January 8-14, 2004

cover story

Dance

by Deni Kasrel

DanceBoom!

Jan. 21-Feb. 8, Wilma Theater, 265 S. Broad St., 215-893-9456. The third season of this festival of local talent features old faves (Group Motion, Dancefusion) and emerging artists (Charles O. Anderson, d. Sabela Grimes), plus one company that's been around but is new to the Center City dance scene (Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society). (See Janet Anderson's feature on p. 44.)

Hubbard Street Dance Co.

Jan. 29-31, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900. Hubbard is a force to be reckoned with: At 21 members strong, this superbly trained troupe brims with skilled movers performing a repertoire of marvelous maneuvers.

Mark Morris Dance Group

Jan. 29-31, Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999. Morris crafts tightly structured, technically enterprising choreography. 'Tis no doubt daunting to perform, but thanks to dashes of humor it ain't all heavy.

Sydney Dance Co.

Feb. 5-7, Annenberg Center. Australia's top contemporary dance company makes its premiere here with the full-length suite Ellipse. Inspired by the way light changes throughout the day, it's a visually stunning, emotional seesaw ride that aims for high impact.

A.S.H. Contemporary

Feb. 14, Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St., 215-925-9914. New kids on the block show off their youthful spirit and desire to make inspired art.

The Taming of the Shrew

Feb. 20-28, Pennsylvania Ballet, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts., 215-551-7000. A hearty celebration of Shakespeare's tale about a man and a woman engaged in a battle of wills, wits and conniving strategies.

Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre

March 4-6, Annenberg Center. A French romantic gets the surreal treatment when Rioult converts classical compositions to postmodern physicality via the Ravel Project. The program imparts a fresh perspective on familiar tunes, including "Bolero" and "La Valse."

La Máquina Del Tiempo

March 18-21, Conwell Dance Theater, Broad St. and Montgomery Ave., 215-204-1122. Merin Soto stands apart from the standard postmodern flock with her curiously intriguing perspective on theatrical movement. This world premiere ("The Time Machine") features the dancer/ choreographer's singularly styled "salsa for the third millennium."

Kumquat Festival

March 20-21, Community Education Center, 3500 Lancaster Ave., 215-387-9895. This gig is always a mixed bag, what with four different companies presenting material. The current lineup: The Bald Mermaids, Genghis, Group Motion and Rennie Harris Puremovement.

Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal

March 25-27, Annenberg Center. Technical polish meshes with high sprits as this flashy Canadian export raises the energy meter to top level.

Philadanco

April 1-3, Kimmel Center. Philadelphia's gem highlights some sparking facets at its annual spring concert.

Dancefusion

April 2-4, Painted Bride. Ever dedicated to preserving works by Anna Sokolow, Dancefusion presents two of her '60s works, Quartertones and the antiwar Time+.

Rhythm and Blues

April 14-18, Pennsylvania Ballet, Merriam Theater, 250 S. Broad St., 215-551-7000. PAB gets footloose with works by Peter Martins, Matthew Neenan and Trey McIntyre.

Home Is Where I Am

April 15-17, Painted Bride. Stellar mover Tania Isaac presents a semi-autobiographical piece that ponders questions of identity and finding your way after setting upon new shores.

Pilobolus

April 15-17, Annenberg Center. The popular Pils continues its fascinating ways of combining and entwining bodies to elicit surprise and delight.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

May 13-16, Kimmel Center. Needs no intro -- simply one of the best America has to offer.

Facing Mekka

May 28-29, Rennie Harris Puremovement, Annenberg Center. At last, this acclaimed work that merited a feature article in The New Yorker plays our town. By featuring rhythms and grooves from all over the globe, Harris expands on spiritual dimensions of hip-hop, elevating street style to a more advanced state of consciousness.

Group Motion 35th Anniversary Concert

June 4-6, Arts Bank, Broad and South sts., 215-387-9895. What's old is new again as GM reconstructs Eastern Standard Time, originally performed in 1973. Inspired by The Tibetan Book of the Dead, this new rendering features film cameos by former members of the corps.

Swan Lake

June 4-12, Pennsylvania Ballet, Academy of Music. Think you've been there and done that? Think again -- this is a new version of the time-honored ballet, choreographed by Chris Wheeldon. The production cost a cool $1 million; needless to say it's a really big do.

New

June 10-13 and 17-20, Arts Bank, 215-359-7776. Melanie Stewart Dance Theatre continues its program of presenting an array of artists working in the realm of interdisciplinary movement theater. Also, MSDT performs Babel, a political satire loosely based on the biblical tale of the Tower of Babel.