Community is what I miss most of all the pandemic’s deprivations—doing stuff with others.
Dance
Dance Review — Reclaiming Space, Quarry Dance IX
The film allowed me to see the dancers’ connections to each other, and their connections to the quarries themselves.
Classical Album Review: Commedia dell’arte Clowns in a World of Heartbreak
Dohnányi and Schnitzler’s “pantomime” The Veil of Pierrette receives its first, and resplendent, recording.
Dance News: Heartbreaking Loss at Jacob’s Pillow
With great sightlines from every one of its 216 seats, the Doris Duke Theatre space made for intimate, often enthralling encounters with movement.
Dance Review/Commentary: “The Grand Union” — The Story of the Accidental Anarchists of Downtown Dance
This fascinating book, and the rich literature of films and writings around it, have helped me feel a bit more positive about these shrunken times.
Dance Feature: The “Table of Silence Project 9/11” — Reimagined
“We will step to the edge of our humanity, expressing the commonalities that we all share, the threads that bind and connect us all.”
Dance Review: “And Still You Must Swing” — Tap Dance as Exhilaration and Inspiration
This terrific performance was the grand finale from a beloved dance festival doing its best under enormous pressure.
Dance Review: Tero Saarinen Company’s “Borrowed Light” — Elegantly Elemental
Did Jacob’s Pillow want to remind us, now more than ever, of a famous phrase from a 1848 Shaker song: “Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free.”
Dance Feature: Sara Juli’s “Burnt-Out Wife” — Scorched
In Burnt-Out Wife, Maine-based performance artist Sara Juli takes on the unarticulated rage lurking in a long-term marriage with a deft touch and the humor of a born stand-up comic.
Dance Review: José Limón Company at Jacob’s Pillow — Empowering and Necessary
Kudos to Jacob’s Pillow for this stellar beginning to a digital season of dance.