All stories by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star on BroadwayStars

Saturday, March 11, 2023

National Ballet’s latest Cinderella a perfectly sweet revival of Kudelka masterpiece by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

As Cinderella, Genevieve Penn Nabity has grace and technique to spare, writes Michael Crabb. Following leads in “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker” she is no longer a star in the making…

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:58PM
Friday, March 3, 2023

Two debuts plus George Balanchine equal National Ballet mixed program by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

David Dawson and Rena Butler are new to National Ballet audiences.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:22PM
Wednesday, February 8, 2023

‘Songs for Murdered Sisters’: Margaret Atwood poems set to music to honour opera baritone Joshua Hopkins’ murdered sister by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

‘It was always our intention to create a piece that would help wake people up to the epidemic that is intimate partner and gender-based violence ... the advocacy is extremely important to …

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 11:32AM
Thursday, February 2, 2023

Alvin Ailey company returns to Toronto with a dance work about Nelson Mandela by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

“Survivor” was made in 1986 response to Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment, but it’s a “universal statement about injustice.”

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:51PM
Tuesday, January 31, 2023

What’s so exciting about Throwdown Collective’s revolving stage? Depends how you look at it by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

‘Turn the dial to the maximum 15 revolutions per minute and it’s all they can do to stop getting flung off’

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Passion for Blacks in Dance unites 500 artists in immersive Toronto gathering by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

‘A global event like this, dedicated to Black artists offers encouragement. Just fight hard and put your work out there.’

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Friday, January 20, 2023

Indigenous origin story is honoured in Red Sky Performance’s ‘Miigis: Underwater Panther’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The dance work, a collaboration with Canadian Stage, refers to the sea-snail shells that played a guiding role in the great migration over many centuries of Indigenous peoples.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Sunday, December 11, 2022

National Ballet’s triumphant return of The Nutcracker by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet is back with many changes — all of them good.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:52PM
Tuesday, December 6, 2022

WinterSong’s ‘Holiday Season’ show gives high school-age hopefuls a leg up in the dance world by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre’s annual WinterSong performance features the lore and traditions around the winter solstice.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Thursday, November 24, 2022

National Ballet’s ‘MADDADDAM’ is a sensory feast of sights and sounds by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Wayne McGregor’s adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s postapocalyptic “MaddAddam Trilogy” is at times overwhelming but also an undeniably thrilling experience.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:45PM
Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Newton Moraes, like other artists, has struggled. That reality is onstage in ‘Life Under My Skin’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Moraes’ company celebrates its 25th anniversary with a show on the Harbourfront stage where his Toronto dance career began.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Thursday, November 10, 2022

Review: National Ballet of Canada’s season-launching triple bill offers cosmic timelessness, jubilance, and a few too many moves by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Three works — ‘Crepuscular,’ ‘The Collective Agreement,’ and ‘Concerto,’ achieve varying levels of success

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:49AM
Monday, November 7, 2022

Kaeja d’Dance celebrates its 30th anniversary with ‘31’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Husband-and-wife co-founders Allen and Karen Kaeja explore the concepts of touch and of identity and memory in double bill.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 10:00AM

Toronto ballet lovers: Meet Alonzo King by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

National Ballet of Canada artistic director Hope Muir brings King’s “The Collective Agreement” to the stage and revives a long neglected Kenneth MacMillan work.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Claudia Moore — incandescent dancer, choreographer, mentor and instigator of imaginative projects — is leaving the Toronto dance scene by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

After a new version of the popular “Older & Reckless,” Moore is ceding MOonhORsE Dance to other, unidentified hands and moving west to be with her children and grandchildren.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Monday, October 24, 2022

In his ‘Double Murder’ double dance bill, Hofesh Shechter balances bleakness with hope by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Shechter has paired the violent “Clowns” with the gentler “The Fix” on a world tour that stops at Toronto’s Harbourfront.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:06PM
Wednesday, October 12, 2022

New production of Pina Bausch’s version of ‘Rite of Spring’ features African dance troupe by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Bausch would almost certainly have been delighted by what the foundation dedicated to preserving her artistic legacy, in partnership with Senegal’s internationally renowned African contemp…

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Friday, September 30, 2022

Stage version of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ makes a delightful splash at the Princess of Wales Theatre by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

There’s so much of water, not just during the title song — cue iconic umbrella and lamppost — but also in the grand finale that patrons in the front rows are likely to get wet.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:07PM
Monday, September 19, 2022

Dance with the stars: Toronto’s Fall for Dance North returns with in-person shows, audience pleasers and watch-from-home options by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Indigenous Liberation, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and the National Ballet all part of celebration continuing to Oct. 8.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:00PM

In ‘Beautiful Renegades,’ Peggy Baker mines Toronto’s 1970s dance rebellion by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The dance-drama hybrid at the Theatre Centre, the final work of Peggy Baker Dance Projects, honours the avant-garde performances at 15 Dance Lab.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 09:00AM
Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Nova Bhattacharya’s ‘Svāhā!’ celebrates female energy with a mash-up of diverse dance styles by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The cast of 22 women represents more 30 forms of dance, including Bharatanatyam, jazz, hip hop, tap, modern and classical ballet.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 08:00AM
Monday, August 15, 2022

National Ballet launches season with free outdoor performances at Harbourfront by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

This is the second year in a row that the National Ballet has partnered with Harbourfront Centre to produce “Sharing the Stage” at the canopied, waterside 1,100-seat Concert Stage.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Friday, August 12, 2022

Let’s Dance: ‘Visionary’ new Yensa festival celebrates Black women artists by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The festival unfolds with open-to-all dance workshops and other features from August 19 to 28, including two evenings of performances at Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Thursday, August 4, 2022

Dancing in the park: Dusk Dances’ brings pay-what-you can live performance back to Withrow Park, with a few twists by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Go for a whimsical walk, as an emcee and performers delight and enchant with an event that first ran in 1993.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:00AM
Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Theatre-circus-dance hybrid ‘Anthropic Traces’ asks: ‘What do we want to leave behind?’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

“Anthropic Traces” is an unclassifiable synthesis of circus arts, dance, music, mask, multimedia and theatre that reflects on the continuing impact of humanity on our fragile planet.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 02:11PM
Monday, July 18, 2022

Ballet Jörgen brings the romantic spirt of Anne Shirley to Toronto in its ‘Anne of Green Gables’ ballet by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

At a cost of a million dollars, “Anne of Green Gables — The Ballet” is the company’s most expensive and ambitious production to date.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 01:09PM
Monday, June 27, 2022

Dance work at Harbourfront holds a mirror to our need to be loved by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Alan Lucien Øyen’s “Story, story, die” is “basically about our desire to be recognized” and the lies we tell to present a lovable image.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:06PM
Monday, May 2, 2022

A mythical creature and human misbehaviour are at the heart of Guillaume Côté’s ‘Crypto’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

“Let’s say it’s an adult fairy tale,” says the dancer and choreographer of his multimedia work, which draws inspiration from cryptozoology and “The Little Mermaid.”

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 04:30PM
Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Baritone Simone Piazzola celebrates 200 performances as Giorgio Germont in ‘La Traviata’ by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

“The challenge is not to make this character a villain,” says Piazzola, who will mark his first 200 performances with the Canadian Opera Company May 3.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 05:27PM
Thursday, April 7, 2022

Another male dancer leaves the National Ballet as Brendan Saye departs for Vienna by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The National Ballet of Canada needs an experienced man to take his place. Artistic director Hope Muir says she has a plan.

SOURCE: Toronto Star at 03:46PM

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