dance writer

Solidifying its identity as a midwest repertory ballet company, in its varied and well-balanced concert, Madison Ballet's LOVE  spanned history and style in a concise evening of dances highlighted by its bookends—the opening re-staging of Paquita (first performed in 1846) and a rousing 2021 contemporary closer brought in by guest, Stephanie Martinez. Sandwiched between came three brief and light dances contributed by Madison Ballet Artistic/Executive Director, Ja' Malik, and an earthy duet from Richard Walters. Traditional in every sense of the word, Paquita , opened the program, exhibiting the companies classical bravura abilities. Staged by Andrea Long (after the original Makarova and Petipa choreographies), this dance-for-dance-sake for ten was tightly done with a stiff, presentational beauty matching the customary tutu costumes. After a bit of a shaky start with the old-school vocabulary, the corps grew into the demands of speed and dexterity as the piece evolved. Solo sec...

Visceral Dance Company opened their Winter Engagement program of four dances at the Ann Barzel Theatre with Minor Threat , a work they first presented in 2017. Despite the title and dark corset costumes, there is nothing threatening nor dark about this piece. Mark Golden's choreography is straight up music visualization with ten dancers physicalizing the nuances and details of a Mozart piano concerto score. Hunched over, hands behind their knees, they slowly advance upstage like injured ducks. Leaping into lifts, dancers' chests slam together then, legs swing back arching away from their partner. Patterns repeat in cannon to mesmerizing effect. In a highlight moment, one dancer runs at another full force and catapults herself into the air to be caught facing backwards in a side split. The movement seems impossible, but the effort appears minimal. Meredith Harrill stands out in a brief solo, smiling softly and playfully articulating the music with command and clarity. The only ...

When advertising suggests that a dance concert by two university professors-with excellent support and resources-will be of epic proportions, the expectations are high. In this case, professors Robin Becker of Hofstra University and Jin-Wen Yu of the University of Wisconsin-Madison created dances based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America" by David Maraniss. These dances were apparently derived from and inspired by the book's topics of the 1967 bombing of Sterling Hall at UW and the Vietnam war--hefty subject matter, which would have been better served in the hands of master choreographers. In this case, a way-too-long performance (clocking in at 2 hours and 30 minutes) came nowhere near expected hype, and to use the word of the audience member next to me, was "offensive". Becker's piece "Into Sunlight", suffered from dim tiring lighting, designed by Burke Wilmore, and continuous s...