Martha Ullman West

Martha Ullman West began her checkered career as an arts writer in New York in 1960. She has been covering dancing in Portland and elsewhere since 1979 for many publications, including The Oregonian, Ballet Review, the New York Times, and Dance Magazine, where she is a Senior Advisory Editor. She is a past-co-chair of the Dance Critics Association, from which she received the Senior Critics Award in 2011. Her book Todd Bolender, Janet Reed, and the Making of American Ballet was published in 2021 by the University Press of Florida.

Dance legend Loïe Fuller, ‘Obsessed with Light’

A new film delves into the life and continuing inspiration of the international modern dance pioneer and co-founder of the Columbia Gorge's Maryhill Museum of Art.

Thoughts on Martha Graham in modern times

How do past and present mix and meet? A veteran dance critic sorts out the classic from the contemporary and what works or doesn't in the Graham company's January 22 performance in Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

A little Martha Graham for the holidays

Deborah Jowitt's "Errand into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham" leads a list of books about the dance world that are good for giving (and for reading yourself).

Shaun Keylock & FACT/SF mix the bill

Review: Portland's Keylock Company and San Francisco's FACT/SF share the stage at New Expressive Works with a divergent program of contemporary dance works.

BODYTRAFFIC opens White Bird’s dance season with verve and flair

The small but powerful Los Angeles company hits Portland's Newmark Theatre stage with four high-energy dances, including Trey McIntyre's "Blue Until June."

OBT’s Michael Linsmeier dances off the stage

After 13 sterling years with Oregon Ballet Theatre, the 38-year-old character dancer finishes his career to a shower of bouquets, balloons, and cheering applause. He earned every bit of it.

Review: OBT’s ‘fantabulous’ ‘Peter Pan’

Trey McIntyre's lush and lavish version for Oregon Ballet Theatre of J.M. Barrie's classic fantasy is a treat for the forever young and those who grow up, too.

A painting’s long and personal journey

How Beauford Delaney’s “Twilight Street” got from 119 Waverly Place in New York’s Greenwich Village to the studio of art conservator Nina Olsson to the Portland Art Museum's walls.

Dance by the book: Moving stories

From the rhythms of tap to the glories of Nijinska to "Why Dance Matters" and more, Martha Ullman West prepares a list of great dance reads just in time for giving.

On writing ‘The Boy from Kyiv’

Marina Harss talks about dance, writing, and her new biography of Ukrainian American choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, whose "Wartime Elegy" will be performed Nov. 3-12 in Seattle.

Taking a rehearsal dive into ‘Swan Lake’

Oregon Ballet Theatre kicks off its 34th season with Christopher Stowell's remounting of his sterling 2006 OBT version of the classic tale of love and loss.

A dance critic goes to the theater

Tom Stoppard's Tony-nominated family tale "Leopoldstadt" steps deftly through trauma and time and the toll of the Holocaust.

OBT: Dancing ‘Firebird’ and other stories

Yuri Possokhov's "Firebird" and two other story-dances open the page on Oregon Ballet Theatre's newest show. Plus: First look at OBT's 2023-24 season.

Curtain call for a beloved ballerina

After a beautiful last performance in the title role of "La Sylphide," Xuan Cheng takes her final bow as Oregon Ballet Theatre's principal ballerina.

OBT prepares for the tragic turns of La Sylphide

The company dives into the lasting challenges of Bournonville's 1830s Romantic ballet, re-creating a classic for contemporary audiences.

In ballet class, ‘I want kids to be happy’

With an emphasis on technique and also inclusion, new director Katarina Svetlova is leading Oregon Ballet Theatre School in a fresh direction.

Ballet review: OBT’s ‘Midsummer’ & more

Oregon Ballet Theatre opens its season with sparkling versions of Christopher Stowell's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux," and Christopher Bruce's "Hush."

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s season of stories

Storytelling is at the center of a season opening with "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and two more vivid tales.

Dancing Shakespeare’s Dark Lady

How Elizabethan: The new and old of Nashville Ballet's "Black Lucy and the Bard" on PBS's Great Performances.

Review: Dance Theatre of Harlem’s thrilling ‘Passage’

Set on a slave ship, the highlight of the company's performance in White Bird's We Are One Festival is a ballet by turns gorgeous, gut-wrenching, subtle, sad, dynamic, and celebratory.

At OBT’s ‘Dreamland,’ a joyous return to the stage

Oregon Ballet Theatre's dancers cut loose spectacularly, and the audience cheers to see live performance once again.

Exit, Stage Next: A Dancer Moves On

The Seattle ballet star Noelani Pantastico reflects on her long dancing career and her move into teaching the next generation.

Oregon Ballet Theatre sinks its teeth into ‘Dracula’

Preview: Choreographer Ben Stevenson's version of Bram Stoker's classic vampire tale takes to the sky with high romance and lavish design.

Dancing through the pages: Four books in review

On the move: Memoirs by Mark Morris and Carol Rich, Victoria Fortuna's exploration of dance and violence in Buenos Aires, the legacy of a Russian master.

Dance preview: Keylock & Bielemeier in the ROMPing room

Generations meet and play when the Keylock company's young dancers take on the witty choreography of Oregon legend Bielemeier, 71.

Review: At last, Oregon Ballet Theatre goes ‘Face to Face’ with its audience

Back in the theater for the first time since February 2020, the company shows fine form in a program highlighted by Balanchine's classic "Four Temperaments."

At last, OBT is back onstage

The ballet company, disrupted by Covid and an abrupt change in leadership, opens a new season on Friday.

Letters & lunches: About Ursula

A Portland gathering honors the great writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Here's what one of her best friends had to say.

Young, fit, and ‘Fancy Free’

On an April evening in 1944, a young dancer from Portland made history in Jerome Robbins' first ballet.

Remembering Jacques d’Amboise

The great American ballet star, who has died at age 86, was also a great teacher and a great human being.