Jeanne Ruddy's "Montage Ó Trois'

Painting and sculpting with the body

In Montage Ó Trois, Jeanne Ruddy and her dancers used the Pennsylvania Academy and its paintings to explore questions about where art comes from and how it moves us. Few site-specific works have achieved such power.

Jim Rutter

Apr 26, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Miro Dance Theatre's "Punch,' and PIFA's trifecta

The Festival's Stravinsky trifecta

The “Let a thousand Parisian flowers bloom” approach to festival making opened the way to many outstanding productions and exhibitions. Consider, in particular, the synergy of three Stravinsky Pulcinellas, notably Miro Dance Theatre's raw and raucous Punch.

Jonathan M. Stein

Apr 26, 2011 · Articles · 8 minute read

BalletX and Wilma re-imagine Apollinaire (2nd review)

Where's the beef?

Apollinaire and the surrealists reveled in the absurd. But these performers aren't surrealists— they're modern-day artists performing an old piece of surrealist art. It's a treat for the senses, but there's not much here for the mind to chew on.

Madeline Schaefer

Apr 19, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Rennie Harris Puremovement's hip-hop "Heaven' at the Perelman

A hip-hop Stravinsky

A muddy narrative undermined an otherwise memorable work that included some sterling and riveting hip-hop dance, choreographed by a legendary pioneer of the art form.

Jonathan M. Stein

Apr 18, 2011 · Articles · 2 minute read

Pennsylvania Ballet: Balanchine and Millepied

When artists are athletes (and vice versa)

Arantxa Ochoa paired with Francis Veyette to match her strength and will against his in a pas de deux that blended gymnastics, contortionism and the execution of seemingly impossible poses.

Jim Rutter

Apr 16, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

BalletX and Wilma re-imagine Apollinaire (1st review)

So you want surrealism?

BalletX and the Wilma Theater team up for a riotous paean to the creative spirit and imagination based on a 1916 work by the daddy of surrealism, Guillaume Apollinaire.

Apr 16, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Orchestra-Ballet's "Pulcinella' (2nd review)

Pulcinella, we hardly knew ye

Jorma Elo's adaptation of Stravinsky's Pulcinella is at once familiar, original and cunningly constructed. But it diffused the audience's understanding of a colorful story, leaving the lead couple as the only recognizable pair.

Jim Rutter

Apr 12, 2011 · Articles · 5 minute read

Basil Twist's puppet "Petrushka' at Annenberg

Who dances better than dancers?

The 1911 ballet Petrushka cast dancers as puppets. In Basil Twist's radical adaptation, puppets portray puppets— an ingenious concept, because puppets can do things that dancers can't.

Jonathan M. Stein

Apr 12, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read

Kashu-juku Noh Theater at the Perelman (2nd review)

Is it theater or dance? Or baseball?

Is Japanese Noh drama or dance? In Western drama, something happens; in Noh, someone appears. Noh theater just may be one of those art forms that defy category, especially if you don't speak Japanese.

Mar 29, 2011 · Articles · 6 minute read

Myth vs. dreams in Wheeldon's "Swan Lake'

It was only a dream? Then give me my money back

In falling back on the framing device of a dream, Christopher Wheeldon's recent adaptation squanders the genuine mythical power of Swan Lake. The same goes for Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan.

Jim Rutter

Mar 15, 2011 · Articles · 4 minute read