Shrinking 'Nutcracker' to child size

Shrinking 'Nutcracker' to child size:

Like most people in the ballet world, the soft-spoken Mark Foehringer has had long experience with 'Nutcracker.' But with his latest production - which the Mark Foehringer Dance Project|SF will perform twice a day at the Zeum from next Sunday to Dec. 20 - he's hoping to capture the interest of young audiences with a child-scaled ballet that he describes as more like 'danced storytelling.'

Q: Did the Zeum come to you with the idea of a "Nutcracker"?

A: Actually it worked the other way. We were putting together a long-term plan for the company, and one of the pieces of that plan was that we would do a show to help develop young audiences. Usually our shows are contemporary or abstract - more grown-up things, but we wanted to open up our work to kids.

One of the things I liked was that the theater at the Zeum was not in constant use. I think it was originally built as a teaching theater, and there have been workshops and some productions in it, but they hadn't had a lot that brought the theatergoing experience to that age range of 2 to 4 years old.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/27/PKBI1AN6TS.DTL#ixzz0YBRcOEGX

'The King's Only Daughter'

'The King's Only Daughter':

A thrilling energy blended with traditional storytelling is the heart of every performance by Oakland's Diamano Coura West African Dance Company. Colorful, ebullient and rich with infectious rhythms, Diamano Coura's latest show promises to be no exception as the company presents the U.S. debut of Nimely Napla's 'The King's Only Daughter.

In many West African communities, dance, music and theater blend not just with each other but also with daily life - an idea reflected in "The King's Only Daughter," which, Napla says, "is a dance drama, with music, song, everything together."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/26/NS5U1ANBFA.DTL#ixzz0YBRDrdRA

Diablo Ballet opens on solid ground

Diablo Ballet opens on solid ground:

With plucky reliability, Diablo Ballet opened its 16th season at the Lesher Center for the Arts over the weekend, performing three very different works that showcased the nine-member company's dependable energy and unflagging enthusiasm.

Central to the success of the program was George Balanchine's "Apollo," a great classic of 20th century ballet, which elevated matters to a level worthy of this sturdy company. As the Greek god of the title, Jekyns Pelaez is refreshingly naturalistic and playful, rather than stylized. More formal - if a trifle stern at times - was Tina Kay Bohnstedt's Terpsichore, whose softness and delicacy in a duet with Pelaez was one of the evening's highlights. If there's a complaint, it's that the tempos of the recorded music by Igor Stravinsky seemed to drag, particularly in the duet for Mayo Sugano and Jenna McClintock as the muses Calliope and Polyhymnia respectively.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/24/DDSU1AOQ4K.DTL#ixzz0YBQyu8MX

Hip-hop dancers heat up the night

Hip-hop dancers heat up the night: It might have been a cold damp November night, but things were hot inside the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre as the 11th Annual S.F. Hip Hop DanceFest got under way Friday with the first of two weekend programs.

As the audience walked in, the mood was already enthusiastic as hip-hoppers from around the world messed around onstage and competed genially with each other. Of course, messing around in this case meant showing off acrobatic twisting turns in the air and sweeping balances on one hand.

Founded in 1999 by Micaya, the three-day festival now attracts some of the best hip-hop crews in the world, but what's been the most impressive is to track the perceptible rise in level of groups who've long been part of it, such as Loose Change and the irrepressible New Style Motherlode.

In fact, the evening got off to a screaming hot start with New Style Motherlode's "Invasion Involved," a futuristic alien incursion - a sort of "Terminator - Rise of the Machines" tinged with bling. The Oakland company encompasses youth-oriented dance teams as well as an adult troupe, and for this effort multiple groups took the stage pulsating with an almost freakish energy. With densely interlocking choreography by, among others, co-directors Corey Action and Teela Shine-Ross, the ensemble's bag of tricks included tightly wound group work, a little bit of skateboarding and a stellar turn by martial artists James Solis and Richard Ines, who swiped through the air and tossed off corkscrewing double flips and 540-degree turns as if they were nothing.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/23/DDED1AOMFB.DTL#ixzz0Xi4oIJNQ

Rest of post here.

Gary Masters gives ballet a modern spin

Gary Masters gives ballet a modern spin: "Veteran choreographer Gary Masters is perhaps best known for his modern dance work, but ballet is the idiom of choice for his latest, 'Fete for Three,' his third work for Diablo Ballet, which kicks off its 16th season at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts this weekend.

Masters - who is on the faculty at San Jose State University and also directs his own company, sjDANCEco - has deep connections to modern dance giant Jose Limon, who inspired him to found the Limon West Dance Project of San Jose, the West Coast ensemble of the Limon Company."

Tree Frog Treks at Paxton Gate: Get curious

Tree Frog Treks at Paxton Gate: Get curious: "Piquing natural curiosity is right there in the name of Paxton Gate's Curiosities for Kids, a magic toy shop tucked away on San Francisco's Valencia Street, between 18th and 19th streets. Amid twisted branches and vines and whimsical mounted stuffed animal heads, science kits, games, knitted octopuses, giant eyeballs and other provoking tchotchkes share the shelves with natural specimens."

An interview with DV8 Physical Theatre's Lloyd Newson

Lloyd Newson talks about "To Be Straight with You" on KALW Radio

I haven't done radio for a while, but I got the chance to interview Lloyd Newson last week on KALW's New America Now program.

DV8's Newson discusses S.F. production

DV8's Newson discusses S.F. production: "Founded in 1986 by Australian-born Lloyd Newson - who studied psychology in Melbourne before joining New Zealand Ballet - DV8 Physical Theatre's unnerving and often raw work blends movement with text - sometimes provocative and unafraid to dive headlong into touchy topics like racism and religious intolerance."

Dance review: Strong beats from 'L7,' Fauxnique

Dance review: Strong beats from 'L7,' Fauxnique: "What makes rhythmic repetition so compelling in some instances and yet monotonous in others? This past weekend it was possible to spend each day visiting vastly different dance performances - at the Cowell Theater, at CounterPulse, at ODC - delivering a veritable blur of styles: modern, hip-hop, kathak, folklorico, flamenco, voguing. What sticks in the brain, though, are those moments when mere beats somehow crescendoed into a tidal wave, when rhythm not only reflected an individual pulse but also took on the force of a gestalt grouping."

'The Walworth Farce'

'The Walworth Farce':

Everyone seems to agree that the main thing to know about Enda Walsh's critically acclaimed 'The Walworth Farce,' which the Druid Ireland theater company brings to the Cal Performances stage next week, is that it's OK to be lost and confused, right up through the intermission, maybe even into the second act.

"It's pure genius - it's everything you could want from a piece of theater," says director Mikel Murfi, with the sort of rapid-fire delivery that one imagines is embedded in the play itself. "It's hilarious at times, confusing at times, it's energetic, it's about what we are as people. It's explosive, tragic, incredible stuff. As a book, it was un-put-downable, although I have to say, the first time I read it, I was very, very confused as to what was going on."

Read more at SFGate.com.

Saturday stargazing at Lawrence Hall of Science

Saturday stargazing at Lawrence Hall of Science: "It's been 400 years since Galileo first pointed his telescope to the sky to look at the stars, and what better way to celebrate this International Year of Astronomy than by having a look at Jupiter, the planet that so mesmerized the great Italian astronomer.

The hills above UC Berkeley offer a fine vantage point for stargazing, and every first and third Saturday of the month, the Lawrence Hall of Science turns down the lights on the main plaza and sets up telescopes so astronomers amateur or professional can enjoy the heavenly show - a terrific opportunity to introduce kids to navigating the night sky and basic constellations."

Isadora Duncan Awards

Isadora Duncan Awards: "Dohee Lee and Jo Kreiter will be honored for outstanding achievement by the 24th annual Isadora Duncan Awards, which recognize contributions to Bay Area dance between Sept. 1, 2008, and Aug. 31, 2009.

Lee will be honored for 'Flux,' an interdisciplinary piece commissioned by the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Kreiter for 'The Ballad of Polly Ann,' a tribute to the women who built the Bay Area's bridges.

The Izzies also will pay homage to dancer Marc Platt, known as Marc Platoff during his years with the Ballets Russes, for sustained achievement. The Ashkenaz Music and Dance Center in Berkeley and pianist Roy Bogas, whose sensitive playing has enlivened many a San Francisco Ballet performance, will be recognized for their contributions to the Bay Area dance scene."

Trey McIntyre Project's whimsical show pleases

Trey McIntyre Project's whimsical show pleases: "For a moment, as a pair of red balloons made a buoyant ascent into the air, it almost felt like the dancers of the Trey McIntyre Project - which made its first West Coast appearance as a full-fledged company at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco's Kanbar Hall on Friday night - would float up next to them.

In many ways, McIntyre's 'Shape' - a helium-light, delightful interlude on a mixed program - epitomizes the kind of whimsical yet canny craft that has made McIntyre such a sought-after young choreographer."