REVIEW: Camille A. Brown and Dancers at The Joyce Theater

When you spend the evening with Camille A. Brown, you leave feeling that you are one of her closest friends.

The effect boggles me. Brown’s compositions seduce you into their center, as if you stumbled into the middle of a complex family history or an intimate conversation you were not fully prepared for. Brown is an honest mover, who carries in her dancing body her own journey, which means she bears all. She hides no idiosyncrasies, but rather delves into her uniqueness to find its source. She cultivates in her dancers truer versions of themselves so that even as they do her movement, they are set apart. Placed in an environment of socially conscious choreography that often allows performers freedom of theatricality, Brown’s combination of concept and execution is striking.

REVIEW: David Dorfman’s “Prophets of Funk” at the Joyce Theater

When “Prophets of Funk” opens at the Joyce Theater, Dorfman himself is the torch-bearer: the first mover we see. At first we are distracted by glitzy bell bottoms, afro-wigs and fringed vests, swept up in familiar sequences of ponies, grapevines, and snappy step-touch footwork. As if at a party suspended in time, we tap our foot to the familiar tunes and smile at the performers dancing together. It’s not all laymen’s steps– moments of line dancing are fluidly integrated with smooth turns, drops, and balances à la modern dance. Dorfman’s choreography calls for technique, theatricality, rhythm and charm. Video footage of the band is projected on the back screen and Sly himself is present (played by Raja Kelly). He has everyone in the palm of his hand.

BLUEPRINT Summer Intensive at Peridance Capezio Center

Peridance Capezio Center in NYC has some exciting news for young dancers looking for a change of pace in the world of Summer Dance Intensives.

BLUEPRINT, a brand-new, two-week contemporary ballet intensive program in New York City, is set to take place August 20-September 1 2012. Auditions for this exciting opportunity have already begun and will continue internationally throughout the winter and spring. In collaboration with dance icon and founder of DancePulp Drew Jacoby, Peridance has brought together an irresistible faculty for professional dance hopefuls ages 16-22.

The Playground at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center

What dancer can turn down a five dollar class?

$5.00 seems like an incredible deal for an hour and a half of dance technique — but that’s not all Greg Dolbashian (The DASH Ensemble) and Loni Landon (Loni Landon Projects) offered at The Playground, their three week workshop series hosted at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center. From November 28 to December 16, Dolbashian and Landon recruited some of the hottest up-and-coming contemporary dance artists (one each day) to teach in their individual style, and to explore repertory from their current projects. This means that dancers were not only students at The Playground, but in fact a professional working canvas for new pieces in the beginning phases.

Dancers As Action Heroes

When audiences enter the Park Avenue Armory for STREB: Kiss The Air, they will see a stadium of hardware and obstacles, complete with a pool, zip lines, a rotating 20-foot ladder, and a scaffold tower with three diving platforms. This is the STREB Extreme Action Company’s playground, where dancers fall, crawl, climb, and fly.