Dance section: Metro Weekly magazine, Washington, DC newspaper

Flashdance

Shi-Queeta-Lee rallies her forces for a quick, vibrant hit

Published on January 27, 2010, 10:36pm

Piers Morgan of America's Got Talent has become an unlikely inspiration for female impersonator Shi-Queeta-Lee. ''A bunch of lip-synching old drag queens who can't dance is not what America needs right now,'' judged Morgan, after Lee's group performed on the show last summer. ''Not exactly Barack Obama is it?'' ''I'm still trying to figure out what [Morgan's Obama reference] has got to do with us being drag queens and lip-synching,'' says Lee, who performs regularly at Town and Nellie's Sports ...[more]

Mozart Moves

The Washington Ballet and In Series join forces to celebrate Mozart

Published on January 21, 2010, 5:54am

''I love choreography,'' says The Washington Ballet's Jared Nelson, adding with a laugh, ''When I can't kick my legs up anymore, I hope to do a lot more [of it].'' No worries for now. The 31-year-old guesses he's got about another decade of kicking up his legs as a professional dancer. But he dips his toeshoes into choreography every now and then, as with a new collaboration between The Washington Ballet and The In Series. The two have joined to ...[more]

Puppet Master

Joe Goode brings 'Wonderboy' to the Clarice Smith Center

Published on April 30, 2009, 12:00am

Until just a few years ago, Joe Goode considered himself a ''puppetphobe.'' ''Puppets seemed like children's theater,'' says the innovative choreographer. ''The cuteness factor was a bit too much for me.'' Now, however, a puppet plays the lead role in his latest dance-theater piece, Wonderboy, to be performed this weekend at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. 'Wonderboy' (Photo by RJ Muna) Goode, 58, gives credit to New York puppeteer extraordinaire Basil Twist for provoking his ''conversion experience.'' Twist's puppets ...[more]

Shape Shifters

MOMIX challenges tradition in its unique dance constructs

Published on February 19, 2009, 12:00am

Defying stereotype and tradition, Brian Simerson of MOMIX thinks dance is becoming less gay. ''There do seem to be fewer gay men and lesbians in dance these days, from what I've seen,'' says the out Simerson, who has been involved with MOMIX for 15 years. The company has had a few same-sex pieces over the years, and it currently counts two other gay and lesbian dancers in a roster of 20. Still, says the 36-year-old Simerson, even MOMIX ''tends to ...[more]

Flamenco Power

Lisner gears up for its 9th Annual Flamenco Festival

Published on February 5, 2009, 12:00am

Miguel Marin helped start the Flamenco Festival in 2000. ''The idea from the beginning was to have a date with Spain,'' the festival's director says by phone from his home in Cordoba, Spain. ''To allow you to see what is happening in Spain today.'' Nine years later, the festival focusing on Spain's most internationally known style of song and dance has grown in size and scope. Along with multiple performances at Lisner Auditorium, there are several food and wine tastings ...[more]

Music Man

Mark Morris lets the music inform his dances

Published on January 29, 2009, 12:00am

Mark Morris Dance (Photo by Gene Schiavone) As Gene Kelly belts out in Singin' in the Rain, ''Gotta dance!'' Mark Morris does too, but his muse is the music -- more so than the moves. ''I dance because of music, let's put it that way. I don't dance just to dance. I've always loved music.'' At 52, Morris has mostly retired from dancing himself, but his eponymous dance company, which performs to live music exclusively, is one of America's most ...[more]

Passage to India

Aniruddhan Vasudevan performs with Dakshina

Published on October 23, 2008, 12:00am

Aniruddhan Vasudevan started dancing when he was 6 years old. Twenty years later, it's become a vocation. ''My family is very interested in the arts, and they thought I should learn something,'' says the 26-year-old native and resident of Chennai, India, who adds that when he dances, he feels free. Aniruddhan Vasudevan ''I feel more comfortable dancing than when I'm in any other space. I tell people that I'm more fully me when I'm dancing, because I just let go. ...[more]

Dancing Duality

Fall[en] Angels at the Atlas Performing Arts Center

Published on October 9, 2008, 12:00am

Economic turmoil. War. Chaos and totalitarianism. You think things are bad now? Let the In Series and the Washington Ballet transport you back to a Germany book-ended by World Wars. In the second collaboration between these two local, artistic pillars, Fall[en] Angels will engage audiences with a full evening of dance and music from classical Wagner and Brahms, along with Depression-era cabaret. Webre ''There is a message about uplifting ourselves,'' explains Septime Webre, the Washington Ballet's artistic director, who directs ...[more]

Dancing on the Fringe

Daniel Phoenix Singh & Dakshina perform at 9:30 Club for Fringe Festival

Published on July 24, 2008, 12:00am

Choreographer Daniel Phoenix Singh wanted to pay respect to what he's seen at Chaos, Zanzibar and Town. ''Just take some ideas you see in a club, all the little stories that happen on a club floor, and create a piece with that,'' explains Singh. ''Someone who's always on the dance floor, the wallflower, the two friends you think should always get together but never do.'' Singh and his Dakshina Dance Company will stage his mixed gay/straight modern dance piece as ...[more]

Hi Tech

Merce Cunningham Dance Company shuffles things up with iPods

Published on March 27, 2008, 12:00am

Should you attend any of this weekend's performances by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, you will upon entry be handed an iPod Shuffle. You don't get to keep it -- it's a loaner -- but you'll need it to fully experience the score to EyeSpace, Cunningham's latest work. Here's the kicker: There are 10 tracks composed by Mikel Rouse on the Shuffle, and each audience member will hear, for the length of the 20-minute piece, anywhere from two to five ...[more]

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