dance

The Sharing Economy: Dancing it forward in Berkeley

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:39:38 +0000

When it comes to “going out dancing,” most people think of it as a Saturday night type of affair—a chance to get dressed up and show off some sweet moves, staying up until the wee hours. Well, it’s 11am on Sunday morning now, and for the dancers gathered at Ashkenaz Music and Dance Community Center, this is the perfect time to get their groove on.

Anna Halprin’s Planetary Dance: People power for peace

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:39:21 +0000

It’s early evening, and Anna Halprin is leading one of her weekly dance and improvisation classes at her Marin County studio. She guides the dancers across the wood floor, gracefully demonstrating movement after movement. Her voice fills the room as she encourages students to dig deeper. She is calm, but energetic. She is 91 years old.

Dancers’ Group celebrates 30 years of art and service

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:00:27 +0000

The Bay Area has one of the largest and most active dance communities in the country, with many movement styles represented, from ballet, to hip hop, to tango, to contact improvisation. These different kinds of dance all find a home at the dance service and advocacy organization called Dancers’ Group, which turns 30 this year.

Century-old ballet still pushing boundaries

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:44:53 +0000

One hundred years ago, on a late May evening in Paris, an 11-minute ballet so scandalized audiences that it’s still making waves today.

“Afternoon of a Faun” was choreographed by then-23-year-old Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballet Russes. The dancers were barefoot and the angular movements of the dance rejected the formal constraints of classical ballet. Then there was the issue of the subject matter, which was overtly sexual in a way that audiences of the time had never seen.

Identity, immigration, and family anchor local dancer's latest piece

Angel Yang — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:31:57 +0000

Lenora Lee, a native San Franciscan dancer and choreographer, makes large-scale interdisciplinary work that tells the stories of Asians in America – stories that she says aren’t represented in the mainstream media or in art. And her latest piece, "Reflections," is a response to what Lee says she witnessed as a Chinese American growing up in San Francisco.