Reviews

Four people in a desert. On the left, a woman with black hair in a red dress sits, a dusty backpack at her feet. Next to her, a bearded man with short brown hair sits looking down, his hands on his knees. To his left is a second man, bald and bare from the waist up, with tattoos covering his left arm and his right arm missing his hand. To his left is a third man, standing, with one hand on his right hip. He is older than the rest, has a white beard, and wears a light blue shirt.
Photo: Quim Vives
  • Reviews, thINKpieces

Nothing But Dust

Brendan McCall

Mysticism and rave culture collide in Oliver Laxe’s latest film "Sirât"

At center stage, Baoyu, dressed in flowing white robes, leads a semicircle of female dancers dressed in pastel, Han-style costumes. The dancers extend one leg in high arabesque-like lines while holding delicate props such as fans and round silk fans, creating a symmetrical and airy composition reminiscent of classical Chinese painting. Behind them is a large golden backdrop textured like aged parchment. Red calligraphic Chinese characters are written across it, associated with the supernatural framework of the story. A circular opening in the center of the backdrop reveals a cool blue background, evoking the moon or an otherworldly portal. The stage lighting highlights the dancers’ flowing sleeves and soft colors—peach, pale green, yellow, and ivory—suggesting the youthful elegance of the family's girls.
Photo: The National Ballet of China
  • Reviews

The Willis in a Red Mansion?

Ziying Cui

The Challenge of Chinese Ballet

Two dancers wear black costumes, and the lighting is low and shadowy. One dancer lays face-up on the stage with arms softly outstretched to the sides and their chest lifted off the floor, legs bending at the knees. The other dancer sits, gazing downwards at them. Dancers: Sayer Mansfield, Marla Phelan
Photo: Tim Richardson
  • Reviews

Science and Dance in Creative Conversation

Jen George

Science in partnership with dance yields collaboration and contrasting forces.

Two white women with bright red hair pulled back loosely, wear black pants and tank tops and accentuate the curves of their waists, leaning into their hips and slightly covering their eyes with elbows bent at different angles. They are loosely connected by a thin, red thread and in the background there is a hill constructed of wooden blocks against a white wall. Completing the scene are red galoshes, two picture frames hung above the hill and a large new moon hung from the ceiling.
Photo: Shosh Isaacs
  • Reviews

Jack and Jill Trudge up the Hill

E. Wallis Cain Carbonell

"No one help me. I’m falling towards wholeness."

David Adrian Freeland Jr., wearing a blue sleeveless top and pants, and Morgan Lugo, wearing a red sleeveless top and pants, kneel facing each other on the red-lit stage. With closed eyes and tilted heads, they touch palms, one arm straight and the other bent by their cheeks.
Photo: Stephanie Berger
  • Reviews

A (Mostly) Moving Romeo & Juliet for Our Times

Caedra Scott-Flaherty

Benjamin Millepied’s Romeo & Juliet Suite uses dance, theater, and film to retell a timeless tale.

Performers Bria Bacon and Okwui Okpokwasili, both Black women wearing black, stand in the middle of a spinning structure at the center of the room, surrounded by a seated audience. The structure is round with a black bottom and reflective panels about 8 feet tall surrounding it. Through the spaces between the panels, Bacon and Okpokwasili are seen standing close together, facing each other. Becon's knees and arms are bent. Okpokwasili has a hand on Bacon's head and gazes above it.
Photo: Ava Pellor
  • Reviews

My Tongue is a Blade, is a Blade, is a Blade

Caedra Scott-Flaherty

Sweat Variant’s new durational work tests the limits of attention.

From left to right, dancers Dormeshia, Rachna Nivas, Rukhmani Mehta and Michelle Dorrance. They are in motion. Dormeshia and Dorrance wear white pants, thigh length white tunics, and tap shoes. Nivas and Mehta wear white leggings, long white dresses with golden details on the skirts and bodices. They have bands of bells around their ankles and are barefoot. The tap dancers have a quality of bending and sending energy into the floor. The Kathak dancers are lifted, arms raised, poised.
Photo: Richard Termine
  • Reviews

Joy in SPEAK

Emilee Lord

When Masters Converse

A scene from the 2025 film, The Testament of Ann Lee: Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) opens her arms wide and looks on a slight upward diagonal, lips gently parted, gaze forward, or perhaps “beyond.” The reverent gesture takes up the whole horizontal span of the image. Lee dresses modestly in a muted cerulean dress with long sleeves. A cream colored scarf covers her head and wraps around her bust in an X. The image cuts off just beneath the scarf.
Photo: Courtesy of Disney and Searchlight Pictures
  • Reviews, thINKpieces

Rave, or Revelation? Celibate Orgies & Mixed Messaging in The Testament of Ann Lee

Lauren Berlin

In this cinematic story of the Shakers, contradictory messages about the body compete with ecstatic movement sequences

Two human-shaped puppets seated side by side on a platform, their legs hanging over the edge and their arms extended forward as if gesturing outward. Both puppets feature detailed facial expressions with open mouths. The puppet on the left has curly hair and wears a cheetah-print robe layered over a red bra with black lace, while the puppet on the right appears bald with facial hair and is dressed in shorts and shoes. Puppeteers dressed in dark clothing are partially visible behind and around the figures, with their hands engaged in supporting and controlling the puppets. A dark background and focused lighting emphasize the puppets’ faces, clothing, and posture, creating strong contrast and directing attention to the figures.
Photo: Charlie Lyne
  • Reviews

Sex, Satire, and Puppets on Stage

Emily “Lady Em” Culbreath

A boldly funny and surprisingly tender puppet show uses candid confessions and surreal imagery to explore sex, aging, and human intimacy.

Under a spot light a hand in a white glove is held up as though a small figure is walking. It wears black rimmed glasses with a big plastic nose and fuzzy eyebrows. The arm of the puppeteer is barely visible.
Photo: Brian Hashimoto
  • Reviews

Crafting Tall Tales at PhysFestNYC

Emilee Lord

puppetry and dancers speak with the body