dance

Ballet Hispánico, the premier Latine dance company, founded by tour-de-force Tina Ramirez in 1970, and now led by the incomparable Eduardo Vilaro, presented their Palante Junior Ensemble, ages 17-24, at the Orpheum Performing Arts Center in Tannersville, NY, on Saturday, March 22.

Translucent Borders is a project exploring ways that dancers and musicians can engage across geographic, cultural, and economic borders. The Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, New York will host Translucent Borders Weekend on April 4–6.

Empire Training Center for the Arts is a new vocational venture operating out of The Chance Theatre on Main Street in Poughkeepsie, New York.Their first major fundraising event in Poughkeepsie is coming up on March 15. The Dirty Dutchess: An Evening of Vaudeville, Burlesque and Broadway is directed by Peter Flynn. Flynn is a New York based director, writer and educator and he joins us now - along with Empire Training Center for the Arts Co-Founder and Executive Director Trish Santini.

The Circa Ensemble from Australia presented What Will Have Been, in the Black Box Theater at PS21 on a bright Saturday afternoon this month. Acrobats Kimberley Rossi, Malte Gerhardt and Zachary Stephens with violinist Miranda Cuckson, a PS21 board member, were featured.

Japanese choreographer Ruri Mito made her North American debut at PS21: Center for Contemporary Performance in Chatham, NY, in early January. As part of Japan Society’s annual Japan + East Asia programming for the APAP (Association of Performing Arts Professionals) industry conference in NYC that recently concluded, PS21 is an astute partner.

A long-running Berkshire County dance education center has purchased a historic mill building in Housatonic, Massachusetts to serve as its permanent home.

The performance, Celebrated Emblems, marks the first-ever commission by Musicians of Ma’alwyck of the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company. This multifaceted performance explores the concept of American emblems, or the symbols of American identity. Members of the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company will add a visual element for two shows, on January 24 at the Capital Rep Theatre in Albany, New York and January 25, 2025, at SUNY-Schenectady.

Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful. Just the title of choreographer Kyle Abraham’s most recent dance seen at NYC’s Armory on Park Avenue on December 9 is gripping. A glorious sweep of a dance that moves through the seasons (a metaphor for time passing) as depicted in the spectacular, ever morphing set is expressed with delicacy, power and nuance by a man facing mortality. Abraham writes in the program, “My words and thoughts stammer where they used to sing. I dance in remembrance of the innocence in of my younger self.”

Now in its 22nd consecutive season, the witty, irreverent and raucous Nut/Cracked will be presented by The Bang Group at Kaatsbaan, in Tivoli, N,Y,, on December 20 and 21. As the Cultural Center’s holiday offering, there is a reason why this 65-minute reimagined Nutcracker has entertained countless numbers of delighted patrons: it is laugh-out-loud funny.

Le sacre de Lila (2022), its U.S. premiere on September 29 at PS21 in Chatham, NY, is a contemporary dance based on the traditional Lila healing ritual of the Maghreb, an area that spans several North African countries. Moroccan-French-Quebecois choreographer, Ismaël Mouaraki explores trance through song, dance and music.