Ann Haskins

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Takin' It From the Streets: Bulletproof Deli

Ann Haskins
Before launching his own creative efforts, D. Sabela Grimes earned his dance cred as a contributing member of Rennie Harris Puremovement, the preeminent force in bringing hip-hop and street dance to the stage. Now ensconced in UCLA’s postgrad World Arts & Culture program, the multifaceted artist unveils his latest blending......
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Flocking Together for Swan Lake

Ann Haskins
Congress has now officially designated American Ballet Theatre as America’s national ballet company, but it has held a place in the hearts of Music Center audiences since its first appearance there in 1969, reinforced by consistent visits almost every year since. ABT returns with the full-length Swan Lake, featuring additional......
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Celebrate Dance at the Alex

Ann Haskins
Jack Hartin (Click to enlarge) A BackhausDance duet Having helmed her own L.A.-based dance troupe for 23 years, Jamie Nichols knows firsthand the Sisyphean obstacles confronting local dance — and the Promethean efforts that produce quality work despite the perennial lack of resources. When she segued from choreography into producing......
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One-night Sensation

Ann Haskins
Having helmed her own L.A.-based dance troupe for 23 years, Jamie Nichols knows firsthand the Sisyphean obstacles confronting local dance — and the Promethean e...
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Laundromatinee

Ann Haskins
(Click to enlarge) Was it really 20 years ago that the first laundromat was hijacked by Heidi Duckler and her audacious dance company? The now-legendary debut brought new meaning to "site-specific" as Collage dancers took over a now-departed Montana Avenue laundromat, leaving patrons gape-jawed as washers, dryers and baskets of......
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Dance Pick: Forever Tango

Ann Haskins
Courtesty Forever Tango (Click to enlarge) A scene from Forever Tango Rooted in Buenos Aires' bars and brothels but banned by Argentina's better classes, tango didn't acquire international cachet until Paris in the 1920s. Arguably, Paris in the 1980s can be credited with elevating tango's status as a theatrical entertainment,......
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Dance Pick: Home-Team Advantages

Ann Haskins
Reed Hutchinson (Click to enlarge) Aubrey Morgan and Peter Snow will premiere Who Cares? Last year, artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary staked their company's claim as L.A.'s premier professional ballet company with home theaters at UCLA and in Glendale and Redondo Beach, a world-premiere Nutcracker production, and two......
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State Ballet of Georgia

Ann Haskins
Before the breakup of the Soviet Union, regional companies like the State Ballet of Georgia were skimmed like cream, with promising young dancers like Rudolf Nureyev and Nina Ananiashvili drawn off to be groomed for stardom at the Bolshoi and Marinsky (formerly Kirov) ballet companies. The resurgent independence of states......
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Diana Vishneva: Beauty in Motion

Ann Haskins
Nina Alovert (Click to enlarge) Having conquered the major challenges of the classical ballet repertoire, and known for her bravura performances in 20th-century masterworks like Kenneth MacMillan's Manon and George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Diana Vishneva cements her stature as one of the world's reigning ballerinas in this personal showcase......
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Pointed Humor

Ann Haskins
Ballet has a long tradition of male dancers performing female roles en travesti, but usually in character parts like the overbearing mother in La Fille Mal Gardée or the comic ugly sisters in Cinderella. Since 1974, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo has taken that travesty tradition into new realms,......