October 30, 2015

In ‘Flesh and Bone,’ Moira Walley-Beckett Leaps Darkly Into Ballet by Gia Kourlas

Ms. Walley-Beckett, a “Breaking Bad” writer, applies a similar sensibility to the dance world in a new series for Starz.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:44PM
Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Critic’s Notebook: Misty Copeland Makes Her Broadway Debut in ‘On the Town’ by Gia Kourlas

Ms. Copeland, of American Ballet Theater, is briefly playing the role of Ivy, a.k.a. Miss Turnstiles, in the hit Jerome Robbins revival at the Lyric Theater.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:46PM
Thursday, July 16, 2015

The Whitney Embraces Dancenoise, a Brash ’80s Performance Duo by Gia Kourlas

The museum will showcase the work of Anne Iobst and Lucy Sexton, who brought an intense, highly choreographed whirlwind of unison dancing and brutal slapstick to the East Village.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:09PM
Monday, May 25, 2015

Prince’s Fate, Entwined With Desire by GIA KOURLAS

In “Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake” at City Center, Mr. Bourne’s reinterpretation of a classic raises the ballet’s inherent sexiness and gives Tchaikovsky’s m…

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:58PM
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Critic’s Notebook: ‘American Ballet Theater: A History,’ a PBS Documentary, Is a Love Letter to a Dance Form by Gia Kourlas

The film, an “American Masters” episode directed by Ric Burns, features interviews with critics, dancers and directors.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:40PM
Friday, May 8, 2015

Dance Review: Review: ‘NewYorknewyork @Astor Place,’ a Multilayered Production by Gia Kourlas

This dance-theater work from Mark Dendy at Joe’s Pub includes a cast of historical and contemporary characters from Astor Place and the surrounding area.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:07PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime