Eugene Weekly

Eugene has a thriving dance community, rich with classes and performances of many kinds. But the opportunity to see visiting national or international dance companies has waned in recent years.  The Hult Center is no longer presenting its dance series, which once hosted heavyweights like Pilobolus, David Parsons and Bill T. Jones. And though LCC and the UO regularly host residencies with visiting choreographers, these events are usually on an appropriately smaller scale and may not have a public component.  Continue reading →

On a hot, sticky summer day, three dancers move with all their might through intricate and instinctual movement exploring relationships and memory. The piece they’re working on is for an informal performance the following night, but the work they’re doing, the act of creating, is for something much bigger. They’re building community, one move at a time.  Continue reading →

No wonder local swing dancer Nick Davis has fallen hard for Lindy hop. It’s sexy, funny and fresh. It’s the most goddamn exhilarating movement I’ve seen. Watching a video of dancer Frankie Manning swing his partner with such centripetal force — linked solely by fingertips, momentum building like a merry-go-round — it’s easy to imagine that, were they to let go, each dancer would ricochet into outer space.  Continue reading →

“There’s something that just feels right about the Cinderella story,” says Hannah Bontrager, choreographer and executive director of Ballet Fantastique. “This person has a gut feeling, against all odds, that she is meant for something greater,” Bontrager says. “Everyone can relate to that.”  Audiences will have an opportunity to see Ballet Fantastique’s new spin on the classic tale when BFan presents Cinderella: A Rock Opera Ballet May 8-10.  Set in the 1960s, this Cinderella is anything but stuffy.  Continue reading →

“I like new contemporary work that will push me to the next level,” says D.C.-based Washington Ballet’s Jared Nelson, who was in town last fall to set a demanding new dance on the Eugene Ballet Company.  Nelson’s handiwork, the Eugene premiere of Washington Ballet artistic director Septime Webre’s pulsating “Fluctuating Hemlines,” will serve as the performance opener when the 15-member Eugene Ballet Company performs it, along with Tommy The Ballet, April 11 and 12.  Continue reading →