DANCE – NWTheatre

Melody Datz Hansen May 7, 2022May 8, 2022 Amy J Lambert, Annie McGhee, Diana Cardiff, Eric Pitsenbarger, Gabrielle Nomura Gainor, Gladys Cardiff, Jenny May Peterson, Sara Jinks, Seattle, Truong Nguyen, Wade Madsen

Dance-Variety Show ‘Space 50’ Warms the Soul (And the 9th Planet)

A futuristic new show from ‘Buttcracker’ series creators Diana Cardiff and Sara Jinks brings dance into outer space. ‘Space 50’ ran through May 1.

DANCE HAPPENINGS

Chase D. Anderson April 28, 2022May 8, 2022 Alice Gosti, Alyza DelPan-Monley, Diana Cardiff, Georgetown, Georgetown Steam Plant, Malacarne, Monika Khot, Nia-Amina Minor, Sara Jinks

Blast From the Past & Into the Future With These Dance Groups

One is held in a long-decommissioned steam plant. The other looks to the skies. This weekend, catch two unique shows inspired by time and space.

DANCE HAPPENINGS

Chase D. Anderson March 24, 2022April 13, 2022 Alicia Mullikin, Alvin Ailey, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, Devin Muñoz, Robert Battle, Velocity Dance Center

Ailey. Jones. Mullikin. An Impressive Slate of Dance, of Global and Local Renown, This Weekend.

This weekend offers the most loaded roster of dance shows in recent memory, as two acclaimed New York-based companies tour to Seattle, and a locally based choreographer/filmmaker duo premieres their new work.

DANCE REVIEW

Melody Datz Hansen March 22, 2022April 13, 2022 Crystal Pite, David Parsons, Justin Peck, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Robyn Mineko Williams, Seattle

Plotting New Paths: Four Contemporary Works

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Rep 4, ‘Plot Points’, highlights a new generation of dance. It performs through March 27, and streams online through April 4.

DANCE HAPPENINGS

Chase D. Anderson March 6, 2022April 13, 2022

March’s Stage Madness: The Other Big Dance

At least 10 dance shows, featuring dozens of artists, swarm Seattle’s stages this month. Whether you favor brand new pieces in-development or iconic works, emerging choreographers or legendary dance companies, tiny stages or the area’s largest, you’ll find all of that and more.

DANCE HAPPENINGS

Melody Datz Hansen March 6, 2022March 19, 2023 Alana O. Rogers, Alana O. Rogers Dance Company, Beth Terwilleger, Seattle, Seattle International Dance Festival, The Gray

Patiently Waiting: Contemporary Dance Works Take Shape to Premiere

On March 8, dance company The Gray premieres new work by Beth Terwilleger. Meanwhile, new works take shape to premiere this spring, part of the James Ray Residency Project at Seattle International Dance Festival.

DANCE HAPPENINGS

Chase D. Anderson January 11, 2022February 1, 2022

Dance in the ‘Extreme’ Kicks Off a Robust Series

Daredevil dancers open an exciting series of performances at the UW’s Meany Center, and a robust lineup of new dance works take stage around Seattle in January.

DANCE QUICK TAKES

NWTheatre February 21, 2020February 26, 2020 12 Minutes Max, Base

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.

DANCE FEATURE

Chase D. Anderson February 13, 2020February 20, 2020 Black Bois, Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, dani tirrell, On the Boards, Seattle Theatre Group

‘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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson January 28, 2020July 7, 2022 Drama Tops, Elby Brosch, Jordan MacIntosh-Hougham, queer arts, Seattle, Shane Donohue, Washington Hall

‘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.

DANCE REVIEW SEASONAL

Chase D. Anderson December 15, 2019July 7, 2022 Broadway Seattle, Donald Byrd, George Balanchine, Mark Morris, Mark Morris Dance Group, McCaw Hall, On the Boards, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle, Seattle Theatre Group, Spectrum Dance Theater, The Paramount Theatre

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.

DANCE QUICK TAKES

Chase D. Anderson November 23, 2019December 22, 2019 barry johnson, Base, Cameo Lethem, Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, dani tirrell, Fausto Rivera, Fox Whitney, Matt Aguayo, new dance works, Nia-Amina Minor, On the Boards, Velocity Dance Center

(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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson November 16, 2019November 18, 2019 Donald Byrd, Eva Stone, Miles Pertl, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Sydney M. Pertl

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.

DANCE INTERVIEW

Chase D. Anderson October 17, 2019March 19, 2023 interview, queer arts, Sean Dorsey, Sean Dorsey Dance, Seattle, Velocity Dance Center

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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson October 12, 2019July 7, 2022 Noelle Price, PRICEarts, Seattle

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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson August 4, 2019August 5, 2019 Alyza DelPan-Monley, Base, Equinox Studios, Fox Whitney, Georgetown, gun violence, Jordan MacIntosh-Hougham, Morgan Thorson, On the Boards

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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson July 28, 2019July 28, 2019 Alethea Alexander, Broadway Performance Hall, dani tirrell, Jaret Hughes, Kate Wallich, KT Niehoff, Mark Haim, Maya Soto, Pat Graney, Velocity Dance Center

‘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.

DANCE REVIEW THEATRE

Dusty Somers June 10, 2019September 14, 2019 Bill Berry, Spectrum Dance Theater, The 5th Avenue Theatre

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.

DANCE FEATURE

Chase D. Anderson May 17, 2019November 14, 2021 Ligia Lewis, On the Boards

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.

DANCE REVIEW VISUAL ART

Chase D. Anderson April 26, 2019November 14, 2021 Cherdonna Shinatra, Clowning, DONNA, Frye Art Museum, Seattle

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.

DANCE REVIEW

Chase D. Anderson April 13, 2019November 9, 2023 Donald Byrd, Seattle, Spectrum Dance Theater

‘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.

DANCE HAPPENINGS THEATRE

NWTheatre April 8, 2019September 14, 2019

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.

DANCE FEATURE

Chase D. Anderson March 14, 2019September 11, 2023 Base, Equinox Studios, Georgetown, On the Boards, Seattle

The Other Georgetown: 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.