After he retired from dancing, in 1981, Nagrin taught some of his solos to young dancers, but they never captured the edginess and urban energy of his own performances. On stage he was tense, jazzy, confrontational, a wiseguy, an insomniac, a risk taker. In class or in conversation you could feel his curiosity and his concern for you, once you got past being intimidated by that gimlet gaze of his. He was probing, always probing for the depth of experience, yours and his own.
Related:
Steps . . . and more steps, Year in Dance: Reusable histories & durable trends, Drama manqué, More 
- Steps . . . and more steps
Martha Graham’s Steps in the Street doesn’t look anything like a dance of the 21st century, but at the end of Boston Conservatory’s fall program last weekend it fit right in.
- Year in Dance: Reusable histories & durable trends
Conservation is a good thing in these times, and some of the most interesting performances drew on the uses of history — personal history, performance history, and even some inventions that sought to overturn history.
- Drama manqué
Sporen , by the Dutch company Leine & Roebana, had two false beginnings before settling down to an hour of movement exploration.
- Dynamos
The four pieces on the program that Philadanco brought for its Boston debut last weekend at the Institute for Contemporary Art were all-dance numbers showcasing a troupe of highly polished, supercharged dancers.
- From the inside
Martha Graham created a revolution in the modern dance world on many fronts, most significantly by the emotional content and the sculptural form of her work.
- Golden years
The last thing I had in mind when I went to the Opera House Tuesday was raining on Alvin Ailey's parade — particularly since the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which he founded in 1959, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year while making its 41st annual Celebrity Series appearance in Boston.
- Diaghilev days
The Ballets Russes come to town
- Giant's steps
Merce Cunningham's death on July 26 wasn't unexpected. He'd been in frail health since this past winter. He was in a wheelchair for his 90th-birthday celebration in April at Brooklyn Academy of Music. In June, the Cunningham Foundation announced plans for the future of the company and the repertory after his death.
- Southern Exposure
Since Fusionworks Dance Company has maintained a studio in East Greenwich for almost five years, artistic director Deb Meunier decided it was time to bring dance to South County.
- Dreaming and remembrance
Two momentous revivals in town showed us how big the category of classical ballet really is.
- Not quite Nina
On hearing the opening notes of the Kronos Quartet composition and seeing the dancers lit in sunny yellow, I feared we were about to be subjected to one of those “up with people” ballets.
- Less
Topics:
Dance
, Entertainment, Dance, Performing Arts, More
, Entertainment, Dance, Performing Arts, Gene Kelly, Modern Dance, Martha Graham, Martha Graham, Concord Academy, Arizona State University, Anna Sokolow, Less
