1/23/15 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Maya Plisetskaya Dances Bolero (Choreography by Maurice Béjart) And The Dying Swan

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Maya Plisetskaya, Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Bolshoi Ballet, danced Maurice Bejart’s Bolero set to the famous Ravel score in 1975. Plisetskaya created a stunning theatrical experience. What makes the piece so compelling is that although Plisetskaya may be accompanied by dozens of other dancers mirroring her movement, the first and only focus is on the prima ballerina herself.  Continue reading

1/16/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Lil Buck- Encore

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Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, was born May 25, 1988, in Chicago, while growing up in Memphis he was introduced to an urban street dance style called Memphis Jookin. In 2013 Buck just wrapped up a 9 month contract in the Cirque du Soleil show Michael Jackson: One, in Las Vegas. And in 2014, he presented his skills globally for the world to see. Continue reading

1/9/15 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Black and Blue- The Musical

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Black and Blue is a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II.  Choreographed by Henry LeTang, Cholly Atkins, Frankie Manning, and Fayard Nicholas the cast of forty-one singers, dancers, and musicians included Ruth Brown, Linda Hopkins, Carrie Smith, Savion Glover, Claude Williams, Roland Hanna, Grady Tate, Jimmy Slyde, Bill Easley, Jimmy “Preacher” Robins, Lon Chaney (the jazz tap dancer, not the actor) Bunny Briggs and  Dianne Walker. The Broadway production opened on January 26, 1989.  Continue reading

1/2/15 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Storyboard P- An Urban Storyteller

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Storyboard P has pushed street dancing in a darker, more mature direction of urban storytelling he calls Mutant. The twenty-three year old Brooklyn dancer  combines jarring feats of contortion, pantomime, floating footwork and simulated levitation. His choreography, most of it improvised, has a wide range of influences: Jerome Robbins, especially his work in West Side Story; the Nicholas Brothers, whose acrobatic tap-dancing routines amazed Fred Astaire in the nineteen-forties; and, above all, Michael Jackson.  Continue reading

12/26/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Alvin Ailey- Cry

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In 1971, Alvin Ailey created Cry, one of his signature dance works, as a birthday present for his mother Lula Elizabeth Ailey. Ailey dedicated the ballet to “all black women everywhere — especially our mothers.” The three-part ballet, set to popular and gospel music by Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro and Chuck Griffin, depicts a woman’s journey through the agonies of slavery to an ecstatic state of grace. Cry premiered at New York City Center on May 4, 1971. Continue reading

12/19/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Just Dance 2015 Bollywood Santa – XMas Tree

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Just Dance 2015 Bollywood Santa – Xmas Tree: The dance appears to take place on a frozen lake with snow covering the area around it. It also takes place during the night and elephants and elves appear. A huge snowy Christmas Tree also remains in the background throughout the routine. Continue reading

12/12/14/ O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Radio City Rockettes

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The Radio City Christmas Spectacular is an annual musical holiday stage show presented at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show features over 140 performers, lavish sets and costumes and an original musical score. Since the first version was presented in 1933, the show has become a New York Christmas tradition seen by more than a million visitors a year. The 2014 show is scheduled to run from November 7 to December 31, 2014. Continue reading

12/4/14 O&A Shall We Dance: Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland- Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux

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During the Christmas season of 1977, CBS brought his highly acclaimed American Ballet Theatre production of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet The Nutcracker to television. The production has remained to this day the most popular and most often shown television production of the work in the U.S.  Mikhail Baryshnikov performed the title role, with Gelsey Kirkland as Clara.
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11/27/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Alphonso Ribeiro

 By Walter Rutledge

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Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro, Sr. is an actor, television director, dancer, and game show host. Ribeiro is most notably known for playing Alfonso Spears on the sitcom Silver Spoons, and Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he hosted the GSN show Catch 21 and the ABC Family show Spell-Mageddon. He also starred in the title role of the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid, and appeared as a dancer in a Pepsi commercial also featuring Michael Jackson. On Tuesday, November 25, 2014 Ribeiro won Dancing With The Stars 19. Continue reading

11/21/14 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Review- Complexions Contemporary Ballet Gala

By Walter Rutledge

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Complexions Contemporary Ballet held their 20th anniversary gala performance Thursday, November 20 at the Joyce Theater. I believe galas should not be held under the same critical scrutiny as a regular season performance; these events have a different focus. Galas acknowledge company milestones such as dancers transitioning, directors passing the torch, season openings and in this case celebrating the company’s 20th anniversary. Continue reading