4/21/15 O&A REVIEW: Philadanco- Having Our Say…The Voices of Women Choreographers

By Walter Rutledge

PHILADANCO-jpegPhiladanco celebrated the 45th anniversary of the company Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. The program entitled Having Our Say…The Voices of Women Choreographers was an homage to the talents of female artists. The concert featured the work of four dance makers Diane McIntyre, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Bebe Miller and Dawn Marie Bazemore; and a tribute to performing artist, the late Mary Hinkson Jackson.   Continue reading

4/14/15 O&A Dance: Ballet Hispanico Begins Joyce Season

By Walter Rutledge

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Ballet Hispanico begins a two-week New York City season Tuesday April 14 at the Joyce Theatre. The season will an eclectic mix ranging from a modern remake of an opera inspired classic, to a eighties showgirl tease. The season continues Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro vision of celebrating the Latino culture. O&A NYC Magazine Editor-in-Chief Walter Rutledge sat down with Vilaro to discuss the upcoming season and more. Continue reading

4/8/15 O&A Profiles: Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy- Partners

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Partners form one of the most rewarding and lasting bonds between dancers.  Partnerships such as Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn, Richard Cragun and Marcia Haydee and Ivan Nagy and Natalia Makarova thrilled audiences with their cooperative commitment to excellence. This season Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy continues the tradition.

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Far But Close (excerpt)

In partnering the man is usually subservient, he becomes the platinum setting that invisibly reveals the ballerina’s “diamond” brilliance. Doane and Murphy first danced together in the 2009- 2010 season production of Billie Wilson’s Concerto In F. Doane explained their onstage relationship,”I guess the saying is true, that iron sharpens iron. To work with someone who never sacrifices the quality of their work for not even a second is truly inspiring. Working with Ashley makes me want to be a better dancer and partner because I know she is doing the same.”

Da’Von Doane and Ashley Murphy

For the 2015 Dance Theatre Of Harlem New York City season Doane and Murphy will dance together in Balachine’s Agon, Robert Garland’s Return, Coming Together by Nacho Duato, Vessels by Darrell Moultrie and Christopher Huggin’s In The Mirror Of Her Mind. For more information about the 2015 Dance Theatre of Harlem New York season, April 8-11 at New York City Center, or to buy tickets visit dancetheatreofharlem.org. 

4/7/15 O&A Profile: Jenelle Figgins- Beauty, Brains and Talent

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Jenelle Figgins is best described as a combination of beauty, brains and talent. The 2014 Princess Grace Awards Winner graduated from SUNY Purchase New York in 2011 after earning a B.F.A. with honors in dance. In her 3rd season with Dance Theatre of Harlem Figgins gets to flex her dramatic muscle in Nacho Duato’s Coming Together. Continue reading

4/2/15 O&A With WaleStylez- Dance: The Legend of Extraordinary Dancers (Episode 6) Duet

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Former LXD members now in hiding are called to action with the start of the Uprising.Two of those are former lovers Katana and Jato. They must let go of their past for the good of the group, but their connection is undeniably strong. Continue reading

3/30/15 O&A Hollywood Monday: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers- Robot Love Story (Episode 3)

Hollywood Mondays

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A man wakes up in a hospital with no memory and severe convulsions. With the help of a nurse, Autumn, he learns to control the robotic ticks that control his body and plague his heart. However, not everything and everyone is as they seem. Continue reading

3/28/15 O&A Its Saturday Anything Goes: The League Of Extraordinary Dancers -Episode One – The Tale Of Trevor Drift

It is Saturday

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The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, commonly called The LXD, was a 2010–2011 web series about two groups of rival dancers: The Alliance of the Dark who are the villains and The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, the heroes, who discover they have superpowers referred to as “the Ra” through their dance abilities. The entire story takes place over hundreds of years, beginning in the 1920s up to the year 3000. Continue reading

3/27/15 O&A Shall We Dance Friday: Serenade

Shall We Dance

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Serenade is a ballet by George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky’s 1880 Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Students of the School of American Ballet gave the first performance on Sunday, 10 June 1934 on the Felix M. Warburg estate in White Plains, N.Y., where Mozartiana had been danced the previous day. This was the first ballet Balanchine choreographed in the United States.  Continue reading