Ann Haskins

Pasadena Dance Festival; Credit: Photo by Steve Hwan

A Sarah McLachlan Ballet, and Other Dance Shows to See

Ann Haskins
This week’s dance shows include dance celebrating Shaker spirituals, Sarah McLachlan songs, and the percussion hidden in a Cadillac Coup de Ville.   4. A Canadian jukebox ballet It’s been 40 years since choreographer Twyla Tharp sent Joffrey Ballet’s dancers twirling to the Beach Boys’ music and launched classical ballet’s......
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The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian

Ann Haskins
The Catholic church has come a long way since Saint Sebastian volunteered to comfort early Christians awaiting martyrdom and become one himself. In art, Sebastian is the one tied up and shot with a multitude of arrows. The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian brings that saint to contemporary Catholicism with a......
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The Great American Mixtape

Ann Haskins
Among the many things doomed by the advent of digital music was the mix tape—music selections gleaned, reassembled and gifted in unsubtly coded messages of affection, inside jokes and shared memories. Paying homage to that lost art Sole Vita & RhetOracle Dance Companies join together for a program of repertoire......
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Rubans Rouges (Red Ribbons): Awakenings and Beginnings Dance Festival

Ann Haskins
Anyone who made a resolution to explore L.A.’s performing arts can jump start the new year with a sampling of what is new with both established and emerging SoCal dance companies as 18 dance companies, mostly contemporary, but some hip hop and ballet, come together for the third annual Awakenings......
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Entity Contemporary Dance: Braxon vs. Oregon

Ann Haskins
Courtrooms are frequent settings for theatre, but seldom for dance. An exception is the contemporary dance drama Braxon vs. Oregon, a 75 minute, intermissionless dance theater work examining Annette Braxon, who is brought to court after she confronts the issue of assisting the suicide of a loved one suffering from......
Entity Contemporary Dance Company in Braxon vs. Oregon; Credit: Photo by Robert Sorey

3 Dance Shows to See This Week, Including a Dance About Assisted Suicide

Ann Haskins
This week’s dance events include a celebration of Gene Kelly, a festival showcasing local dance and a dance drama about assisted suicide. 3. Life and death on trial Courtrooms are frequent settings for theatre, but seldom for dance. An exception is Entity Contemporary Dance Company’s Braxon vs. Oregon. The 75-minute, intermissionless......
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Salute to Vienna

Ann Haskins
Salute to Vienna celebrates Austria’s famous Neujahrskonzert (New Year’s Concert), a nationally televised event somewhat akin to New York City’s crystal-ball countdown. Dancers perform in one of Vienna’s elaborate palaces to live music, offering a peek back at an era when Austria ruled an empire. This touring show offers waltzing,......
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Los Angeles Ballet: The Nutcracker

Ann Haskins
Amid the dozens popping up in December, Los Angles Ballet’s is the most polished and professional of this season's Nutcracker productions and this weekend offers the last chance for this holiday delectable, set in 1912 Los Angeles. The dancing talent has deepened as LAB continues to prove itself to be......
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Los Angeles Ballet: The Nutcracker

Ann Haskins
Amid the dozens popping up in December, Los Angles Ballet’s is the most polished and professional of this season's Nutcracker productions and this weekend offers the last chance for this holiday delectable, set in 1912 Los Angeles. The dancing talent has deepened as LAB continues to prove itself to be......