Past the pottery yurts, glass-blowing demonstrations, and children’s theatres, a troupe of dancers practiced enthusiastically in the Hall of Mirrors at the recent Glen Echo Park Open House. Jan Tievsky, manager of the new Dana Tai Soon Burgess studio at the Park, invited passersby to watch the company as they practiced for an upcoming performance […]
Washington Ballet looks to past to begin future with Julie Kent
When new leadership takes the reins of an arts institution, the focus tends to be on where the company is going in the future. For the new Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet, Julie Kent, however, her first season will open with a celebration of the company’s past.
Terra Firma Dance at Dance Place
Even if you think of yourself as being more cultured than the average American, it can be hard to work up the courage to attend ballet performances. What if it’s too long? What if it’s boring?
Learn some new moves, DC, this Saturday is National Dance Day
Celebrate National Dance Day 2016 with free dance classes and performances this Saturday, July 30 from 1 to 11 pm at The Kennedy Center. Sponsored by The Kennedy Center and Dizzy Feet Foundation, the festival includes free dance routines and lessons, outdoor performances, and live music.
Mats Ek’s Juliet and Romeo at The Kennedy Center (review)
The audience in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center last night was buzzing for the North American Premiere of Juliet and Romeo by the choreographer Mats Ek, performed by the Swedish National Ballet. The large European ballet companies are better-funded and simply better than many U.S. companies and while Ek is lesser-known (even among […]
Spoleto Festival USA 2016 celebrates its 40th anniversary (review)
Last time I was here in 2013 I was swept into the flurry of opening celebrations, including the noontime grandstand with mayoral speeches and brass band and the late night garden party for sponsors, complete with celebrity gawking and southern finery sightings.
Paul Taylor Company (review), elegant, genteel, pretty and fun to watch
When Jerry Garcia died I remember thinking, “I wish I’d seen the Grateful Dead live.” Everyone talks about how amazing they were in concert and even though I was never a Dead Head I wish I had experienced it firsthand.
Community shocked by loss of Dance Institute of Washington founder Fabian Barnes
Under mysterious circumstances, Washington, D.C. has lost one of its most dynamic leaders, Fabian Barnes, founder of the Dance Institute of Washington (DIW). More than an arts leader, Mr. Barnes used dance to positively impact a generation of Washington children.
The Mariinsky’s colossal Raymonda shines at the Kennedy Center
If you go see the Coliseum in Rome you don’t need to talk about the dust, or the cracks in the walls. It is, of course, a very old building but you don’t think, “Gosh, they should add some new concrete and even out these walls.” Similarly when you see The Mariinsky Ballet’s evening length […]
Giselle
Intricate cut-outs of luscious trees arch over the stage, and a painted drop shows rolling hills through a gap in the woods. Warm golden light beams into the forest glen, and a little cottage leans out onto the stage. As the pliant suitors of our heroine Giselle stride into the frame, our guileless peasant girl […]