All stories by Gia Kourlas on BroadwayStars

Friday, October 28, 2022

Smoke, Mirrors and Passing the Torch at American Ballet Theater by Gia Kourlas

The company continues its fall season with the delight that is “The Dream,” and a Christopher Rudd premiere with an all-Black cast and creative team.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:02PM
Friday, October 21, 2022

The Brilliance and the Blahs of City Ballet. (And Then There’s Solange.) by Gia Kourlas

Reflections on the fall season of New York City Ballet, which remains in transition with a new generation raring to go.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:00AM
Thursday, October 20, 2022

Camille A. Brown’s Latest Dance Challenge? To Have Fun. by Gia Kourlas

The busy choreographer returns to the stage, maybe for the last time, in her celebrated trilogy exploring Black life.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Review: Seven Dancers Step Into the Rhythm of a Moroccan Night by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Fouad Boussouf presents his mystical “Näss” at the Joyce Theater as part of the Crossing the Line Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:19PM
Monday, October 17, 2022

What Comes After a Storm? From Twyla Tharp, a Softer World by Gia Kourlas

The prolific choreographer tells a new story with two classic works at New York City Center: “In the Upper Room” and “Nine Sinatra Songs.” In that order.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:54PM
Friday, October 14, 2022

What Is the Power of Unity Phelan’s Dancing? ‘I’m Clay.’ by Gia Kourlas

Phelan, a principal at New York City Ballet, has gone from rising to risen with a stellar fall season that has shown her range in a string of debuts.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:52PM
Friday, September 30, 2022

Review: At Fall for Dance, Resilience Takes Center Stage by Gia Kourlas

The City Center festival continued with Kyiv City Ballet, a Christopher Wheeldon duet and a daring work for Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:12PM
Thursday, September 29, 2022

Review: City Ballet Dresses Up for Another Fashion Letdown by Gia Kourlas

With music by Solange and ballets by Kyle Abraham, Gianna Reisen and Justin Peck, the company’s annual fashion gala prizes costumes over dancing.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:21PM

Yvonne Rainer, a Giant of Choreography, Makes Her Last Dance by Gia Kourlas

With more than a half-century of work behind her, Rainer goes out swinging with “Hellzapoppin’: What About the Bees?,” which takes on themes of race and resistance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00AM
Friday, September 23, 2022

Review: Dressed Up in Saran Wrap and Ready to Dance by Gia Kourlas

The South African choreographer Robyn Orlin mixes culture and politics with the help of the stunning performance artist Albert Silindokuhle Ibokwe Khoza.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:35PM
Wednesday, August 24, 2022

What Does a Dancing Body Feel Like in Ukraine? ‘I Am a Gun.’ by Gia Kourlas

The country’s experimental dance artists, independent and resilient, are using their skills in a new arena: war.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:00AM
Thursday, August 18, 2022

Trisha Brown on the Beach: Catch a Wave of Dancing Bliss by Gia Kourlas and Angelo Silvio Vasta For The New York Times

This year, the Beach Sessions at Rockaway Beach features the Trisha Brown Dance Company in a program of early works.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:30AM
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Review: Finding a Collective Groove in Church and in House Dance by Gia Kourlas

In “Lifted: A Gospel House Musical,” the choreographer Rennie Harris tells a tale of redemption and healing loosely inspired by “Oliver Twist.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:18PM
Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Review: Black Grace Dances Out a Different Kind of Buzz by Gia Kourlas

This New Zealand company returns to the Joyce Theater with two New York premieres, but neither are as penetrating as “Handgame,” a vintage gem.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:59PM
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Holding Out for a Hero? Ballet Theater Has It Covered. by Gia Kourlas

Daniel Camargo’s breakout season at American Ballet Theater changed his rank from guest artist to principal. (Now, all he needs is an apartment.)

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:09PM
Friday, July 8, 2022

At Ballet Theater, Visions of the Natural World and ‘Swan’ Debuts by Gia Kourlas

Catherine Hurlin makes a major debut as Odette-Odile and the company presents the New York premiere of a mystical work by Alonzo King.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:43PM
Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Review: Remaking the Ballets Russes, With a Queer Spin by Gia Kourlas

Christopher Williams, a choreographer captivated by the otherworldly, presents the New York premieres of “Les Sylphides” and “Afternoon of a Faun.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:08PM
Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Review: How Deep Is Your Love? A Ratmansky Ballet Dives In by Gia Kourlas

Alexei Ratmansky’s “Of Love and Rage,” a New York premiere for American Ballet Theater, tells its story through fluent dancing bodies.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:19PM
Thursday, June 16, 2022

Review: At Ailey, Love Is a Battlefield, Film Noir Style by Gia Kourlas

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Lincoln Center with an anniversary and a premiere by its resident choreographer, Jamar Roberts.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:43PM
Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Ballet Theater Returns to the Met With a Gimmicky ‘Don Quixote’ by Gia Kourlas

American Ballet Theater opens its summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House with a triple cast, comic production. Where will it go next?

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:03PM
Thursday, June 9, 2022

Review: Witching Up ‘Giselle.’ (The Horror, oh the Horror.) by Gia Kourlas

English National Ballet brings Akram Khan’s “Giselle” to the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a production that prizes style over substance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:36PM
Thursday, June 2, 2022

‘MJ’: Dancing the Pain, and Dancing the Pain Away by Gia Kourlas

What is the role of choreography on Broadway? Two musicals, “MJ” and “A Strange Loop,” shed light on the dancing body.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:00AM
Tuesday, May 31, 2022

A Farewell and the Promise of a New Future at City Ballet by Gia Kourlas

The company’s spring season, a double whammy of Covid and injury, ended with the retirement of the principal Amar Ramasar.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 03:20PM
Thursday, May 19, 2022

Review: Looking for a Hero? Hold on to These Dancers by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Donna Uchizono presents “Wings of Iron,” a subtle, virtuosic exploration of the art of perseverance.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 01:37PM
Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Revealing the Labor of Dance Through Constant Motion by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Abby Zbikowski brings her raw, genre-bending “Radioactive Practice” to New York Live Arts after a two-year delay.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:16PM
Friday, May 6, 2022

Review: Ghosts Hover Over a New Collaboration at City Ballet by Gia Kourlas

The choreographer Silas Farley and the composer David K. Israel team up for “Architects of Time,” a premiere for the Stravinsky Festival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:55AM
Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Review: L.A. Dance Project Celebrates Female Choreographers by Gia Kourlas

The best part? It’s not cosmetic. New York premieres by Madeline Hollander and Janie Taylor pair perfectly with a Bella Lewitzky revival.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:03PM
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Making Dance Out of Survival Skills and Reckoning With Grief by Gia Kourlas

Live audiences return for a new platform at Danspace Project featuring Mayfield Brooks, Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener, Iele Paloumpis and Ogemdi Ude.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 10:00AM
Sunday, April 17, 2022

Review: Eiko, Dancing With Friends and With the Dead by Gia Kourlas

The Japanese dance artist, joined by four collaborators, brings her evolving “Duet Project: Distance Is Malleable” to N.Y.U. Skirball.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:52PM
Thursday, April 14, 2022

Review: Three Dancers, One Solo. How Do They Make It Their Own? by Gia Kourlas

Ashwini Ramaswamy, whose specialty is Indian classical dance, works with two dancers from other traditions in “Let the Crows Come.”

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 12:32PM
Thursday, April 7, 2022

Review: Exploring Nature and Nightlife at Martha Graham by Gia Kourlas

Martha Graham Dance Company brings two premieres and a classic to the City Center Dance Festival. The best new work? A soulful score by Jason Moran.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 02:21PM