Luna Dance Institute in full swing as it turns 20

Rapt fascination was written on the faces of the two dozen schoolkids sitting scattered around the perimeter of Luna Dance Institute's main studio in an industrial building in the heart of Emeryville on Wednesday. Occasionally a teetering balance or a particular movement drew a quiet giggle, but for the most part, the students were mesmerized by the institute's "20/20 Points of View," in which Melissa Caywood of Deborah Slater Dance Theater performed a solo from Slater's latest work in progress.

"This has always been the dream," said Patricia Reedy, Luna Dance Institute's founder and director, "to bring together real working choreographers and kids - to get them thinking about how to get the kids engaged with dance."

It's been 20 years since Luna opened as a community dance space in Berkeley, a place that Reedy and her co-director, Nancy Ng, hoped would fill the need for rehearsal and class studios left by the loss of Citicentre Dance Theatre. Since 1992, the scope and complexity of Luna's programs have multiplied to include not only dance classes and summer camps for children and choreographic workshops for teens, but also professional development programs for teachers and dance artists, and support for school and community administrators who are interested in organizing dance programs in their home institutions.

Luna Dance Institute in full swing as it turns 20

Open Make: Trash: Exploratorium DIY clothes swap

What once might have gone to a landfill can become useful again at the Open Make: Trash program Saturday at the Exploratorium.

The Exploratorium's popular Open Make series has grown over the years from a small program for youngsters into a monthly public event. This month, the folks at the museum's Tinkering Studio have collaborated with Make magazine and Pixar Animation Studios to devise a special Earth Day celebration that looks at imaginative ways to reconfigure your trash into practical, interesting, even beautiful projects.

Open Make: Trash: Exploratorium DIY clothes swap

Ballet San Jose review: surprising turns

For better or worse, the recent revisions in leadership at Ballet San Jose have meant a redefinition of the company's identity, but promising, even surprising performances buttressed Ballet San Jose's mixed repertory program of company premieres this past weekend at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

George Balanchine's "Allegro Brillante" is, on balance, a sound addition to the company's repertoire - the kind of ballet that makes a good company stronger, even as it appeals to the audience.

There was plenty of brio from Friday night's cast, although for all the pep onstage, only a couple of the dancers looked comfortable enough to enjoy the luscious phrasing of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto - unfortunately danced to a noticeably poor-quality recording.

In the ballerina role, Junna Ige seemed nervous and tightly wound, resulting in careful, though nimble, pointework when you longed for her to give more amplitude to her steps to fill out the musical phrases and really make the choreography sing. By contrast, her partner Maykel Solas struck an appealing balance between buoyant enthusiasm and gallant partnering, often looking like he wanted nothing more in the world than to set her at ease.

Ballet San Jose review: surprising turns

SF Ballet review: Balanchine's 'Scotch Symphony'

George Balanchine's delightful 1952 "Scotch Symphony" returned to San Francisco Ballet's active repertoire with lively vigor on Friday night's opening of the company's all-Balanchine program at the War Memorial Opera House.

This highly atmospheric, though plotless, homage to Scotland takes inspiration from the pageantry of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the heather-scented charms of the Romantic-era Bournonville classic "La Sylphide" as well as the music of Felix Mendelssohn's "Scotch Symphony" conducted with exuberant gusto by Martin West. Full of lively dancing, flashing kilts and jaunty tams, the ballet makes a happy vehicle for the freshness and energy of the corps, which was led in the first movement by Courtney Elizabeth with especial vivacity and sprightly attack.

The ballet is anchored, though, by the central pas de deux for a sylph-like ballerina and her lover, a duet that Yuan Yuan Tan and Davit Karapetyan imbued with a sweet longing on opening night. Balanchine fills this second movement with mysterious interludes - Tan flirts gently with Karapetyan, however romantic moments are enigmatically interrupted by the corps of men, who surround her protectively, blocking him from reaching her.

SF Ballet review: Balanchine's 'Scotch Symphony'

Caroline Rocher connects the dots to Lines Ballet

Afternoon rehearsal is serious business in the Lines Ballet studios, where Alonzo King is working with the dancers on his lavish "Scheherazade" for the company's upcoming season at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Intensity and concentration are written across Keelan Whitmore's face as he works with the lovely Caroline Rocher. She gives a little shimmy that ripples from her hips to her shoulders, but then a smile begins to break out across Rocher's face. It's the first sign that they've hit a piece of the choreography that doesn't quite feel right and it also signals one of Rocher's more endearing qualities. Even when things aren't going perfectly, her outlook is always upbeat.

King comes over to help them push the partnering in a new direction, and when they repeat, there's a fearless spontaneity in her movement, even as she places each foot, each limb with surgical precision.

The luminous Rocher joined Lines Ballet in 2007, arriving with an impressive resume of national and international credits. If at first she seemed a touch otherworldly, even tentative, in her approach to King's famously probing and challenging choreography, nevertheless, in the five seasons she's danced with the company she's imbued her performances with a rare warmth and intelligence and become a soulful and unpretentious interpreter of his work.

Caroline Rocher connects the dots to Lines Ballet

Spring Eggstravaganza: Golden Gate Park egg hunts

Why does a bunny bring eggs at Easter? If you can catch him hiding the eggs for Saturday's Spring Eggstravaganza in Golden Gate Park's Sharon Meadow, maybe you can ask him.

Sponsored by the Recreation and Park Department, this year's event has an "Alice in Recreation Land" theme. It will feature not only the obligatory Easter egg hunts, but also plenty of other amusements - including rides, jumpy houses, arts and crafts and a rib cook-off "Top Chef"-style, between Rec and Park and the city's Police and Fire departments.

The event will pack a lot in, according to Connie Chan, deputy director of public affairs, who says that the Recreation and Park team is expecting thousands of visitors for what has become a springtime tradition.

Spring Eggstravaganza: Golden Gate Park egg hunts

Pointe magazine – Upheaval at Ballet San Jose

Upheaval At Ballet San Jose
After a period of uncertainty during which Ballet San Jose artistic director Dennis Nahat’s authority was gradually eroded, the board officially removed him from the position this January. Nahat cofounded Cleveland Ballet in 1976, shepherded it through its dual-city days as San Jose Cleveland Ballet, then became artistic director and moved the company permanently to San Jose in 2000. “I have no idea what went wrong, but it felt like a hostile takeover,” Nahat said after learning he’d been pushed out.

Like many ballet companies, BSJ has struggled financially in recent years. In an effort to boost its reach, in December the company announced a partnership with American Ballet Theatre. BSJ executive director Stephanie Ziesel explains that the idea grew from discussions with her sister, Mary Jo Ziesel, who serves as director of education and training at ABT. The initial concept was to incorporate ABT’s National Training Curriculum into the BSJ School, but the conversation soon expanded to involve a larger arrangement, in which BSJ would gain access to ABT’s repertoire and coaching staff.

Ziesel says that moving forward, the company will be led by a principal ballet master, former BSJ dancer Raymond Rodriguez, and an artistic advisor, former ABT II director Wes Chapman. “Wes has been engaged for the season,” says Ziesel, “while Ray is a permanent, full-time appointment.”

Ziesel says she wants Nahat to remain involved with BSJ. But none of Nahat’s ballets are on the group’s 2012 lineup, which features six works new to BSJ—including ABT staples like Robbins’ Interplay and Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. “I hope that soon we can put this behind us and talk about the future,” says Ziesel. —Mary Ellen Hunt

Pointe magazine

Robert Moses Kin review: Sophisticated dance

Robert Moses' choreography not only moves you, it makes you want to move. A sexy jolt of the hips, a sinuous dip of the shoulders - as you watch the unfolding of his enigmatic "Helen," which premiered Friday night at the Yerba Buena Center season opener for Robert Moses' Kin, you might be thinking that you could steal a few of those moves next time you go out dancing.

His is sophisticated dance, smart work for smart people. Whether working with simple abstraction or agenda-tinged, spoken-word essays, it's clear that Moses has a lot of respect for the intelligence of his audience, and that means you leave one of his shows feeling not only stimulated, but satiated.

That's not to say that "Helen" is easily comprehended. What is the contentious relationship between the men and the women about? Is one of the women set up to be the legendary Helen of Troy? But then again, what does it matter when there is such gorgeous dancing onstage?

Robert Moses Kin review: Sophisticated dance

'The Secret History of Love' review: Soul mates

The eternal question of how to find your soul mate is at the heart of "The Secret History of Love," which made its debut on Thursday night at San Francisco's Dance Mission Theater.

Built upon reminiscences gathered by Sean Dorsey from interviews with gay, lesbian and transgender individuals, "The Secret History of Love" is sometimes a tour, sometimes docudrama and occasionally burlesque, although it also leaves a lingering sense that editing down the sprawl of material was difficult. The result is sometimes poignant but can also feel somewhat fractured and episodic.

There are strong performances onstage from Dorsey, along with collaborators Brian Fisher, Nol Simonse and Juan de la Rosa. As a group, the four share a kind of gestalt, moving, interlocking, even breathing with a persuasive consonance that makes the duets, trios and quartets a pleasure to watch.

'The Secret History of Love' review: Soul mates