CELEBRATING ST. LOUIS’ VIBRANT DANCE COMMUNITY
St. Louis Dance HQ’s Blog is a compilation of writings and performance reviews from a variety of St. Louis based dance writers. If you’re interested in sharing your writing on our blog, please email stlouisdancehq@gmail.com.
HQ Review: “Alone Time” by Laura Roth
The soundscape of rain tumbles down from the vaulted ceiling above. Laura Roth sits alone on a chair facing the audience, clothed in dark sweat pants and a gray hoodie. Though the audience has just arrived to this place, Roth’s physical temperament feels as though she has been in this chair all day. The creative stimulus for this solo work, Alone Time, was originally born out of Roth’s experience of the pandemic. Though as time passed, it has broadened to capture how spending time alone has shaped her. With that in mind, this scene feels easily digestible as to what is causing Roth unease. As she sits, she begins to readjust herself, shuffling between different positions, emanating a mood of boredom and frustration. The outside world rumbles on while she is forced to confront this reality.
HQ REVIEW: “Styx and Stones” by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson
Styx and Stones, choreographed by Elinor Harrison in collaboration with Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson, seeks to re-examine the concept of myth and look at it through a new lens. Why, if at all, do we choose to look back and revisit past stories? And not just these stories, but how they embed themselves in our lives and the ways we communicate our present existence. In this work, the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus is picked apart, unraveled, and examined through the framework of Harrison’s creative process. A variety of performance modes are employed and juxtaposed against each other. From physical theatre, to dramatic dialogue, to contemporary dance and the multitude of connotations that carries. These various mediums are constructively utilized to allow for a wide landscape of meanings to unearth themselves.
HQ REVIEW: Leverage Dance Theater presents “Of Matter, Mind + Spirit” at Holy Cross Lutheran Church
The third installment to a series of concerts for sacred space, Leverage Dance Theater’s Of Matter, Mind & Spirit takes audiences on a rabbithole-esque voyage down, out, in, around, up, and through seemingly every inch of the Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Consisting of six unique works by six different choreographers, the dancers of Leverage Dance Theater guide and coax their audience through a journey that both celebrates and questions ideas of spirituality and its place, both physically and ideologically, in our humanity.
HQ REVIEW: The Big Muddy Dance Company’s final concert of its 23/24 Season unveils its new “IDENTITY” as Saint Louis Dance Theatre
Identity, an evening-length show by The Big Muddy Dance Company, was performed at the Catherine B. Berges Theatre. Program C consisted of three pieces, Come...The Sun Doesn’t Wait by Omar Román de Jesús, Notes on a Farewell by Tommie-Waheed Evans, and PlayFolk by Bradley Shelver. At the top of the show Executive Director Erin Prange took the stage to share some of the plans for the company in their next season as well as to introduce one major change. In the season ahead The Big Muddy Dance Company will transition to a new name: Saint Louis Dance Theatre. Described in their already updated website as a “repertory dance company that showcases high caliber artistic experiences” which aims to be “an instrument of optimism through inclusivity, collaboration, and artistic excellence,” we look to see the continued unfolding of Artistic Director Kirven Douthit-Boyd’s vision for the company in the season ahead.
HQ Review: MADCO presents two weekends of “Bound” at The Luminary
MADCO in partnership with The Luminary presents its Spring Concert titled, “Bound,” April 19 & 20, and 26 & 27, 2024, 8pm. “Bound” features premiere choreography by Arianna Russ and CJ Burroughs.
Spotlight On: Dawn Karlovsky for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Dawn Karlovsky, Founder of Karlovsky and Company Dance for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Emily Haussler for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Emily Haussler as Founder, Artistic, and Executive Director of RESILIENCE Dance Company for Women’s History Month.
Spotlight On: Cici Houston Sudholt for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Cici Houston Sudholt, Saint Louis Ballet Rehearsal Director.
Spotlight On: Rachel Bodi for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Rachel Bodi, Executive Director of Ballet 314 for Women’s History Month.
HQ Review: WashU’s 2024 MFA Dance Concert
Washington University in St. Louis Performing Arts Department presents its 2024 MFA Thesis Concert.
Spotlight On: Erin Morris for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Erin Morris, Jazz Movement Artist.
HQ Review: “STORYSCAPES” by Karlovsky and Company Dance
In Karlovsky & Company Dance’s evening-length work, STORYSCAPES, the program posed the questions: “What are the stories and attitudes shared that get passed down through the generations? What stories do we want to continue to embrace? What stories should we re-evaluate? What stories should simply end?” If the stories we tell ourselves create the landscapes we live in, then investigating those stories for veracity, usefulness, and value becomes paramount.
Spotlight On: Erin Prange for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Erin Prange, Executive Director of The Big Muddy Dance Company.
HQ Review: “Picture Studies” presented by The Big Muddy Dance Company in collaboration with The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
The Big Muddy Dance Company performed the work in partnership with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. Retracing the origins of this work is a little like a spiral diagram of overlapping collaborations and inspirations: composer Adam Schoenberg was invited in 2013 by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City to compose work inspired by certain pieces of visual art. Thus the first iteration of Picture Studies was born. More than ten years later The Big Muddy Dance Company has been invited to respond in movement to Schoenberg's music, which the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra brought to stunning life. Artistic Director and choreographer Kirven Douthit-Boyd notes in the program that inspiration was taken from both Schoengerg’s score and some of the original works of visual art from which they originally sprang. The result was a stunningly successful melding of artistry and disciplines.
Spotlight On: Kasey Cox for Women’s History Month
Spotlight On: Kasey Cox, Director of Theatre and Dance and Assistant Professor of Theatre and Communications at Missouri Baptist University.
HQ Review: Cloven III SpaceStation Dance Residency Fundraiser
“Cloven III” is an evening-length work by Jacob Henss and Betsy Brandt. This duet, performed by both creators, is the third installment of an exploration of the rural relationship between farmer and bovine as a lens for personal reflection. The dairy cow is a site of industrialized sexuality and consumption, and the “Cloven” trilogy is an ode to this overlooked yet ubiquitous animal, symbol, and food source. This eccentric choreographic work lives at the intersections of experimental theater, contemporary dance, burlesque, and performance art. Its St. Louis debut will be followed by a series of performances throughout the Midwest this spring.
Spotlight On: Renée Austin
Spotlight On Renée Austin, current company artist with RESILIENCE Dance Company for Black History Month.
Spotlight On: Antonio Douthit-Boyd
Spotlight On former dancer with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Antonio Douthit-Boyd. Antonio is the Artistic Director of Dance at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA).
Spotlight On: Keenan Fletcher
Spotlight On company artist with The Big Muddy Dance Company, Keenan Fletcher!
HQ Review: Saint Louis Ballet’s LOVEX3
Saint Louis Ballet’s production of Love X 3, which took place at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center February 16-18, 2024, featured three pieces of varying styles of ballet, created by three different choreographers. The performances in this show clearly displayed how versatile ballet can be and gave everyone in the audience something to appreciate about ballet, no matter what their personal preferences may be.