Philadelphia

A mischievous joy permeates the image, as one performer with blunt black bangs seems to cheer with an open-mouthed grin, shoulders reaching up to her ears. To her left, another stands gazing at her, with a grin just as wide, but a tad more sinister, an open jazz hand covering her face. Behind the first is a taller person with a yellow bow, tucking something into the first performer’s black-and-white luxury jumpsuit.
Photo: Lance Reha
  • Reviews

From the Studio: “MAYDAY” with Grace Tong

ankita

“MAYDAY” resists assimilation through self-producing.

Dancer Merián Soto kneels with one knee slightly higher than the other. Her body faces the camera but her eyes are downcast. Her medium length gray hair falls towards her face. She is wearing a flowy rust-colored top and loose khaki-colored pants. In her outstretched hands she holds two curved branches. The branch in her left hand is nearly bent in half and almost touches the floor. The branch in her right hand extends in a graceful arc above her head, mirroring the casual grace in Soto’s pose.
Photo: Bill Hebert
  • Interviews

I am the Archive

Ellen Miller

Still dancing, Merián Soto reflects on her storied career.

Two people dressed in blue sit on top of an overturned recycling bin, with their arms extended overhead as if riding a rollercoaster. They have nervous looking facial expressions, and are in front of a curtain backdrop which is painted like a bedroom. There is a hand coming from behind the backdrop, grasping it, as if preparing to enter the stage.
Photo: Dylan Smythe
  • Reviews

Has Sadness Ever Taken You Down to the Dump?

Caitlin Green

“THIS IS THE WORST DAY EVER!”

Marguerite Hemmings is surrounded by green trees and grass, pictured mid-air, as if descending to the ground head-first. One arm is outstretched to break the fall while the other arm is bent around their head, and their feet have kicked up the sand behind them.
Dante Napoli
  • Reviews

What is justice without love?

Caitlin Green

Uninhibited, Hemmings generates an electrifying presence, channeling vitality and rupture.

Meghan Frederick in a kneeling, twisted pose, wearing a tank top covered in yin-yang symbols and a skirt patterned with the American flag, performing on a stage with abstract drawings taped to the wall behind.
Photo: James Izlar
  • Reviews

Embodying a Turbulent World

Ziying Cui

A rejection of traditional meaning-making in Western theater and improvisation.

A young Black woman (Arianna Polite) holds a wooden bowl glowing with warm white light. She looks downward, sprinkling marbles of light onto the ground as darkness falls after sunset.
Photo: Daniel Madoff
  • Reviews

Homage to the Passed

Ellen Miller

A candle-lit performance offers a meeting and honoring of Black Philadelphians.

pink backlight, three dancers, left most has right arm up and left arm down, middle has both arms bent upward, right has bent left arm and straight right arm, all in purple polos, two white set pieces frame the image with black curved lines.
Photo: Thomas Choinacky
  • Reviews

i hold your towel just how you like it

desire amaiya

we are spectators in a typically unwatched game.

Photo: angel edwards
  • Reviews

Co-creating softness in community

Ellen Miller

By being vulnerable, the possibility to experience softness collectively.

Photo: Irina Varina
  • thINKpieces

Philly Arts, Half-Naked

Irina Varina

The photos are the love letter.

Photo: Richard Abstrak Soto
  • News

Hip Hop Artist Raphael Xavier Wins Grant to Produce Short Film

Darcy Grabenstein

Film grant propels hip hop artist from stage to street, breaking to biking.