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September DanceWatch: The pace speeds up

Oregon dance meets fall with a flourish of events, from BodyVox’s open floor night to TBA Fest, dance from India, world premieres, the Portland Dance Film Festival and more.

SKN Dance Festival: A feast of Indian performance

The festival at New Expressive Works was a profoundly satisfying sensory feast of symphonic sound, stunning visuals, superb dancing, and thought-provoking intellectual stimuli.

Open Space serves a tasty ‘Summer Soup’

The Portland dance company and its sister troupe LED Boise stir up a kettle of contemporary dance, spicing the broth with a fog machine, a splash of milk, street dance, gender play and more.

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.

The OBT Dancers in Makino Hayashi's “The Message 2024,” part of "Made in Portland." Photo by Jingzi Zhao.

Dance Review: Oregon Ballet Theatre’s ‘Made in Portland’

Featuring three world premieres by guest choreographers and a special performance by the Jefferson Dancers, this second iteration of ‘Made in Portland’ demonstrates OBT continues as, under Dani Rowe’s leadership, a creative force in the Portland dance community. 

After a storied career with Dance Theater of Harlem and Feld Ballet, Marcus McGregor returned to the stage after a 15-year hiatus to appear in "The History of Empires." Photo: Maria Baranova.

Dance Review: “The History of Empires”

An exhilarating, if unconventional, look at the rise and fall of empires – historical, contemporary, urban, political, and even our own personal domains – through dance theater.

Dance Review: ‘Beautiful Everything’

BodyVox’s collaboration with Imani Winds is a whimsical and visual spectacle that delighted fans, but missed synergistic opportunities amid the fun.

May DanceWatch: Celebrating women dancemakers

A busy bloom of storybook ballets, world premieres, film festivals and experimental dance is highlighted by a festival featuring the work of women choreographers.

The Jefferson Dancers in Charlotte Faillard's "Éclat d’Instant." Photo: Isabelle Faillard.

Dance Preview: Jefferson Dancers 2024 Spring Concert

Portland’s longest running dance company celebrates their 48th season at their annual performance, as artistic director Steve Gonzales marks his 25th year leading the nationally recognized high school dance program.

Katherine Longstreth as "Kate Long" performing "Let’s Dance." Photo: Chelsea Petrakis.

Dance Review: Alembic Artists in performance

The 10th cohort of Alembic Resident Artists presented their new experimental dance pieces to a sold out crowd of fans, friends, and family at Performance Works NW.

GRAMMY®-nominated musician and Eugene native Tracy Bonham (center) is joined by Eugene Ballet dancers Antonio Lopez and Hayley Tavonatti in works choreographed by Suzanne Haag. Photo: Antonio Anacan.

Dance Preview: Tracy Bonham with Eugene Ballet

Two-time GRAMMY® nominee and New York-based musician Bonham joins EB resident choreographer Suzanne Haag in a collaborative performance of song, sound, and movement, April 6 and 7.

SKC dancers Irvin Torres Hernandez (left) and Eva Crystal in "The Age of Influence." Photo: Norm Eder.

Dance Review: Shaun Keylock Company’s ‘The Age of Influence’

Presented at the 2024 Portland Jazz Festival, SKC’s latest world premiere promised to transcend artistic boundaries with innovations that take dance and sound in a new dimension, though delivered a more puzzling traditional concert dance experience.

Naomi Funaki, center right, and Ana Tomioshi, right, with fellow Music From the Sole dancers. Photo: Titus Ogilvie Laing.

Dance Review: Music From The Sole

In its enrapturing show, ‘I Didn’t Come to Stay,’ this acclaimed tap and live music company celebrated the depth and virtuosity of tap’s Afro-diasporic roots.

DanceWatch Monthly: Back to the future

Jamuna Chiarini looks back on December and January shows and ahead to February’s dance, from BodyVox’s “Flights” to Rejoice!’s “Rites of Passage” to OBT’s “Peter Pan” and more.

January DanceWatch: Moving into a new year

From dancerly Broadway musicals to Éowyn Emerald’s return to a Bantu circus, a mystical being from Buenos Aires, Linda Austin’s birthday bash and more, 2024 kicks off in grand style.

Dancer Elenaluisa Alvarez moved with Graham Cole’s signature light and lofty footwork and clear balletic influence in "Origami Night." Photo by Blaine Covert.

Dance Review: ‘Origami Night’

Graham Cole’s newest production, featuring dramatic lighting design and a joyful solo performance by Elenaluisa Alvarez, struck an incongruent note with the introspective, feminist poetry which was its inspiration.

2023 in Review: Jamuna Chiarini’s year in dance

From a magnificent dancerly takeover of Zidell Yards to a push/FOLD contemporary festival to her own solo Odissi show, our DanceWatch columnist steps deftly through a busy year.

Carolyn Stuart: Making Contact

For this dance teacher and Contact Improvisation devotee, gender and movement are fluid: “We are in constant motion—that’s life. We’re constantly evolving. We are the transition.”

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.

Kalakendra
Portland Playhouse Amelie
Oregon Repertory Singers Homegrown
High Desert Museum Rick Bartow
Cascadia Composers Marquee Series
Oregon Origins Project Traditions
Literary Arts Malcolm Gladwell
NW Dance Project
Orchestra Nova NW Essence
PSU College of the Arts
PAM 12 Month
OCCA Monthly
Maryhill Museum of Art
Election 2024 City Hall BRIEF
OAW Annual Report 2024
OAW House ad with KBOO
Oregon Cultural Trust
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