183 stories by "Leigh Witchel"
AILEY II " the farm team for the main troupe " is all about the new this year: Artistic director Troy Powell is new, as are seven dancers, and there's enough budding talent here to draw old …
When you put flamenco in a big theater, you risk turning an intimate art into an Iberian "Riverdance." But maybe that's not always such a bad thing.
As part of New York's 12th annual Flamen…
Modern dance legend Martha Graham was upstaged by her imitator Wednesday, when her company's opening program paired two riffs on Greek mythology. There was one by Graham and one by Richard M…
Is importing an evening of Balanchine's ballets to his home base like bringing beans to Boston? Not when it brings us a dancer who's matured into a full-fledged ballerina.
Pacific Northwest …
The spills on Tuesday's opening night at New York City Ballet didn't chill the festivities. There was one fall in each of the three pieces that introduced the company's two-week Tschaikovsky…
As the title suggests, there's more talking than turning in "From the Horse's Mouth." But if you've ever wondered about the lives of male dancers and choreographers, here's your chance to fi…
Variety is the spice of Ailey. As artistic director Robert Battle winds up his second season, he continues to broaden the repertory " making for programming where the choreography is (almost…
Since opening at the Joyce last week, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has had a surfeit of swans: white, black and even dying ones. Those birds of a feather were the best of a funny fl…
How do you keep your act fresh after 40 years? Mummenschanz knows but, as always, nobody's talking.
The singular hybrid of mime and puppetry the Swiss-based group created seems awfully low-t…
There's more to Alvin Ailey's annual City Center season than "Revelations." Yet there's a reason why it's on so many of the bills: like "The Nutcracker," it's something you should see at lea…
It's a variation on the classic nightmare: finding yourself onstage in a dance recital " but you don't know how to dance. And that's exactly what happens in "Untrained," the cheeky, fun show…
Talk about a rare show of bipartisan support! Both first daughter Caroline Kennedy and right-wing billionaire David Koch were part of a cheering crowd Thursday night for American Ballet Thea…
Take a bunch of good dancers, add every modern dance cliché in the book " then multiply by three. The exciting but predictable product would be Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's triple bill.
The trou…
The only flowers in the flamenco show "Flores para los Muertos" ("Flowers for the Dead") are in the dancers' hair. But for what Noche Flamenca delivered Wednesday night " emotional singing, …
There's no better way for New York City Ballet to kick off its fall season than with a celebration of its Dynamic Duo: George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky. Tuesday night's opening featured…
Brooklyn's newest performance space " the $50 million BAM Richard B. Fisher building, with 250 seats that can change configurations " is being opened by an artist just as versatile.
That's J…
For this year's Mostly Mozart Festival, Mark Morris stayed off the stage and climbed into the orchestra pit.
And what's coming out of there " where Morris conducts the festival orchestra, t…
Watching Michael Smuin's "Medea" is like freebasing kitsch. From its first image of the heroine wrapped in an enormous purple cape that is smoking " literally " you're in for something compl…
Six dancers, one 4 1/2 -minute song . . . 32 costume changes. You'd think Trish Sie's "Skyscrapers" would be a multi-car collision. Instead, it's the most colorful work of Pilobolus' season …
Death be not proud, but Paris Opera Ballet should be " of its stunning production of Pina Bausch's "Orpheus and Eurydice," the tale of the man who dared to rescue his bride from the underwor…
The circus just came to town " and its name is Pilobolus. The acrobatic dancers opened their season Monday with a show heavy on stage magic and light on depth: a sort of pint-size Cirque du …
You can't take anything about "Le Corsaire" seriously " except the dancing. American Ballet Theatre's swashbuckling ballet is like "The Abduction from the Seraglio" meets "The Pirates of Pen…
Shantala Shivalingappa is so versatile a dancer, you'd think she could go from the silks and bells of Indian dance to strapping on pointe shoes and dancing "Swan Lake." And at "Namasya," her…
When Angel Corella first auditioned for the American Ballet Theatre, the company's principal dancer of 16 years likened himself to a creature not known for its graceful moves.
"I was like t…
The audience couldn't let go of Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg on Monday night at American Ballet Theatre " even though they were due to return in 15 minutes. The two were so magical, th…
