Spring in Their Step: Notable Dance (April)

Chase D. Anderson April 19, 2024May 12, 2024

There’s a whole bunch of great dance happening this spring. Here’s what’s happening in the next two weeks, plus an early look at May.

This Weekend

dani tirrell returns to the Moore Theatre, April 20-21. Photo by Unifyed Visuals.

dani tirrell & The Congregation
April 20-21

Longtime Seattle dance-maker, teacher, and community-builder dani tirrell (now based on the East Coast) returns to the Moore Theatre with a brand-new work, following the wildly popular runs of Black Bois at the Moore and On the Boards.

In its world premiere, Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS (Book I) is a multi-part dance work exalting and celebrating Black queer bodies, set to reimagined traditional gospel music. It features a large and accomplished cast of dancers, many of whom are longtime tirrell collaborators, including on Black Bois. (See feature in the Seattle Times here.)

Show info and tickets here.

Pacific Northwest Ballet
thru April 21

Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, known for creating epic, highly dramatic contemporary dances, returns to the PNB stage with an encore of The Seasons’ Canon. The stunning work captures the energy of nature — the buzz of new beginnings, the fight for survival, the cyclical predictability — in a thrilling mass of 54 dancers. On this triple bill, it’s paired with works by Twyla Tharp and Jessica Lang.

See NWT’s review here.

Show info and tickets here.

12 Minutes Max
April 21-22

Closing out the weekend, the long-running series 12 Minutes Max at Base in Georgetown gives a look at new and experimental works from local dance artists, with pieces each 12 minutes or less. This session’s lineup is curated by Samantha Fabrikant and Antonieta Carpio and features works from Olivia Cesarano, Ieva Bračiulytė and Eva Crystal, Horacio Lopez, Andreya Pro, Shelby Natasha, and Alisa Popova.

The 12-minute-long format gives the perfect size bite: long enough to get into it, and short enough to guarantee that if you don’t like whatever piece you’re seeing it’ll be over soon enough. Most often, though, they’re all pretty interesting.

Show info and tickets here.

Also this weekend, Cornish College of the Arts will present new works by choreographers Charlotte Boye-Christensen, Nia-Amina Minor, Alia Swersky, and Rauf Yasit. Cornish Dance Theater performs at Cornish Playhouse (4/19-20). Show info here.

And Cherdonna & The Bearded Ladies team up with On the Boards for a new work, Threesome, at Repair Revolution in SoDo (through 4/27). Tickets for the run are sold out, but rush tickets are possible for waiting-list hopefuls; arrive an hour before showtime to get on the list. Show info here.

Coming Soon

Principal dancer Kateryna Kukhar in Grand Kyiv Ballet’s ‘Giselle’. Photo by Ksenia Orlova.

Grand Kyiv Ballet
April 28 – May 3

The Grand Kyiv Ballet is based right here, and I bet you had no idea. Principal dancers (and couple) Kateryna Kukhar and Alex Stoianov were touring in Europe when the war broke out in their home country, leaving them trying to evacuate their children from outside. They reunited days later, with the help of friends and family, and have made the Seattle area their home base for now; and the experience left an indelible mark on their art and the company’s mission. As Stoianov explained, “Now we have another mission. When the war started, we started dancing for our country. It is our cultural front line.”

The company has kept up a grueling performance schedule. Its current run of Giselle, the ghostly ballet, has made near-daily stops all over the United States. They’ll conclude their first national tour right here in the Northwest, with four shows: at the Federal Way Performing Arts and Events Center (4/28, matinee); Edmonds Performing Arts Center (4/30); Byrnes Performing Arts Center in Arlington (5/2); and Pantages Theater in Tacoma (5/3).

Show info and tickets here.