ROAD WARRIORS Boston favorites Hubbard Street Dance Chicago come to the Cutler Majestic Theatre February 6-8. |
Starting out the winter dance season — and a new presidency — promoting international coexistence, Ahmet Luleci's folkloric COLLAGE pays tribute to Israel's multiculturalism and explores the "unifying elements that connect people across spiritual beliefs" at the Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge (January 17-18; 617.795.2468). CIRQUE LE MASQUE'SCARNIVALE brings daring young men (and women) on flying trapezes to the Cutler Majestic Theatre (January 21-25; 800.233.3123).
Clara Ramona discovered flamenco as a Boston Conservatory student decades ago, fronted her ex-husband's troupe, and now visits from her native Philippines with grown-up sons Isaac and Nino de los Reyes in SANGRE FLAMENCA EN GIRA ("Flamenco Blood on Tour") at Boston University Dance Theatre (January 23-24; 617.358.2500).
A tongue-in-cheek mash-up of pop culture by way of the four classical elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — animates KEIGWIN + COMPANY's appearances at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston (January 23-24; 617.876.4275) (As is the case for all World Music/CRASHarts dance events this season, I'll be on hand giving pre-performance talks 45 minutes before each show.) CHIMERALAB DANCE PROJECT, with American butoh dancer Jennifer Hicks and friends, explores the real and mythic landscape of Cape Cod at Green Street Studios in Cambridge (January 24-25; 617.864.3191). The SHARED CHOREOGRAPHERS' CONCERT around the corner at Cambridge's Dance Complex brings together young and new dancemakers (January 23-24; 617.547.9363).
Ballerina-turned-tango-sensation Guillermina Quiroga goes way beyond Dancing with the Stars with her TANGO: HISTORIAS BREVES, where the dancers' intertwining limbs flower into occasionally surreal vignettes, at the Cutler Majestic Theatre (January 30–February 1; 617.876.4275).
BRIAN CRABTREE AND DANCERS presents choreography inspired by the brainy alt-rock sounds of the Books, and the always intriguing MARJORIE MORGAN layers everything from Scarlatti to Turkish rap and video, both at the Dance Complex (January 30-31; 617.784.1615).
The Celebrity Series of Boston brings local favorites HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO with their polished repertory to the Cutler Majestic Theatre (February 6-8; 617.482.6661) and, the same weekend, China's GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS to Symphony Hall (February 8).
Gorgeously athletic and emotionally resonant, the choreography of Jirí Kylián gets a well-deserved spotlight with BOSTON BALLET in his contemporary "Black and White" program at the Wang Theatre (February 12-15; 866.348.9738).
For Valentine's Day weekend, flamenco is your ticket. The annual World Music/CRASHarts FLAMENCO FESTIVAL opens with Seville's Isabel Bayón Company including cante singer Terremoto performing La puerta abierta ("The Open Door") at the Cutler Majestic Theatre (February 13; 617.876.4275). The rest of the weekend celebrates the art of dancer SOLEDAD BARRIO and NOCHE FLAMENCA at the same venue (February 14-15). Guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan joins forces with dancer La Conja in FLAMENCO ON FIRE: AMOR CON FUEGO at an intimate tablao with wine and tapas at Springstep in Medford (February 14; 781.395.0402).
Youthful mischief will out when the BOSTON CONSERVATORY DANCE THEATER presents David Lichine's gentle Graduation Ball plus a new work by not-often-enough-seen choreographer Kathryn Posin at the Boston Conservatory Theater (February 19-22; 617.912.9222) .
Former Boston dancer Zoe Scofield moved to Seattle and created an edgy dreamscape of fractured ballet dreams in The devil you know is better than the devil you don't. Check out why Dave Matthews hired her to choreograph a video when ZOE SCOFIELD & JUNIPER SHUEY make their local debut at the ICA (February 20-21; 617.876.4275).
Samba, capoeira, and pure fun come together when DANCE BRAZIL 2009 evoke sunnier climes at New Bedford's Zeiterion Theatre (February 20; 508.994.2900). The cleverly named CONNetic Dance (yes, from Hartford) comes to the Dance Complex (February 21; 860.586.8983).
BOSTON BALLET finally tackles one of the great peaks of the neoclassical repertory, the full-length version of George Balanchine's Jewels; it's staged by former Balanchine ballerinas Sandra Jennings and Maria Calegari (February 26–March 8; 866.348.9738).
For the seventh annual collaboration between BU dancers and lighting designers, AURORA BOREALIS shines at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (February 26–March 1; 617.933.8600). PINE MANOR COLLEGE DANCE ENSEMBLE gives its annual winter concert spanning hip-hop, modern, jazz, and ballet at the Ellsworth Theater in Chestnut Hill (February 26-27; 617.283.4596). Environmental heroine Rachel Carson meets American jazz tap when choreographer Drika Overton and jazz pianist Paul Arslanian go OFF THE BEATEN PATH: A JAZZ AND TAP ODYSSEY with Josh Hilberman and the inimitable Brenda Bufalino at Fitchburg State College (February 27; 978.665.3347).
KIRA SEAMON presents Arias and Arabesques with mezzo-soprano Angeliki Theoharis and pianist Kyoko Yurugi at the Dance Complex (March 6-9; 617.794.1020). Martha Mason and Anna Myers mentor young dance makers at Green Street in their EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM (March 6-7; 617.864.3191).
NATURE THEATER OF OKLAHOMA is at the ICA with Kelly Copper and Pavol Liska's gestural epic Poetics: A Ballet Brut (March 13-15; 617.478.3103). A super-sensitive superhero stands at the center of Joe Goode's WONDERBOY, the not-to-be-missed collaboration between gutsy, political Goode and genius puppeteer Basil Twist at Northeastern's Blackman Theatre (March 14; 617.373.4700). MAVI DANCE takes its audience to the world of the sultans in Harem at Boston University Dance Theatre (March 14-15; 617.358.2500). Following their New York City premiere, KELLEY DONOVAN & DANCERS perform Borrowed Bones, exploring acceptance, impermanence, and letting go, at the Dance Complex (March 13-14; 781.420.3893).
