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Burlesque is just stripping for hipsters, right? Or the kind of show to which Don Draper from Mad Men would take clients (performed at places with names like “The Boom Boom Room”)? Wrong. The truth of the matter is burlesque has a long and storied history, and while dance is vital to burlesque, the popular variety shows also feature comedy, live music and social commentary. Continue reading
There is perhaps no one better known in the local dance community than international dance visionary Alito Alessi. The Eugene-based dancer, teacher and artistic director for DanceAbility International created the Joint Forces Dance Company and DanceAbility — a globally renowned method that explores artistic expression between people with and without disabilities through movement — with his dance partner Karen Nelson in 1987. And, naturally for a dancer, he just can’t stay in one place. This spring, he was chosen as an “arts envoy” by the U.S. Continue reading
Lounging on the overstuffed chairs and couches of All That! Dance Company’s studio, Jordan Ross and twin brothers Coleman and Kaelen Byrum look like any clean-cut, athletic 18-year-olds. Only Ross’s I.C.U. Dance Crew T-shirt gives any indication that the guys might not be into just the usual track and football. Yet get them and the other two crew members, 18-year-olds Logan McGann and Aidan Ziegler-Hansen, on stage and there’s no mistaking that these guys are an award-winning hip-hop dance group. Continue reading
This year, Betty Waterhouse decided it was time to give competitive ballroom dancing a whirl. After a mere month and a half of training, she sashayed through the Emerald Ball, a competition held each May in Los Angeles that attracts over 15,000 participants, earning seven first-place titles in her age division. Continue reading
All That! Dance Company Ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, ballroom www.allthatdancecompany.com Argentine Tango Practica Argentine tango 541-681-9681 / jackethanger@gmail.com Ballet Fantastique Ballet www.balletfantastique.org Ballet North West Academy Ballet 541-343-3914 / www.bnwa.net Celebration Belly Dance and Yoga Bollywood, Zumba, samba, capoeria, African, 40+ www.celebrationbellydanceandyoga.com Continue reading
Everything is dark except for the truck-sized monolith. Two female figures emerge from the shadows, their bodies athletically twisting and spinning and stomping to the electronic beat, which sounds like someone drumming on crystal stalagmites. Crisp, geometric patterns project upon the monolith, creating a digital trompe l’oeil effect, the electronic shapes dissolving into and out of the forms of the dancers, whose projected images appear to be writhing within the structure as their counterparts writhe freely outside. Continue reading
“I was part of the contemporary dance scene at the point when everyone was pushing for equality, respect of all people and the idea that all people could dance,” says Alito Alessi, artistic director of DanceAbility International. “But no one was doing anything about it, including myself. So I said, ‘Well, what would it look like to do what we say we all believe in?’” Continue reading
Tango is more than simply a dance; it is a means of seduction and romance. And while its origins are rooted in South American culture, the tango has become an international language. Continue reading
Forget rabbits with pocket watches. Forget tea parties. Forget Alice in Wonderland. Work Dance Company director and choreographer Nathan Boozer wants to take you down another rabbit hole into his Wonderland, an upcoming Feb. 15 show at the Hult Center that takes a look through the hip-hop looking glass at lands filled with music, butterflies, candy, zombies and Lady Gaga. Continue reading
When it comes to the environment, it’s best to have a light footprint like … a ballerina or an aerial dancer. On Jan. 25, the 19th Annual Dance for a Reason will bring together the environment and dance for one evening at the Hult Center. Continue reading