The Problem of “Culturally Specific” Dance: The Search for a Critical Multiculturalism in Dance, Apr 2009

One of the blessings of Bay Area living is our access to a rich variety of dance—a choreological panopoly often summarized, for the sake of convenience, as “modern, ballet, and […]

The Breakfast Club, Goodbye Warren Hellman

Who: Warren Hellman What: Breakfast! Where: Il Fornaio When: 7:30am Warren was just a guy in a rumpled suit. He didn’t jump out at you with his power and influence, […]

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.

Programming Growth at Chitresh Das Institute

Think about the different studios that have been part of your dance training. What kinds of programs did they offer? Ballet, modern, jazz, “world dance” forms…perhaps there were also classes […]

What is Ethnic Dance?: Questions and Reflections from a “Post Multiculturalism” Conversation

Let’s face it, like it or not, traditional and ethnic dance forms around the globe are changing. I doubt there’s any dance style that’s performed exactly as it was 50 […]

SPEAK: On Being Ally and Aesthetic Warrior

Calling all women warriors to the table. To the think tank. the battle eld. the theater. the aftermath. We will be our own landing ground, recovery center, aesthetic re-design gym, […]

Cherie Hill: A Day in the Life

Photo by Robbie Sweeney and the Tenderloin National Forest As a black-dance scholar and dancer, I recently became curious about the methods and stamina—or shall I say “hustle”—that is required […]

Kinesthetic Aesthetic: On Explaining Dance to Your Friends & the Outside World

I joke with dancer friends about it all the time. Inevitably we face the pervasive question. You know what it is, it haunts you at parties, lurks behind the wine […]

KUNST-STOFF Celebrates 10 years

You can pronounce KUNST-STOFF with a little Germanic ‘sh’ added to the stoff and a very oo-sounding kunst, and you’ll still only be half-way in the know. Part-two is its […]

Cultivating Freedom and Power in the Dance Classroom

I’m watching my two year old dance. He’s spinning fast, letting the full skirt of his dancing dress ripple around him, arms splayed, eyes closed. He sometimes spirals into the […]