5/14/18 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Breakin – Turbo (broom scene)

From the 1984 break dance movie Breakin’ the famous broom scene by Boogaloo Shrimp (Turbo)  Continue reading

5/13/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Mother (Isadora Duncan c. 1923)

Loretta Thomas performs Mother featuring choreography by Isadora Duncan (c. 1923) with music by Alexander Scriabin. Duncan bore two children, both out of wedlock. The first, Deirdre Beatrice (born September 24, 1906), by theatre designer Gordon Craig and the second, Patrick Augustus (born May 1, 1910),by Paris Singer, one of the many sons of sewing machine magnate Isaac Singer. Both children drowned in the care of their nanny in 1913 when their runaway car went into the Seine River in Paris.

Mother (Isadora Duncan c. 1923)

In her autobiography, Duncan relates that she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor Romano Romanelli, to sleep with her because she was desperate for another baby. She became pregnant by him, and gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914; the infant died shortly after birth.

 

5/11/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Ruddur Dance brings Empowered To Hostos

RudduR Dance, an emerging contemporary ballet company will present Empowered, the company’s first single-billed performance on Friday May 11, 7:30pm at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture 450 Grand Concourse, Bronx. The concert will showcase the world premiere of Witness: Part I – Yesterday, along with audience favorites The Place Between, A Night in the Life of Us, and Doubt of the Devout. From the physical to the spiritual, Empowered breaks visible and invisible chains that bind, while moving to greater strength.

The multi-talented creative team behind Empowered includes Jamaican-born Choreographer Christopher Rudd, acclaimed Vocalist and Composer Tariq Al-Sabir and Mathieu Leopoldo, Head of Rigging. The evening features a blend of contemporary ballet with theatricality and aerial artistry to create provocative experiences that address timely social and political landscapes. Performers crawl, fly, and leap as they move through aerial silk, bungee restraints, shackles, in search for freedom and a higher order. Empowerment is a partnership with Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture and the CUNY Dance Initiative. For more information and tickets call Box Office (718) 518-4455, or visit http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/culturearts/events/YEAR-2018/may/RudduR-Dance/RudduR%2 0Dance.shtml.

Words From Our Artists

 

 

 

5/5/18 O&A NYC GOING BACK TO AFRICA WITH WaleStylez- DANCE: Top 10 Countries in Africa with the Best Dancers in 2018

By Adewale Adekanbi

Africa’s diversity is reflected in the dances. The dances in West Africa are quite different from what you’d find in East Africa or North Africa. For example, in a lot of West African dances, bending the waist is a common feature. In Ethiopia, there’s a dance that involves vibrating the neck and shoulders. In the savannah of East Africa, a lot of the traditional dances involve jumping with a straight, stiff back. Continue reading

5/4/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Maya Plisetskaya Dances Bolero, 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

4/26/18 O&A NYC DANCE: The Dance Of the Village Elders Celebrates Dudley Williams

By Walter Rutledge

The Dance Of the Village Elders will present Only In The Darkness Can You See The Stars the spring performance/fundraiser on Saturday, April 28, 3pm at St. Philip’s Church 204 west 134thStreet. The performance will celebrate Village Elders friend and supporter Ailey icon Dudley Williams, who danced the role of the elder minister at the works premiere April 30th, 2015, sadly this was Williams’ last performance. Joining the celebration are Harlem arts organizations Harlem School of the Arts dance division (under the direction of Aubrey Lynch), Uptown Dance Academy (Robin Williams Executive Director) pianist Charles Lovell (St. Philip’s Church) singing phenom LaFredrick Coaxner (Abyssinian Baptist Church) and Reverend Tykym Stallings (Lighthouse Ministries Inc., Harlem N.Y.). Continue reading

4/21/18 O&A NYC DANCE/REVIEW: newsteps- a choreographer’s series

By Walter Rutledge

The Chen Dance Center began the 34th consecutive newsteps; the semi-annual emerging choreographers’ series, Thursday, April 19 at the Chen Dance Center, 70 Mulberry Street in New York’s Chinatown. This season the three-performance spring showcase, which runs through Saturday, April 21, selected works from “non- dancers”. Professional artists, actors, musicians, singers, photographers, who applied their expertise of their respective art forms to the choreographic process. The five choreographers selected through an open audition for the April concerts are Kate Douglas, Bryndon Cook, Lauren Oliver, Alec Funiciello, and Sophia Zukoski. Each choreographer is given rehearsal space, an honorarium, mentoring from a member of the selection panel, and multiple (three) performances to give the works time to “find its own voice”. Continue reading

4/18/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Afternoon Of A Faun- Tanaquil LeClercq and Jacques d’Amboise

In Afternoon Of A Faun (1953) Jerome Robbins‘ genius take on the old Debussy/Nijinsky ballet. A 1955 Canadian broadcast of the two legends of the NYC Ballet (and the original ballerina in this) Tanaquil LeClercq and Jacques d’Amboise (Francisco Moncion original danseur). Continue reading