Category Archives: Dance

Oct 26

Some Restrictions May Apply: “Cirque of the Dead”

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Photo is not representative of this year’s “Cirque of the Dead.” Still cool, though. 

Presented by the Boston Circus Guild with Circus 617
Written by Tim Ellis
Directed by Eileen Little
Dance Choreography by Mandy Hackman, Ellen Waylonis
Featuring: Alex Jackson, Ellen Waylonis, Jenna Ciotta, Mandy Hackman, Nana Okada, Rachel Barringer, Rin Judith, Tim Ellis, Tori Markwalder
The online playbill

Oct 24 – Oct 31, 2024
Arts at the Armory
Somerville, MA

Doors open 30 minutes before showtime. Runtime is about 90 minutes with a short intermission.
This show is 18+ only, due to graphic/disturbing content.

Review by Kitty Drexel

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — This year’s Cirque of the Dead chronicles the fictitious (or is it?) Cirque of the Dead Historical Society of the 1920s Somerville spiritualist movement. Watch as three psychic mediums materialize ectoplasm from their bodies and commune with the spirit realm to convince a team of Harvard professors (Go Crimson!) and one MIT adjunct (Go Tech!) of their gifts. Tim Ellis and Tori Markwalder emcee the event. How does this match up with the choreography of New Kids on the Block, N*Sync and the Backstreet Boys? Perhaps the boy bands are defenders against the dark arts? You’ll have to attend to find out! 

Supernatural phenomena abound as the occult battles rigid logic for truth equity amongst the masses. Patrons are welcome to dress up in their ookiest, spookiest costumes. The bar is open to distribute libations to 21+ living and nonliving attendees.   Continue reading →

May 07

Glimpses of Brilliance: “Ailey Classics”

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Photo: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s “For Bird – With Love.” Photo by Paul Kolnik

Presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston
Performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey, founder
Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita
Matthew Rushing, interim artistic director

May 2 – 5, 2024
Boch Center, Wang Theatre
270 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON, Mass. — Choreographer Alvin Ailey often felt the need to mask much of his private life to the public, but he unabashedly shared the emotion of his art with audiences. A publicly closeted gay Black man with bipolar disorder who grew up in the southern United States during the height of the brutality of the Jim Crow era, he staged heartfelt shows reflecting the highs and lows of Black life through dance.

In a 1973 New York Times Magazine interview, he said of his shows, “They are as honest and truthful as we can make them. I’m interested in putting something on stage that will have a very wide appeal without being condescending; that will reach an audience and make it part of the dance.”

That emotional integrity of Ailey’s work was evident in the recent staging of Ailey Classics, featuring excerpts of his most well-known works by the dance troupe he founded. More than 30 years after Ailey’s death, there were moments on stage when it felt as if he were personally greeting each member of the audience through his art. Continue reading →

Feb 12

Flipping a Tragedy on Its Head: “Duel Reality”

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Duel Reality – Mât Chinois, Credit: Arata Urawa

Presented by Arts Emerson
Originally produced and created with Virgin Voyages
Directed by Shana Carrol
Performed by The 7 Fingers
Based on Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Featuring Nicolas Jelmoni, Soen Geinaert, Danny Vrijsen, Einar Kling-Odencrants, Anni Küpper,
Andreas De Ryck, Aerial Emery ou Méliejade Tremblay-Bouchard, Andrew Price, Kalani June,
Arata Urawa
Music by Colin Gagné
Lighting by Alexander Nichols
Acrobatic Coach: Francisco Cruz

February 7-19, 2024
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON, Mass. — In a presidential election year, can American audiences find joy in a Shakespeare-based tragedy about red-versus-blue factionalism?

Yes, thanks to the joyous movement-based storytelling that The 7 Fingers artistic collaborative brings to the stage. This troupe dazzles by combining snippets of dialogue and the heart of Romeo and Juliet with an hour-long air-defying spectacle of acrobatics that is likely to leave you smiling and at the edge of your seat. Continue reading →

Jun 26

Absurdly Cool, Athletic, Glorious: KAIROS Dance Theater and Renaissance Men present: “Folktales, Fables & Feasts”

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Gorgeous poster art for the event.

Presented by KAIROS Dance Theater and Renaissance Men
Performed with Sound Icon Ensemble
Artistic Director/choreographer: DeAnna Pellecchia
Music director/conductor: Eric Christopher Perry
Rehearsal director: Kristin Wagner
Master of Ceremonies: Hieu Nguyen
Videographer: Christian de Rezendes, Breaking Branches Pictures
Film/video designer: Lindsay Caddle Lapointe
Dramaturgy by D. MacMillan

June 24 & 25, 2023
BU Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA

BOSTON, Mass. — KAIROS Dance Theater with the Renaissance Men with the minty fresh instrumentals of Sound Icon Ensemble presented Folktales, Fables & Feasts, a playful cabaret-style music and dance concert on June 24 and 25 at the BU Tsai Center.  The dance was modern and the vocals were operatic, but the concert was satisfyingly new and jaunty.  Continue reading →

Feb 13

Like Devils Over an Open Flame: “Sacre” by Circa

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Circa performers in “Sacre.” O Robert Torres for CSB

Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
Commissioned by Merrigong Theatre Company.
Co-produced by La Comete
Created by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble
Based on Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)
Music by Philippe Bachman & Igor Stravinsky
Directed by Yaron Lifschitz

Feb. 9-11, 2023
Boch Center Shubert Theatre
265 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Kitty Drexel

Production warning: This production uses theatrical haze, smoke, and strobe effects. There are sections where the music will be loud.

Boston, MA — Circa contemporary circus’ Sacre is to the circus what Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps) is to classical music. History has refined their cultural significance. Neither are intended for children or the faint of heart. 

The gatekeepers of classical music remember the May 29th, 1913 premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring for its violent riot at the Paris Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. While there are no official accounts, personal accounts from opera composer Giacomo Puccini and Le Figaro critic, composer, and musicologist Henri Quittard (whose infamy lives on to this day), described the production in terms of its barbarism and inelegance.  Continue reading →

Dec 05

Slick Christmas Dreams: “‘Twas the Night Before…”

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Presented by Cirque du Soleil
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November 25 – December 11th, Wednesdays Through Sundays, various times
Boch Center – Wang Theatre
270 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON — If you are an aspiring fiction writer in whatever genre and have a good idea for a Christmas-themed show, I suggest you pursue it. If our 365-day lust for Hallmark Christmas movies is any indication, there is always a need for more content, and, frankly, most of the ideas that are out there are mediocre at best.

Of course, as an honest critic, I should always take my own idiosyncrasies into account, and how it might differ from the viewpoint of others. I like a low-key Christmas season, and many people don’t, and this difference can color our perspectives on yuletide spectacle. Continue reading →

Oct 13

Can’t Stop the Beat: “Drumfolk”

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Photo from https://artsemerson.org/events/drumfolk/

Presented by ArtsEmerson
Performed by Step Afrika!
Directed by Jakari Sherman
Composed by Steven M. Allen
Mask Design by Erik Teague
Lighting by Marianne Meadows
Sound designed by Patrick Calhoun and engineered by Danielle McBride
Costumes by Kenaan M. Quander
Step Afrika! was founded by C. Brian Williams, with Mfoniso Akpan serving as Artistic Director

October 5 – 16, 2022, 8 p.m., with weekend matinees at 2 p.m.
Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
219 Tremont Street
Boston, MA 02116
Drumfolk is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Review by Craig Idlebrook

BOSTON — The Africans who were stolen from their continent to become slaves in the American colonies and many of their descendants created and continue to recreate strong ties of family, music, and community while the forces of white supremacy continually work to strip away their efforts and deny their humanity. This process is as constant as waves cresting on the shore. It can be traced back to the earliest days of the colonization of what would become the United States. Continue reading →

May 19

This is the Future Progressive Theatremakers Want: A “Firebird” Ballet

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Crappy screencap of a screen photos by Kitty Drexel

Presented by Abilities Dance Boston
Based on the Slavic firebird folktale
Choreography by Ellice Patterson with the ensemble
Music composed and directed by Andrew Choe
The Firebird program has full cast and crew information

May 14 & 15, 2021
Livestreamed from the Wimberly Theatre at the Calderwood Pavillion
Boston, MA
Abilities Dance on Facebook

Critique by Kitty Drexel

BOSTON/YouTube — The pressure to create during quarantine reached monstrous enormity. For every normie Tom, Delia, and Harrison Ford who worked on a script because Lear was written during a pandemic, an artist with a resume of successes couldn’t polish their abilities because they were too busy surviving the next 24-hours. 

Survival for the disabled arts community means something very different than it does the abled community. Jobs for disabled artists didn’t merely dwindle. They vanished overnight. Some of those jobs may never reappear. 

Our priorities went from managing a job to managing continued existence in a world actively trying to kill them: doctors appointments and surgeries were canceled, elevators became vectors for disease, carers were transferred to essential service positions. We went from demanding plastic straws in restaurants to demanding our right to live at all. It felt like ableds weren’t going to permit us either thing.   Continue reading →

Nov 02

It’s Not Always About Mobility: A Dance Concert by Abilities Dance Boston

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Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
Performed by Abilities Dance Boston 
Choreography and audio descriptions by Executive/Artistic Director Ellice Patterson
Audio descriptions edited by Amber Pearcy
Costumes designed by Laura Brody 
Music composed by Erin Rogers and Andrew Choe
Performers: Scynthia Charles, Janelle Diaz, Ellice Patterson, Lauren Sava

Thu. October 29, 8:00 PM
Live-streamed from The Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.
Boston, MA 
Abilities Dance Boston on Facebook 

Critique by Kitty Drexel

Disclaimer: It’s election night 2020. This review is very late. Everything is stressful in this moment. So: we’ll correct mistakes and other issues in the morning. 

Boston, MA — Abled people don’t seem to understand that the intended purpose of assisted mobility devices is freedom. Wheelchairs, crutches, blind canes, and service animals* provide greater environmental access to the user. Hollywood perpetuates the myth that disabled people cannot move without their assisted mobility device. Disabled people can do a lot of things Hollywood doesn’t think they can do like run, sing, love, dance, work, swim, and fuck like champions. 

In reality, how and how often a mobility device is used is determined by the user. The user may not always need their wheelchair or they may always need it. Usage is determined by the user and their medical professional. An untrained, unknown abled adult should never tell a disabled adult how to use their mobility device. This is ableist and, frankly, none of their damn business. 

On Thursday, October 29, Abilities Dance Boston performed eight pieces live to streamed-audience from the Calderwood Pavilion. The stage was bare. The curtains and floor were black. The lightning design favored purples and oranges. The audience was empty.  Continue reading →

Feb 27

“Swan Lake in Blue: A Jazz Ballet”

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Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company
Music Director and Composer Steve Bass
Director and Choreographer Ilyse Robbins
Featuring Sara Coombs as Odette/Odile and Andy McLeavy as Florenz Siegfried

February 9 – March 1, 2020
395 Main Street
Stoneham, MA 02180
GBSC on Facebook

Review by Shiyanbade Animashaun

Stoneham, MA — Swan Lake in Blue: A Jazz Ballet is a retelling of the classic ballet Swan Lake with heavy jazz influences. It is set in the 1940s, and takes place in an audition space and night club. Continue reading →