(In sickness and in health…) What’s On, What’s Off?
In light of COVID-19, here is what we’ve heard at this time regarding March and April shows. This will be updated frequently.
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DANCE
Spare 12 Minutes? A Favorite Short-Form Performance Fest Returns This Weekend.
New curators, new artists, new works. Those are the basic building blocks of the long-running series ’12 Minutes Max’. The latest installment is February 23-24.
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‘Black Bois’ Takes the Big Stage This Week, to Another Sold-Out House
Dani Tirrell’s ‘Black Bois’, which premiered in April 2018 at On the Boards, returns this year on Valentine’s Day at the Moore Theatre. It’s a multi-genre love letter to Black community, healing, and joy.
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‘Drama Tops’ Explores the Switchy Territory of Gendered Experience
The new work by dancer/choreographer Elby Brosch looks at trans experience alongside binary and non-binary identities. It runs through 1/30.
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Balanchine, Morris, and Byrd: A Delight in Three Nutcrackers
Three interpretations of ‘The Nutcracker’ on Seattle stages demonstrate its adaptability for the tastes — and moods — of new audiences. The invigorated classic epic (at Pacific Northwest Ballet, through 12/28), a sassy spin-off and an elegant workshop (at the Paramount Theatre and On the Boards, both through 12/15) are all delightful, and distinct.
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‘Tis the Season: Holiday Shows to Light Up Your Stage
The holiday shows are all opening, and this year there’s a great selection to consider, from comedy from the Herdmans, drag queens, and nuns; to modern family escapades and mayhem; to classics featuring Scrooge, Sherlock, and Ralphie; and several variations on dances with the Rat King.
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(Ovations) Short-Form Dance Fests
Short-form work is an easy way to test out different art forms. It’s experimental. It’s approachable. And there’s usually something for everyone. Happily, Seattle is bustling with festivals of short new work in performance art and dance. Here are a few coming up soon.
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With a Trio of Inventive New Works, PNB’s ‘Locally Sourced’ Is Ballet for We Who Don’t ‘Do the Ballet’
With elegance, precision, and an army of highly trained dancers, the slate of new works up now at Pacific Northwest Ballet will satisfy — and excite — frequent-goers, too. But the appeal of ‘Locally Sourced’ is much broader. It runs through November 17.
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5 Questions with Choreographer & Dancer Sean Dorsey
This weekend, Sean Dorsey — acclaimed choreographer and dancer, and out and proud trans man — brings his new work, ‘Boys in Trouble’, to Velocity Dance Center. NWTheatre talked with him about masculinity in and through his artistic lens, this latest work, and the good and bad in today’s trans representation.
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Dance to Make You Feel N.E.W.
A showcase of modern works this weekend blends and bends genre and theme, evoking a spectrum of exhaustion, energy, freedom, and hope. ‘HATCH’ is the latest in a line of impressive new works from PRICEarts and N.E.W. It runs through 10/12.
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Extinction Piece ‘Still Life’ Takes on Different Meaning as News of Mass Shooting Unfolds
The extended work, featuring a mix of local and touring dancers, is a co-production presented at Base that marks the start of On the Boards’s 40th season. It runs through tonight.
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‘Strictly Seattle’: In Festivals of Shorts This Weekend, Local Cities Show Their Northwest Flavor
This weekend brought two lively slates, in two different media, of short, new works grounded here in the Northwest. One of such shows was Velocity Dance Center’s decades-running ‘Strictly Seattle Performances’, a festival of dance shorts and dance films, which ended Saturday.
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The 5th Avenue Theatre’s ‘West Side Story’ Is Poetry in Motion
In collaboration with Spectrum Dance Theater, The 5th has put up an exquisite staging of the classic Bernstein/Sondheim/Laurents musical, inspired by Shakepeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. It runs through June 23.
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Ligia Lewis’s Unexpectedly New Piece, at On the Boards this Weekend, Is About as ‘In the Moment’ as It Gets
A last-minute obstacle, courtesy of the United States government, derailed the visiting choreographer’s planned performance of Sorrow Swag, one of two shows Lewis was slated to present at On the Boards this weekend. In its stead, Lewis has re-envisioned the piece — and, with help from her musician brother, will dance the work herself.
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DITCH: Cherdonna & DONNA’s Circus Comes to an End
For all its clownish appearance, Cherdonna Shinatra’s ‘DITCH’ is an important performance. You have only two chances left — this Saturday & Sunday afternoon — to see it.
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‘SHOT’ Fires Loud and Clear, at Police Who Take Black Lives and a Nation that Lets Them
Cancel your Saturday night plans: SHOT is a must-see. Two other shows from Spectrum Dance Theater also follow, later this month.
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This Week in Arts: Wednesday Roundup (4/10)
Highlights this week were beautiful & jarring performative memorials (in theatre, visual arts & dance) to queer Black mothers, trans women of color, and Black lives stolen by police violence; a Sunday Dinner; plus new openers and short runs this weekend.
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In Theatre & Dance, a Timely Spotlight on Immigration
April & May bring an influx of shows in theatre & dance around the theme of immigration. Here’s what’s coming up.
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This Week in Arts: Wednesday Roundup (4/3)
Highlights this week included the annual multicultural playwrights’ festival; an unusual fashion show; a trip behind bars; and upcoming shows from excellent Black artists in playwriting, poetry, dance, and more; plus tons of short-run show openings.
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The Other Georgetown, Pt. I: Base & ‘12 Minutes Max’
Hidden away among active industrial warehouses, Equinox Studios and the area immediately surrounding them (“Equiblox”?) offer a big variety of arts, plus a taproom, in an environment that provides an apt, creative backdrop for exploring new art forms. This Sunday & Monday, ’12 Minutes Max’ (formerly at On the Boards) is a great excuse to head there.
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