http://www.nypress.com/articles.sec-26-1-dance.html In case you haven’t yet let go of the relaxed cultural pace of summer, the arrival of the Crossing the Line Festival will shake you out of any lingering torpor with a vengeance. This ambitious annual presentation by the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) boldly crosses boundaries—geographical, disciplinary and otherwise—and can be counted on to present adventurous, provocative and unexpected works.]]> On the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, there will be dancing from morning till evening in response to that tragedy and its lasting effects. All of it will be outdoors and free of charge, as several choreographers offer meditative, solemn or quietly uplifting works in settings where a maximum number of people can experience them. ]]> For Mark Morris’ dancers, it’s first and foremost about the music, and his company’s Mostly Mozart Festival performances this week offer a typically intriguing mix of scores. Two were written a few years apart by seminal 20th-century composers—Stravinsky and Satie—while the third dates from a century earlier, the musical era usually associated with the festival. None are by Mozart, and none require a full orchestra, so the music will be performed by vocalists and instrumentalists from the MMDG Music Ensemble rather than the festival’s orchestra.]]> Larry Keigwin is bouncing between interviews during a press event in the subterranean lobby of New World Stages, just before the opening of the new Off-Broadway revival of Rent, which he is choreographing. It’s not a scene he’s ever experienced in the contemporary dance world in which he usually works. A publicist introduces him to one theater website’s writer, gives them some time, then leads him to the next waiting tape recorder. But this has been a year in which the inventive, prolific choreographer—whose work can be witty, sexy, fashion-conscious and full of attitude while also being haunting—adds musical theater to his résumé.]]> What began in 1971 as Oberlin Dance Collective—an energized, innovative, post-1960s group of dancers and musicians—headed west to San Francisco five years later and has since become a pivotal and influential mainstay of that city’s vibrant dance scene. Soon renamed ODC/Dance, this 10-member ensemble has, since its inception, featured the choreography of three women: Brenda Way, KT Nelson and Kimi Okada. This dynamic artistic triumvirate remains at the helm today, even as the enterprise has greatly expanded and diversified. ]]> For those of us who were around when Pilobolus—an ensemble of imaginative collegiate free spirits founded at Dartmouth who explored the possibilities of linked bodies in clever, often sexy ways—was new on the scene, it’s hard to accept that this feisty ensemble is now middle-aged. But the troupe has hit the ripe age of 40. The one-time renegade bunch now proudly identifies itself in a program note as “a stable and influential force in the world of dance.”]]> The haunting, riveting performance works of Eiko & Koma have been among the New York dance scene’s most fascinating and unique events for 35 years. With their extreme slowness, these married dance collaborators distill movement to its essence and invite attentive focus on detail and nuance. Evoking a deep connection to elements of nature and the earth’s primordial forces, their dance works challenge audiences to let go of preconceived expectations about movement, and alter their approach to watching.]]> The programming for this Saturday’s Merce Fair—no less than a dozen hours of overlapping and complementary presentations representing the vast body of work, and enormous influence, of the late Merce Cunningham—would no doubt have inspired a beaming smile from the late choreographer. This is the creative genius, after all, who late in life was presenting ever-more-intricate events that featured dances taking place on as many as five stages. On Saturday, this Lincoln Center Festival extravaganza will require eight different spaces within Frederick P. Rose Hall to encompass the dance and music performances, classes, films and videos, lectures, panel discussions, art exhibit, archival exhibition and participatory workshops that will have people absorbing his seminal ideas and impact from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.]]> By all means, buy your tickets to the rich and international array of Lincoln Center Festival offerings that will keep theaters busy this month. But one of the festival’s highlights is available without charge and offers a unique experience nightly once darkness falls. Portraits in Dramatic Time, David Michalek’s latest outdoor video installation, projects brief performances by a wide array of theater artists on a vast screen on the façade of the David H. Koch Theater. Each individual or group “portrait” is a miniature in extreme slow motion, a momentary dramatic narrative of 10 to 15 seconds which Michalek has filmed using ultra high-speed, high-definition cameras, and shown in extreme slow motion so that the action lasts as long as 10 minutes.]]> As American Ballet Theatre heads into the home stretch of its eight-week Metropolitan Opera House season, it offers two of the most consistently beloved and familiar 19th-century classics: Swan Lake (through July 2) and Sleeping Beauty (July 5–9). Both ballets are elevated into the realm of the sublime by their peerless Tchaikovsky scores, and each features a multi-faceted role for a ballerina. In Swan Lake—as filmgoers are now well aware, if they caught the lugubrious award-season favorite Black Swan—the lead female dancer has to portray two contrasting characters, switching gears between acts. The role of Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty’s heroine, demands the ultimate in pristine classical technique as well subtle evolution from the innocent wonder of a 16-year-old to the authority of an incipient monarch.]]> The safe, tidy environment of a proscenium stage is not the preferred setting for choreographer Naomi Goldberg Haas. Outdoor spaces and settings where dance is an unexpected element have become her specialty, and she revels in the challenges of capturing the attention of a less-than-captive audience.]]> Ben Munisteri likes to keep things disciplined—and tightly focused. The postcard for his Dance Theater Workshop program promises “three 12-minute dances,” and it’s clear, from watching his six dancers run through them in rehearsal last week, that he’s a choreographer who’s firmly in control of his materials. Less can certainly be more, and within a condensed time span Munisteri knows how to introduce, layer and vary his dance phrases into something that’s qualitatively rich. The dancers’ clean lines, the brisk yet fluid footwork, the satisfying yet unexpected ways in which patterns fill and divide the space—all of this suggests someone who knows his own mind and approaches his craft with rigor and sophistication.]]> The last time New Yorkers saw the Royal Danish Ballet, a young 20-year-old named Nikolaj Hübbe was one its newest principals—and he made quite an impression. He was dashing and technically powerful, with vivid dramatic instincts. In 1988, New York Times critic Anna Kisselgoff called him “one of the season’s revelations” and wrote that he was “already blessed with star presence.”]]> To celebrate her company’s 25th anniversary, Susan Marshall has created a double feature. Her two most recent works will be performed back-to-back under one roof, but in different spaces—which means audiences will experience the intriguing subtleties and thoughtful details of Frame Dances and Adamantine on separate floors of the Baryshnikov Arts Center.]]> For the next four weeks, La Mama’s three spaces will be buzzing with dance activity so varied that no one would dare pin a stylistic label on La Mama Moves!, the festival that is now in its sixth year. The sheer scope and variety of the presentations confirms what Nicky Paraiso, the co-curator, says: “We’ve always wanted the festival to follow the mission of La Mama itself—to be as inclusive as possible.”]]> Cuba has had a high profile in the dance world mainly due to the tireless efforts of the legendary Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso who, at age 90, still directs the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. That purely classical company will show New York its current roster of dancers next month, with four performances (June 8–11) at BAM. At the moment, however, we have a chance to discover where Cuban contemporary dance has been heading as well. Modern dance styles have definitely taken root there as well, though Americans haven’t had a chance to sample that development, due to political stalemates and subsequent embargo that prevented much cultural exchange and touring. But now, more than 50 years after it was founded, Danza Contemporánea de Cuba is making its U.S. debut with a two-week season at the Joyce Theater, offering two separate programs.]]> New York Theatre Ballet, the chamber ensemble led by Diana Byer, has earned a reputation for polishing off neglected gems from the past. In recent years, it has particularly focused on early dances by Antony Tudor, Frederick Ashton and Agnes de Mille. But the company has also been known to commission original works, and for its upcoming Signatures 11 program, it has scored quite a coup: Richard Alston. The acclaimed veteran British choreographer, whose sophisticated musicality has been on view during his own troupe’s seasons at the Joyce Theater, has created a new work for seven dancers, set to Aaron Copland’s Piano Variations.]]> Although not a fan of retrospectives—“They can become a little museum-like”—Gina Gibney did want to note the occasion of her company’s 20th year. So what she is offering next week is a “retro-ACTIVE,” a program for which she invited her five dancers to make the major decisions, she explains.]]> In early 2010, Urban Bush Women launched its local 25th anniversary celebration with an intriguing program at Dance Theater Workshop that revisited earlier works exploring female eroticism. At the time, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the founder, artistic director and primary choreographer of the ensemble, alluded to a companion program she hoped to present this year as a counterpart, focusing on “the political, fiery work” from their rich repertory. That program—titled Resistance and Power—is being offered this week by Harlem Stage, as a culmination of UBW’s busy, geographically adventurous anniversary year.]]> Avichai Scher speaks at a rapid clip and with intensely focused energy, and by all indications is a young man in a hurry. And hurry he must, as the 27-year-old is preparing to present the second season of Avi Scher & Dancers, an evening of his choreography performed by well-known dancers from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and three of the country’s finest ballet companies. Since it’s a self-produced season, he’s had to coordinate the schedules of dancers in four different cities, fundraise to cover all the costs of the venture, hire costume and lighting designers, not to mention maintain enough creative energy to create two substantial premieres.]]>