Ann Haskins

When she formed this company in 2004, choreographer Paula Present took her ensemble’s name from the Greek word for flight. Ptero (pronounced “terr-oh”) immediately attracted a group of strong, technically precise performers. From the start the venture took flight, garnering two Lester Horton awards its first year, and since then......

Long before Congress designated it “America’s national ballet company,” American Ballet Theater established its place in the hearts of local ballet fans with a long tradition of annual tours to Southern California. After an opening-night mixed bill, ABT devotes this weekend to the full-length Othello before moving south next week......

The Fourth of July firecrackers may be mere ash, but expect some terpsichorean pyrotechnics in the Cahuenga Pass as summer’s al fresco dance season opens at the Ford Amphitheatre with a shared program featuring three award-winning contemporary choreographers. Kate Hutter, Maria Gillespie and Holly Johnston each helm their own ensembles......

The title of this dance series references the ephemeral nature of both blossoming flowers and emerging performers. Each seeks the right kind of nourishment to develop to its full potential. Produced by Oguri and Roxanne Steinberg through Body Weather Laboratory, this series strives to provide a supportive environment for emerging......

Integrating the creation of visual art into live dance performance did not originate with New York–based choreographer Shen Wei. In her 1973 Beach Boys homage, Deuce Coupe, Twyla Tharp incorporated street artists creating real-time graffiti on a blank backdrop behind the dancing. But what is original with Shen Wei’s Connect......

{mosimage} In three new works, artistic director Jose Vences draws inspiration from traditional folkloric dance to explore Mexican fables and legends rife with fantasy and magic. La Loteria conjures up familiar figures from the children’s card game — el diablo, la dama, el apache — and sets them dancing. The......

The 2005 film Ballets Russes renewed interest in the legendary ballet company led by impresario Serge Diaghilev from 1909 until his sudden death in 1929, as well as the two offshoot ballet companies that continued and competed under slightly different names until the middle of the last century. This event......

If the last five years are any indication, clear your calendars and get out your Thomas Guide for this monthlong traveling celebration of the possibilities of dance on film. The Los Angeles Times dubbed the 2006 Dance Camera West Festival one of the year’s top 10 dance events, and the......

Good things come in threes. Los Angeles Ballet — which increasingly looks like L.A.’s long-wished-for major ballet company — caps off the third program in its inaugural season with a triptych of George Balanchine works at a trio of local venues. One work by the great ballet choreographer of the......

Internationally recognized as one of Europe’s most dynamic choreographers, Nacho Duato has not yet achieved in America the high profile and name recognition he deserves. An alumnus of the famed Nederlands Dans Theater, Duato honed his skills with the legendary Jirí Kylián. Since 1990, Duato has led Compañía Nacional de......