Rachel Straus - Dance Writer

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Juilliard Dance

 
Published: November 28, 2016
Category: review

Nederlands Dancers Mostly Outshine Choreography

By Rachel Straus

A roar of approval from the sold-out crowd greeted the four marvelous Nederlands Dans Theater performers following Crystal Pite’s The Statement (2016), seen in its local premiere at New York City Center on Nov. 18. Pite has been the associate choreographer of NDT since 2008. The roots of her movement style stem […]

Published: October 20, 2016
Category: review

Fall for Dance Offers a Grand, International Finale

By Rachel Straus, MusicalAmerica.com October 20, 2016

Shantala Shivalingappa. Photo by Hector Perez

There is a popular saying that “dance is a universal language.” This statement raises eyebrows among dance anthropologists. They argue that dance is a language, like any other, and it needs to be studied in order to be understood. That […]

Published: December 11, 2012
Category: review

When Leaps and Bounds Are Not Enough

By Rachel Straus

NEW YORK — The premiere of Another Night on Dec. 5 for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater signaled another big career stride for 35-year-old choreographer Kyle Abraham [MusicalAmerica.com’s New Artist of the Month in June, 2010]. Since his solo Inventing Pookie Jenkins was selected to be part of the New […]

Published: November 7, 2011
Category: review

The Sumptuous Gifts of Fall for Dance 2011

By Rachel Straus

NEW YORK — The Fall for Dance Festival is a two-week terpsichorean bonanza. It harkens back to vaudeville’s glory days, with its diverse array of talent and cheap seats. Now in its eighth year, the festival isn’t flagging (like the economy) or sputtering into dismal repetition (like certain unnamed politicians’ speeches). In […]

Published: June 1, 2010
Category: profile

New Artist of the Month: Kyle Abraham

By Rachel Straus

It’s not enough to describe the work of choreographer Kyle Abraham as possessing chameleon charms. The 32-year-old dancer’s ability to instantaneously channel a hip-hop gangsta’s bravado, a cross dresser’s hyper-femininity, and an elderly person’s fragility feels real, as though he is these people. Abraham’s emotional identification with these characters gives […]

Published: October 4, 2004
Category: review

A Dance to Each Taste: Fall for Dance Festival

By Rachel Straus

For an express indoctrination into the dance world no better festival exists than Fall for Dance. At City Center – formerly a Masonic meeting hall of the Ancient Order of the Nobles of Mystic Shrine – the new festival’s $10 ticket price wooed and converted while the six-night smorgasbord of 30-company performances […]