Ann Haskins

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Lineage Dance Company

Ann Haskins
What happened when Alice of the looking glass. Eve of the apple, and Pandora who couldn’t resist that problematic box grew up? Lineage Dance Company considers that curious question in The Curiosity Tales with choreography by artistic director Hilary Thomas and original music from composer John Guth. Fri., Dec. 12,......
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Raditatical: A Journey in Rhythm

Ann Haskins
Start with its snare drum–sounding title, then blend in half a dozen tap dancers, percussionists, musicians and a juggling beatboxer. It’s the recipe for Raditatical. It’s choreographed by Simon Chalban and directed by Ameenah Kaplan, whose credits include Stomp, of which Raditatical is a descendant. The cast includes Bronkar Lee,......
Raditatical; Credit: Photo by Star Foreman

5 Dance Shows to See This Week, Including a Next-Generation Version of Stomp

Ann Haskins
This week's dance shows include fusing dance and percussion, dance about a curious trio and Nutcrackers classic and contemporary. 5.  Spawn of Stomp? A half dozen dancers, musicians, percussionists and jugglers comprise the eclectic ensemble in Raditatical. Simon Chalban choreographed and the shenanigans over the next two weekends are directed......
ate9 dANCE cOMPANY; Credit: Photo by Denise Leitner

5 Dance Shows to See in L.A. This Week, Including a Dance About Soccer

Ann Haskins
This week's dance events include a danced soccer game, the start of the Nutcracker season, and dance as part of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion's golden anniversary fetes 5.  Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 50th anniversary The 1960s may evoke images of the Beatles, anti-war protests, and hippies, but also marked the opening......
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Rashaun Mitchell and Stephin Merritt: Performance

Ann Haskins
The title, Performance, was taken from photographer Richard Avedon’s remark that everyone performs for each other all the time, sometimes deliberately and sometimes unintentionally. Former Merce Cunningham dancer Rashaun Mitchell is joined by dancers Hiroki Ichinose, Cori Kresge and Silas Riener with Magnetic Fields singer-songwriter Stephin Merrit with a visual......
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Aratani World Series: Cup of Java

Ann Haskins
Despite its wieldy official title: Cup of Java-Gamelan & Dance from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this opening event of the Aratani World Series blends Javanese music and dance from Indonesia with local gamelan performers. The blending is both figurative and literal since the performers are rehearsing separately in Indonesia and here, but......
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Mikhailovsky Ballet: Flames of Paris

Ann Haskins
In the United States, the mega-rich buy sports franchises or elections. In Russia, they buy ballet companies. At least, that’s what happened in 2007, when Russian fruit tycoon Vladimir Kekhman moved to make the Mikhailovsky Ballet the best that money could buy. With a checkered history dating back to the......
Julia Cinquemani s The Nutcracker; Credit: Photo by Reed Hutchinson

Your Guide to All the Nutcrackers in L.A. This Holiday Season

Ann Haskins
That rumble isn’t just your post-Thanksgiving tummy, but the delightful and inexorable march of approaching sugarplum fairies, waltzing flowers and handsome princes disguised as Nutcrackers, all lined up and ready to land like a stream of planes off LAX. Since its first American production in 1940, The Nutcracker Ballet has become......
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Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre

Ann Haskins
Like the fabled scouts of the America’s Westward expansion, for three decades L.A.’s pre-eminent site specific dance troupe has lured audiences out of their safe local world to become urban adventurers exploring SoCal’s extraordinary cultural and architectural heritage. From Laundromats, historic jails, underground streetcar garages, and the concrete walls of......