PS #14: Lost in Translation?

A number of recent Philly performances have brought up questions about what happens when you take a dance form originally seen on the street, in a cafe or in the fields onto a proscenium stage.  “Staged spectacles” of indigenous dance forms have been on the scene for ages now but we still might long for the “real thing.” Similarly, when a piece was site specific and is staged in a different space, how much gets lost? What have you seen that falls in one of these categories and how did you feel about the “translation”?

Share this article

PARTNER CONTENT

Keep Reading

Cryptic Precision: On Vanessa Kamp’s ‘Houndstooth’

Mang Su

'Houndstooth' unleashes the subversive power of parody with bewildering precision.

Seen from a low angle against a black background, a performer wears black blazer and bright red shorts with a black drawstring. Crinkled yellow cellophon covers their mouth and cascades down their chest, with a loose flap jutting to the left. They look down toward the camera, one hand raised near their abdomen and the other hanging beside their thigh.
Photo: Pep Casadevall

The Real Work of Undoing Racism in Ballet

Rachel DeForrest Repinz

After a painful whiteface incident at the Finnish National Ballet, Principal Dancer Nayara Lopes returns to Philadelphia Ballet.

Nayara Lopes, a Brazilian Black woman, performs in the ballet Swan Lake. As Odette (the White San), she wears an ornate white costume, with tutu and headdress.
Photo: Arian Molina Soca

Join us for