Dorrance Dance Brings Tap “Nutcracker” to Joyce Theater

I know what you are thinking. Great, yet another version of the Nutcracker at Christmas. Just what we need. Well, this one IS just the one we need. While the more traditional versions are taking up space that would otherwise be used for a retread of “A Christmas Carol,” Michelle Dorrance and her dancers have brought to the Joyce a fun, whimsical version of the Tchaikovsky classic by way of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The result is a dance performance that breathes new life (and fun) into what has become tradition at best and cliché at worst. It is tempting to

“Freddie Falls in Love” at the Joyce Theater

Choreographers have a default line in interviews that is some variant of “I tell stories through dance.” Much of the time, though, I watch their work and wonder what the story might have been about. Mercifully, Al Blackstone has created a story that runs the length of “Freddie Falls in Love” that is actually a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. There are characters who are not just dancers in a pose, and there is conflict and resolution. There just isn't any talking. The term “dansical” is over-used in some quarters, but here it fits like a

Top