Reviews | Jen Norris Dance Rev

Review: Skywatchers & Dance Mission Theater present Towards Opulence, the Opera II, Dance Mission Theater, May 31 – June 2, 2024

Jen Norris

Jun 45 min read

Review: Skywatchers & Dance Mission Theater present Towards Opulence, the Opera II, Dance Mission Theater, May 31 – June 2, 2024

We are told art can transform lives, but have we seen it? I have. Skywatchers Ensemble, a project of ABD Productions, makes performances...

58 views0 comments

Review: Sacramento Ballet presents Innovations works by Balanchine, Schermoly & Caniparoli at The Sofia at B St., Sacramento May 17-19, 2024

Jen Norris

May 225 min read

Review: Sacramento Ballet presents Innovations works by Balanchine, Schermoly & Caniparoli at The Sofia at B St., Sacramento May 17-19, 2024

In my first outing to Sacramento Ballet, this past weekend, I am pleasantly surprised by the consistently high caliber of dancing and the...

39 views0 comments

Review: Melissa Lewis Wong & Joy ChenYu Lewis, flowers and fog 花和霧 Gateway Theater, San Francisco, May 17 – 26, 2024

Jen Norris

May 195 min read

Review: Melissa Lewis Wong & Joy ChenYu Lewis, flowers and fog 花和霧 Gateway Theater, San Francisco, May 17 – 26, 2024

Melissa Lewis Wong, American born (1992), and her mother Joy ChenYu Lewis, Chinese born (1949), honor each other’s unique spirits with...

266 views0 comments

Review: Emily Hansel presents Study Hall, iMPACt Center for Art & Dance, San Francisco, May 16 - 18. 2024

Jen Norris

May 186 min read

Review: Emily Hansel presents Study Hall, iMPACt Center for Art & Dance, San Francisco, May 16 - 18. 2024

In commercial terms, a dance performance is a product produced by an individual, or a company, and sold to audience members via a...

66 views0 comments

Review: Zaccho Dance Theatre and Dancers’ Group present ‘The People’s Palace’, City Hall, San Francisco, May 9 -12. 2024

Jen Norris

May 136 min read

Review: Zaccho Dance Theatre and Dancers’ Group present ‘The People’s Palace’, City Hall, San Francisco, May 9 -12. 2024

“I want to live in a community where people are curious about me, instead of creating boundaries,” this phrase, drawn from Joanna...

273 views0 comments

Review: Ishami Dance Company in Interwoven Stories of Culture, Belonging and Change, OACC, May 10, 2024

Jen Norris

May 115 min read

Review: Ishami Dance Company in Interwoven Stories of Culture, Belonging and Change, OACC, May 10, 2024

What is a story but the weaving together of words and memories? We gather the stories within ourselves, passing them along, extending...

127 views0 comments

Review: SMUIN Contemporary Ballet, Dance Series 2 from 2023-24 Season, Yerba Buena Center, May 3 – 12, 2024

Jen Norris

May 65 min read

Review: SMUIN Contemporary Ballet, Dance Series 2 from 2023-24 Season, Yerba Buena Center, May 3 – 12, 2024

Last month, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Broken Wings, inspired by the life of Frieda Kahlo, made its San Francisco Ballet debut to critical...

316 views0 comments

Reflection: Dance Mission presents Prumsodon Ok “A Deepest Blue” April 21, 2024 -Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco

Jen Norris

Apr 225 min read

Reflection: Dance Mission presents Prumsodon Ok “A Deepest Blue” April 21, 2024 -Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco

On Sunday April 21 at Dance Mission Theater, I, and perhaps 100 others, bore witness to the world premiere/closing night of Prumsodun...

194 views0 comments

Review: Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents Mark Morris Dance Group, April 19-21, 2024, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

Jen Norris

Apr 205 min read

Review: Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents Mark Morris Dance Group, April 19-21, 2024, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

When is too much of a good thing too much? Friday night’s Cal Performances presentation of the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) at UC...

74 views0 comments

Review: Nancy Karp + Dancers present 2024 Performance Season, April 6 & 7, 2024 Taube Atrium Theater, San Francisco

Jen Norris

Apr 85 min read

Review: Nancy Karp + Dancers present 2024 Performance Season, April 6 & 7, 2024 Taube Atrium Theater, San Francisco

At the talkback, following Nancy Karp + Dancers 2024 Performance Season matinee, moderator Charles Amirkhanian refers to Karp’s work as...

84 views0 comments

Review: CAL Performances at UC Berkeley presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Programs A & B April 2 & 3, 2024, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

Jen Norris

Apr 57 min read

Review: CAL Performances at UC Berkeley presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Programs A & B April 2 & 3, 2024, Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

Touring the country like itinerant preachers, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) spreads the gospel of dance as the artistic...

418 views0 comments

Review: ODC/Dance presents “Dance Downtown Program A” March 27 - 31, 2024 Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco, CA

Jen Norris

Apr 16 min read

Review: ODC/Dance presents “Dance Downtown Program A” March 27 - 31, 2024 Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco, CA

“Art-making calls for our attention. It poses questions, and at its best, proposes fresh ways of seeing and understanding,” so declares...

135 views0 comments

Review: Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble presents “Gallery” March 29 & 30, 2024 Cubberley Theatre, Palo Alto, CA

Jen Norris

Mar 305 min read

Review: Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble presents “Gallery” March 29 & 30, 2024 Cubberley Theatre, Palo Alto, CA

Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble’s (NCDE) Gallery, a series of nineteen dances, is arranged around the theme of an art exhibition. Each...

106 views0 comments

Review: “Unstill Life” Rinde Eckert, Risa Jaroslow, Margaret Jenkins, Jon Kinzel, and Vicky Shick, March 21-24, 2024 Dresher Ensemble Studio, Berkeley, CA

Jen Norris

Mar 264 min read

Review: “Unstill Life” Rinde Eckert, Risa Jaroslow, Margaret Jenkins, Jon Kinzel, and Vicky Shick, March 21-24, 2024 Dresher Ensemble Studio, Berkeley, CA

The West Coast premiere of Unstill Life, a dance co-created by five celebrated artists, Rinde Eckert, Risa Jaroslow, Margaret Jenkins,...

278 views0 comments

Review: Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents The Joffrey Ballet “Anna Karenina” March 15-17, 2024 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

Jen Norris

Mar 185 min read

Review: Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents The Joffrey Ballet “Anna Karenina” March 15-17, 2024 Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA

Anticipating the pleasure of an engaging afternoon, the audience is gathering at Zellerbach Hall to share The Joffrey Ballet’s and Yuri...

58 views0 comments

Review: ODC Theater presents the world-premiere of Kayla Farrish/Decent Structures Arts: Put Away the Fire, dear, March 8-10, 2024 ODC Theater, San Francisco

Jen Norris

Mar 114 min read

Review: ODC Theater presents the world-premiere of Kayla Farrish/Decent Structures Arts: Put Away the Fire, dear, March 8-10, 2024 ODC Theater, San Francisco

Kayla Farrish and her company Decent Structures Arts’s Put Away the Fire, dear is an epic piece of dance theater which confronts the...

61 views0 comments

Review: American Contemporary Ballet presents: ACB Jazz March 1 -22, 2024, BofA 333 S. Hope St., Los Angeles

Jen Norris

Mar 85 min read

Review: American Contemporary Ballet presents: ACB Jazz March 1 -22, 2024, BofA 333 S. Hope St., Los Angeles

“When you’re tired of the sameness and tameness, this is the place,” so reads the enigmatic event marketing. The venue is unique, the...

19 views0 comments

Review: ODC Presents…Pilot 74 REAL:FAKE March 2 – 3, 2024, Studio B ODC Commons, San Francisco, CA

Jen Norris

Mar 45 min read

Review: ODC Presents…Pilot 74 REAL:FAKE March 2 – 3, 2024, Studio B ODC Commons, San Francisco, CA

ODC’s Pilot Program offers emerging and mid-career choreographers 3-months of residency and mentorship in choreography and...

157 views0 comments

Review: SMUIN Contemporary Ballet, “Celebrating Michael,” February 29 – March 3, 2024, Blue Shield of California Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Jen Norris

Mar 25 min read

Review: SMUIN Contemporary Ballet, “Celebrating Michael,” February 29 – March 3, 2024, Blue Shield of California Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Smuin Contemporary Ballet (Smuin) is a marvel, not just surviving but seemingly thriving through good times and bad. Now in its...

154 views0 comments

Review: ODC presents Fanny Ara: LILITH, February 23-25, 2024, ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA

Jen Norris

Feb 253 min read

Review: ODC presents Fanny Ara: LILITH, February 23-25, 2024, ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA

A woman possessed; an audience entranced; this is what remains at the end of a tempestuous hour with Fanny Ara’s Lilith. Is Ara actually...

502 views0 comments