Here’s To Hip Hop: Hip Hop Is Here

From old school movements like the Richmond Robot and Oakland Boogaloo, to Hyphy and Turfing to San Francisco’s ‘new style’ hip-hop choreography, the Bay Area is a hub for hip-hop […]

Kularts & Alleluia Panis: Setting the Stage for Filipinx Diaspora Narratives

In a conversation about how she classifies her artistic practice, she told me that she does not consider her work to be “Philippine” dance, as that would be disrespectful to regional practitioners who undergo rigorous study, practice, and discipline that she as a choreographer and dancer who has livedmost of her life in the US has not undergone…

Kathak and Flamenco Traditions Explored

Renowned Kathak Master Pandit Chitresh Das is not new to collaborations. His partnership with tap virtuoso, Jason Samuels Smith, has been touring continuously since 2005 to critical acclaim across the […]

Innovation Within Tradition: Covering the Annual Classical Indian Dance Festival

IN TODAY’S FAST-PACED WORLD, the words “classical” and “traditional” in terms of dance are often oversimplified and misinterpreted as “old” or “fixed.” Classical Indian Dance is no exception. Unfortunately for […]

Becoming A Kathaka: Chitresh Das and the New Generation of Kathak Dancers

STUDY IN THE CLASSICAL NORTH INDIAN DANCE OF KATHAK IS A LIFETIME’S WORK. From the strength and vigour of the rhythmic footwork and fast-heel chakkars, or pirouettes, to the delicacy, […]

A Banana Peel is Good for Headaches: Observations from the Traditional Arts Field

Between dinner and dessert one evening, Doba G., a medical doctor in her late seventies who emigrated from the Ukraine to San Francisco in 1993, gave me a tip: Lily: […]

Partnerships Across Borders: An Australian Artist Joins Colleagues in the UK

THIS ARTICLE IS THE SECOND IN A THREE-PART SERIES looking at dance education from an international perspective. The first part, published in January of this year, described how my background […]

Got Space? Launching A New Online Directory of Performing Arts Spaces

HAVE SPACE? NEED SPACE? Starting November 15, the Bay Area Performing Arts Spaces (BAPAS) online resource holds the keys to hundreds of venues throughout the Bay Area. The BAPAS website […]

Notes on Rendering Vessels

This writing is an accumulation of reflections on transformation taken from dark/lessons/rupture, an evening of performance excerpts featuring new works by Jess Curtis and Beyond Gravity artists, Silk Worm and RUPTURE (jose e. abad, Gabriele Christian, Stephanie Hewett, Styles Alexander, and Clarissa Dyas), co-presented by Gravity and CounterPulse.

To PhD or Not to PhD

An overview of PhD programs across the U.S. and U.K.