Tag archives: dancers
Balletomanes packed the Gail Towbes Center for Dance when State Street Ballet celebrated the 20th anniversary of its annual show Evenings, which gives the talented dancers the opportunity to create their own dance works and experiment with new movement, music, and themes. Nine works were performed in all, including “Luna Luna to Clair de Lune, […]
Social gadabout Rick Oshay and his galpal Teresa Kuskey put the “fun” into Funk Zone when they threw a spooktacular Halloween bash with the gloriously camp and colorful La Boheme Dancers at the home of the Topa Topa Brewing Company and the Fox Wine Company. More than 170 guests, most of them creatively garbed, turned […]
Santa Barbara’s State Street Ballet is off to Japan for a two-week tour, including Tokyo and Osaka, in May. Founder and co-artistic director Rodney Gustafson tells me the tony troupe of 19 dancers, accompanied by five staffers, will be performing Jungle Book, which is being danced again on April 29 at the Lobero, and two […]
UCSB Dance Company’s 2023 company consists entirely of female or non-binary dancers, which wasn’t a conscious choice but simply the result of having no male senior dance majors on campus this year. But rather than fighting against what is, Artistic Director Delila Moseley decided to double down. “I just decided to go with it, and […]
Dancing is arguably one of the oldest and most expressive art forms – one that transcends cultures and history with every area of the world having their own styles of the ancient art. Even if you’re not one to don the dancing shoes, just watching the wonder of a Waltz or rhythmic Rumba can get […]
Robert Battle intentionally benched his own creative endeavors when he took over as artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2011, as only the third person to occupy the position after founder Ailey’s 31-year tenure, and former dancer Judith Jamison’s 21-year reign. Instead, Battle focused on administrative duties and even more so on […]
Just 48 hours later, at the same venue, it was an extraordinary performance of a very different sort when Memphis Jookin’: The Show featuring Lil Buck kicked off UCSB Arts & Lectures’ first dance performance in two years, given the pandemic. Jookin’, which derived in Memphis, Tennessee, as a sort of rivalry between freestyle-based dancers, […]
A.I.M. Artistic Director Kyle Abraham is easily not only one of today’s most in-demand choreographers but also one able to traverse an array of disciplines as he has had works commissioned by companies spanning Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and New York City Ballet. A.I.M. (aka Abraham.In.Motion.), exists for Abraham to […]
Fiesta fever was palpable at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum when Tablao Museo, an energized flamenco show for 230 guests, took place under the stars. The pulsating event on a sultry summer night was organized by museum director Dacia Harwood and featured musicians and dancers from our Eden by the Beach to Spain who shared […]
Who could have predicted dance as the art form that would dominate reopening at the Center Stage Theater? Sure, the “black box” theater upstairs in Paseo Nuevo has been a happy home for several of the local dance companies that produce their own periodic performances and has also hosted a few festivals featuring revues. But […]
Lights Up!, Santa Barbara’s newest teen theater company that serves as a professional, yet inclusive and creative home for the youngsters, is currently auditioning for its 2020-21 company membership. Interested actors, singers, and dancers aged 12-19 are invited to audition for admission and the opportunity to attend callbacks for specific shows with the rest of […]
Also taking to the great outdoors this week is the Santa Barbara Ecstatic Dance Co-op, which features music programmed by members of the community who are encouraged to express themselves through their choices of songs, rhythms, and beats. Its last dance took place at Divinitree Yoga studio the first Friday in March before bowing to […]
Santa Barbara Dance Theater premiered four works by international guest choreographers to kick off its 44th anniversary season at the Hatlen Theatre. In addition to featuring the works of Jennifer Muller, Stephanie Miracle, UCSB dance faculty member Nancy Colahan, and artistic director Christopher Pilafian, the entertaining program also had original scores by renowned composers Ryan […]
On their 50th Anniversary tour, Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) performed at the Granada Theatre in November as part of the UCSB Arts & Lectures Dance Series, with Montecito sponsors Irma and Morrie Jurkowitz, Margo Cohen-Feinberg and Bob Feinberg, Annette and Dr. Richard Caleel, Barbara Stupay, Sheila Wald, and Jody and John Arnhold. The 15 […]
Dance Theatre of Harlem, celebrating its half century, put on a most impressive display when the company performed at a sold-out show at the Granada. The two hour show, part of UCSB Arts & Lectures program, consisted of four works, starting with a classical amber alert, Orange, featuring six dancers and music by Vivaldi, beautifully […]
World Dance for Humanity was dead on time when the Ensemble Theatre Company hosted its 4th annual Ghost Light Night, starting at the venerable Santa Barbara Club and concluding at the New Vic two blocks away. The dancers, wonderfully made-up as zombies, kicked off their artfully crafted show with “Monster Mash,” the 1962 novelty song […]
Two of the Granada Theatre’s resident companies, the State Street Ballet, celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the 72-year-old Santa Barbara Choral Society, combined their abundant talents in American Masters. The enticing program featured masterworks from Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, and Morten Lauridsen, and choreography ranging from neoclassical to the avant garde combined in an endeavor […]
At the Granada it was time for the tony triumvirate of violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis, and pianist Jeremy Denk to shine, part of the popular UCSB Arts & Lectures program. The talented threesome were in glorious harmony playing works by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. A blockbuster show… Like Father, Like Daughter CAMA […]
New York choreographer Doug Elkins, after a month-long residency at the Lobero as part of DANCEworks 10th anniversary, put on a fan-tastic 40 minute performance Kintsugi as the culmination of his creative stay in our Eden by the Beach. The 10-year-old company’s six talented dancers – Carolyn Cryer, Alexander Does, Cori Marquis, Donnell Oakley, Eric […]
“There is a thin semantic line separating weird and beautiful. And that line is covered in jellyfish.” So said choreographer Doug Elkins at the Lobero Theater a couple of weeks ago, perhaps answering a question posed by one of the members of the Friday Club. Or more than likely not. Elkins is the high-energy, self-described […]
