Reviews Organized Chronologically 2003

March 17, 2003, Diablo Ballet: Divertissement from La Bayadère, Pairs, Walk Before Talk "To celebrate its ninth anniversary, Diablo Ballet presented a program at the Dean Lesher Center for the Regional Arts in Walnut Creek on Friday and Saturday that showed that, while the dancers might be able to do 19th century works, the company is grounded in the 21st century."
Clip on cctimes.com

March 6, 2003, ODC/SF: Remnants of Song "One might wonder how a sexy, high-energy company would conceive of Cistercian society, and the answer is with a sexy, high-energy production. With their robes split down the sides -- revealing more than a little thigh on both the men and women -- and the movement motif of firmly gripping the buttocks, one hoped that Way was making reference to the state of corruption in the old Benedictine monastic orders of the eleventh and twelfth century and not just giving us a little razzle-dazzle."
Link on criticaldance.com

February 28, 2003, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Prayers From the Edge, Apex "Apex was much different in tone, and a little more obscure in its meaning. Almost tanztheater at first glance, Apex invites us into a Cabaret meets Sprockets environment which seems to be under the four-inch heeled boot of Fisher-Harrell. She smokes a cigarette, and drags around a chair like a jaded dominatrix while the company of dancers flit in and out in bizarrely brilliant sequences. "
Link on criticaldance.com

February 24, 2003, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre: Prayers From the Edge, Black Milk, Treading, Revelations "For its current season in Berkeley, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater offers 16 works on four programs with two Bay Area premieres, but in reality, it almost doesn't matter which night you go see the company. With spirited dancing, honest and direct performances, vast pyrotechnical skills and a habit of flinging caution to the wind, this is a company that can make just about any piece of choreography look terrific."
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February 15, 2003, Farruquito & Juana Amaya: Por Derecho "The flamenco term duende refers to the transportation that one experiences in the presence of performers who have released themselves completely to the music and the dance. If anyone attending this show had never experienced duende before, this was it."
Clip on criticaldance.com

February 12, 2003, Robert Moses' KIN: Lucifer’s Prance, Doscongio, Blood in Time, Solo Suite, 3 Quartets for 4 and the Second is 2, A Biography of Baldwin: Part I, The Soft Sweet Smell of Firm Warm Things "Few of the Bay Area’s modern choreographers are more highly regarded than Robert Moses and with his latest offering, “A Biography of Baldwin,” which premiered during his company’s latest season at the Cowell Theater, he once more shows us the pleasure of his elegantly intelligent and yet vital work."
Clip on criticaldance.com

February 10, 2003, Merce Cunningham Dance Company: Suite for Five, MinEvent, Fluid Canvas "For some people, a performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company can be an adventure into the realm of purely distilled ideas about movement and time -- a kind of kinesthetic conceptual art -- while for others, it is a excruciating descent into pretension and boredom."
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February 8, 2003, San Francisco Ballet: Program 1: Ballo Della Regina, Chi-Lin, Dreams of Harmony; Program 2: Elite Syncopations and Dances at a Gathering "San Francisco Ballet opened its 70th season last week at the War Memorial Opera House with two programs of 20th century ballets that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, but with a fine display of world-class dancing."
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January 29, 2003, San Francisco Ballet: Opening Gala: Little Waltz, Pas de Trois from Divertissements d'Auber, Shogun, Excerpt from Without Words, Norwegian Moods, Chaconne for Piano and two Dancers, Pas de Deux from Act II of Giselle, Pas de Trois from Agon, Concerto Grosso"The phrase 'an embarrassment of riches' came to mind at San Francisco Ballet's Opening Gala last night at the War Memorial Opera House. It was an evening to admire the talent that is coming up through the ranks, as well as appreciate the virtuousity of the company's best dancers, who offered performances that elevated mere steps into artistry."
Clip on criticaldance.com

January 20, 2003, Aeros: "The sheer physical excitement generated by 'Aeros,' a fantastical show comprised of 20 athletes from the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, was enough to bring awe-inspired gasps from the crowd at UC-Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall Friday night."
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January 19, 2003, Magic Theater: Joe Goode's Body Familiar: "When you walk into the theater for a Joe Goode show, you’re just as likely to be confronted with a mesh of oozing intestines, up close and personal, as anything else. "
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