http://www.nypress.com/articles.sec-26-1-24_7-dance.html During a rapid-fire, animated interview, Yorgos Loukos frequently drops the first names of choreographers. “Billy,” “Trisha,” “Ralph,” “Bill” and others are mentioned frequently, because their works are the essence of his company’s repertory. Lyon Opera Ballet (whatever images its name might conjure) is not about tutus and tiaras. Au contraire, Loukos consistently brings in works by leading innovative American choreographers and proudly cites the number of works by Trisha Brown and Ralph Lemon his dancers perform. Lemon and Bill T. Jones each did a stint as LOB’s resident choreographer, and his dancers also have performed works by such local mainstays as Susan Marshall and Tere O’Connor.]]> When a dance can still take your breath away with its subtle beauty after 28 years—revealing new and deeper nuances—it’s fair to call it a classic. That was the impression left by last Sunday’s stirring performance of Paul Taylor’s Sunset, which led off a notably strong program. In this 1983 work, not only do all the elements—music, choreography, design—seamlessly and eloquently complement one another, but Taylor achieves something truly transcendent. We see six soldiers (in khakis and red berets, no specific time or location is suggested) encountering four sweetly flirtatious women in a setting that suggests a park on a balmy day. But somehow this elegiac, layered work, set to serene string compositions by Edward Elgar, carries us off into a disturbing realm of dreams and memories.]]> During a week that sees several of the dance world’s most established and veteran figures open their New York seasons, one of the most intriguing newer artists on the scene is offering his first full evening of work in the City. Kyle Abraham has made a riveting impression with his sinuous-yet-funky, elegantly articulated dancing whenever he has turned up. But with Radio Show, he is taking a major step, offering a work for seven dancers (himself included) filled with juicy, varied movement and propelled by thoughtful, evocative inquiry.]]> It was once the mess hall where militiamen who trained at the vast Park Avenue Armory took their meals. But for the past 18 months, the expansive, wood-paneled third-floor room of the armory has been the artistic home base for Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly, co-founders of Moving Theater. They have been pioneers of a sort, entering a room that had been shut for years (“there was literally dust on the keyhole,” Kelly recalls) as recipients of the Armory’s first space grant. They were given free range to explore, create, and also share the space with other artists.]]> Don’t get me wrong: Garrison Keillor is a war criminal. So why should you shell out $20 to see the fish man on screen? Two words (or one, hyphenated): People-watching.What kind of people pay $20 to watch on a movie screen a live performance of a radio show? Imagine the lobby chatter!.]]> Her name is widely known and revered in dance and theater circles; her work and ideas were deeply influential for many decades. Anna Sokolow was a seminal figure in American modern dance—a deeply individual, strongly committed artist who connected profoundly with the issues, conflicts and sensibilities of her times. For Jim May, who danced in her company starting in 1966 and now directs the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble, what made her work distinctive and powerful was “the honesty. It’s not superficial. She believed that emotion created motion,” he says. “And a lot of dance is done with the motion first, and then they add emotion on top of that. With Anna, you had to find the emotion, and then that would lead to the movement.”]]> The nice thing about owning a place is you can do whatever you want. For Andrew W.K., co-owner of Santos, this means inviting Jonte, to headline a hot night of dancing, drinking and entertainment from Cherie Lily, Roxy Cottontail and something called Dante's Fried Chicken.]]> David Zambrano who has described himself as a “full-time movement researcher,” was an active presence in this city’s Downtown dance scene for about 15 years starting in the early 1980s. But since the mid-’90s, the Venezuelan dancer-choreographer been conducting his research and pursuing his deep interest in cultural exchange primarily in Europe, from his base in Amsterdam. This week, he returns to Danspace Project, where he often showed his new works starting in the mid-’80s, with Soul Project, in which he and six others offer their decidedly idiosyncratic, unpredictable interpretations of songs by Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, James Brown and others.]]> Twenty-five years is an impressive anniversary for a contemporary dance company to attain—especially a company as politically and socially engaged, idiosyncratic and feisty as Urban Bush Women. ]]> Last year, the London dance world celebrated Richard Alston’s 60th birthday and 40th anniversary as a choreographer of singularly fluent, musical and individual dances. But as the veteran British choreographer continues to find new sources of inspiration, he is not in a mood to look back.]]> The new year in dance gets an invigorating jump-start with a week of performances by Pacific Northwest Ballet, one of the nation’s leading ballet companies. The Seattle-based troupe has a vast repertory, including one of the largest selections of Balanchine ballets found outside New York City Ballet, as well as many of the ever-popular full-length classics.]]> Shaneeka Harrell recalls a day, during her time as a member of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, when Jones came into the studio and reported with some bemusement, “I just got out of a meeting about doing a music on Fela. I don’t know why they’re asking me.” But producer and co-conceiver Stephen Hendel clearly knew what he was doing by inviting Jones into this still-incubating project. After several years of workshops, and last year’s rapturously received Off-Broadway run, Fela! has arrived on Broadway as anything but your typical musical. This celebration of the life and music of Nigeria’s Fela Anikulapo Kuti is a pulsating, exuberant experience that invites audiences in from the moment they enter the theater and hears the fantastic sounds of the onstage band, which includes members of Brooklyn’s own Antibalas, longtime purveyors of Afrobeat.]]> As the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrates Judith Jamison’s 20th anniversary as artistic director, the company is performing a particularly varied repertory, one that acknowledges the past while looking towards the future. Along with eternal, beloved works such as Revelations and Blues Suite—and a special program of excerpts representing the past 20 years—there are three world premieres, all by choreographers with longstanding (yet significantly different) ties to the company.]]> It’s not surprising that an inquisitive, rigorous process lies behind each of Aynsley Vandenbroucke’s dance works. This is a choreographer who once questioned her involvement in dance and stepped back from the scene entirely for two years. Now, she creates meticulously distilled pieces in which she scrupulously avoids falling back on movement that is learned or familiar. “The way I work is to make an entirely new vocabulary for each new piece,” she explains in between rehearsals for A Number of Small Black and White Dances, which has its premiere this weekend at Dance New Amsterdam.]]> They have been working overtime in the dance studios of both Barnard College and The Juilliard School in recent weeks, readying programs of new choreography for this coming weekend. Each institution’s event has its own very specific, focused approach, but both promise exciting possibilities and fresh perspectives.]]> Eduardo Vilaro’s arrival in August as Ballet Hispanico’s new artistic director marked a homecoming on two levels. He grew up in New York City, his family having arrived from Havana when he was six years old, and performed with Ballet Hispanico for nearly a decade. So he was ideally positioned to the challenging task of taking over the reins following the retirement of Tina Ramirez, the troupe’s founder. She launched Ballet Hispanico in 1970 to celebrate and explore the range of Hispanic forms and influences in dance. She built it into a distinctive, respected organization that tours widely in addition to its annual two-week Joyce Theater season, and has an influence beyond performances, through its busy Upper West Side school.]]> Muscular men and skinny ladies perform Latin-flecked contemporary ballets in this highly lauded company. In general, Latin American ballets are slightly cheesy, hip and self-consciously sensual, and though Ballet Hispanico follows these guidelines, the crisp, intelligent choreography never lets the work or the dancers meander into cheeseball cliché.]]> Wally Cardona is definitely shifting the playing field for his latest work, Really Real, and those who go armed with expectations based on other recent works of his may be in for some surprises. This thoughtful, investigative choreographer’s last few pieces filled the stage with numerous objects with which his dancers interacted. These were far more than mere set pieces. His last work to be presented by the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which has commissioned Really Real, incorporated 300 black columns. And in his acclaimed Site, seen at DTW in 2007, the dancers maneuvered 18 large pieces of fiberboard. But this time around, the dancers have the stage to themselves, and Cardona is confronting the possibilities of open space, perspective and distance with the invaluable aid of longtime lighting designer Roderick Murray’s contributions. The work features a score by Phil Kline, performed a cappella by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.]]>