Myra Joy Veluz

DANIEL EZRALOW: WHAT IS DANCE? To say that Daniel Ezralow is a busy man this week is an understatement. After making a worldwide name for himself as a dancemaker and aerial choreographer for theater, film, opera, concerts, and television, Ezralow is debuting his new Los Angeles-based company, Ezralow Dance, at the Ford Amphitheatre this Saturday,…

JUST DANCE I recently read an email from a dance mentor whose advice for performing was simply, “Let it all go and Dance, Motherfuckers!” I couldn’t help but think back to the email as I watched L.A. Contemporary Dance Company’s closing performance of YOUTH, its Spring Repertory Concert. After three Dance Theater works’”which included social…

IT’S ALL IN THE TIEMPO The excitement in Ana Maria Alvarez’s voice is contagious: “When we got the news it was like one of those Ed McMahon calls that everyone sees on television.” The Artistic Director and founder of CONTRA-TIEMPO Urban Latin Dance Theater is referring to her company’s upcoming dance tour supported by DanceMotion…

WAITING TO CLIMAX To use a sexually potent metaphor, STePz’ display of tap choreography was long on foreplay, producing many unfulfilled climaxes which led to an awkward happy ending. The slow build up, I believe, was due to the show’s lack of intensity, and should not to be mistaken for the caliber of tap dancing…

 ¡VIVA, VIVER! Perhaps the vibrancy of the Afro-Brazilian dance culture lures you in with the strong beats of the drum. Maybe it’s the sensuality and seductiveness of its movement. Whatever the case, Viver Brasil did not fail to deliver on its presentation of Intersections/Ajê at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. Rest assured that even…

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE INTENT BEHIND PROJECTILE MILK? ONE CAN ONLY GUESS. Highways Performance Space is a venue that is both historic and very intimate. For the past 24 years, it has served as a Los Angeles cultural center in Santa Monica where artists of all genres come to create and perform. It also prides…

MAGNIFIQUE Sometimes, dance performances are entertaining, but only for the spectator who understands the storyline behind the dancing. Other times, the performances are less about dance and more about the esoteric, self-righteous fulfillment of the dancer being able to perform. Where is the line drawn between these forms and how does the viewer know when…

MIXED RESULTS FOR ABT’S MIXED REP As an introduction to American Ballet Theatre’s highly anticipated 4-performance weekend of the full-length Le Corsaire, the company presented a mixed repertory of the old and the new on Thursday. Surprisingly, the results were as mixed as the program itself. As ballet continues to redefine itself in the 21st…

SUCCESSFULLY SIMPLE When the choreographer and Artistic Director of a dance company consciously makes the decision to eschew excess ornamentations such as costumes, lights, and recognizable movement vocabularies, one imagines how you would even go about choreographing a dance piece. I have seen minimalist-inspired pieces that either left me utterly appalled from the work’s pretentiousness…