Reviews

The Krakatuk is the Hardest Nut in the World!

E. Wallis Cain Carbonell

“It’s the last place that magic exists.”

Joan Myers Brown and eight fellow choreographers, dancers, and company leaders seated on a panel discussion on a blue-lit stage at the Perelman Theater, following the performance.
Photo: Lauren Berlin

Philadanco: Then and Now

Lauren Berlin

Aunt Joan, Philadanco, and a Philadelphia Legacy: 65 Years and Counting

A dancer (Gabriel Bruno Eng Gonzalez), wearing white pants and a sleeveless white top, is balanced on the ball of his right foot. His long arms are extended outwords, and both of his legs are bent. Another dancer (Aaron Loux), also wearing white, lunges on his right leg, and holds Gonzalez´s hand to help him suspend his balancing position. Behind the two of them, in front of a screen the color of deep blue, we can see other dancers standing in the distance, looking at them.
Photo: Maria Baranova, courtesy of New York Live Arts

Artifacts of Thought from the Closeted Mind

Brendan McCall

Forty years on, Tere O’Connor’s dance visions remain personal, unpredictable, and provocative

Shadow Cities: Weaving Histories Through Motion, Music, and Light

Emily “Lady Em” Culbreath

Ephrat Asherie Dance, Arturo O’Farrill, and Kathy Kaufmann take audiences on an exhilarating journey of blurring artistic boundaries.

Lisa Kron, playing dance critic Walter Terry, has short brown hair, is dressed in a tan suit and wears thick-rimmed glasses, sits with their legs crossed and a notebook on top of their lap. Opposite, Richard Move as dance icon Martha Graham sits regally in a long dark dress, their hair up in a bun, and their eyes highlighted with dramatic eyeliner. Between them, is a small table with a vase of white flowers, and behind them are two women in a unison dance shape: bowed forward, with one leg extended high up behind them.
Photo: Andrea Mohin

Long Live the Queen

Brendan McCall

It’s 1963 and 2025 and Richard Move IS Martha Graham

Michael Sakamoto's profile is shown in light against a dark background, his left hand is raised, his eyes closed.
Photo: Cedric Arnold

Michael Sakamoto– Intercultural Mixologist

Jonathan Stein

Boundaries dissolve in Sakamoto and DJ Spooky’s new Butoh and Hip-Hop multi-media work, time/life/beauty..

A crowd of predominantly white people wear white dresses, t-shirts, and gauze veils draped over their heads, faces visible. Most have painted their faces white with pink around their eyes and are wearing KN95 masks. They are walking forward toward the camera, a tall shadowed building, tree foliage, stop lights, and a square of blue sky behind them. Two people in the front open their mouths mid-song and scrunch their eyebrows together, maybe from the sun and maybe with concern. Deeper into the crowd, people hold a white banner with bold black letters, “WE ARE HAUNTED BY WHAT WE SEE IN GAZA.”
Photo: Rachael Warriner

There is a Shoah in Gaza

Xander Cobb

Philadelphian Jews dance and sing in protest of Mural Arts Holocaust Memorial Mural that excludes Arabic and Palestine.

A woman sits with her back to us while sitting at a keyboard. A candle on top of it illuminates the faces of about fifty people who sit facing her in a dim orange color. On the shadowy walls we can see framed paintings, a clock, and an artificial head of an elephant.
Photo: Azu Rodriguez

From the Chrysalis: ayo ohs´ A Minor Relief

Brendan McCall

ayo ohs shows how making art is the only way to move on from loss

Wen Hui, a Chinese woman dressed in a red striped shirt and black pants, looks down past her nose at Japanese counterpart, Eiko Otake, while reaching a claw-shaped hand out to Otake’s face. Otake wears a baggy white dress that hides her form. One of her hands meets Wen Hui’s upper arm, while the other pulls Wen Hui’s hand to her face.
Photo: Zhou Huiyini

War is (in)human

ankita

We are all tangled. Do you understand?

Grim.Grotesque.Grand.

Lauren Berlin

Philadelphia Ballet’s Evening of Horror gloriously affirms its stunning power to probe the monster within