Contemporary Dance Videos

Category: North American Contemporary

  • A Choreographic Offering

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    Energetic with great feeling abound through time in these clips from Jose Limon’s ballet, A Choreographic Offering, created in 1964. The music is Johann Sebastion Bach. The ballet was created as a tribute to his mentor, Doris Humphry. The piece is based on his adaptation of movement’s, variations, paraphrases and motifs from Humphry’s own dances.…

  • Folding excerpt – Shen Wei Dance Arts

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    Visually striking these images are from a work choreographed and designed by American Chinese choreographer, Shen Wei. These excerpts are taken from a full work danced by the Shen Wei Dance Arts company that is based in New York. The music is a mix of traditional Tibetan Buddhist Mahakala chants with the celestial harmonies of…

  • Diana Vishneva – Beauty in motion F.L.O.W

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    Breathtaking and stunningly beautiful, this solo is danced by the Russian ballerina, Diana Vishneva. This solo is the second section out of a three part work called Picarte, which was initially called F.L.O.W. (For the Love of Women). It was choreographed for her by Moses Pendleton who was inspired for this piece by three artists;…

  • LaLaLa Human Steps – Velazquez’s Little Museum 2/6

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    This video is part 2/6 of the film featuring Eduard Lock’s choreography in Velazquez’s Little Museum. This video includes two duets danced by dancers from LaLaLa Human Steps. Louise Le Cavalier dances in both but I don’t know the names of the other two dancers. This video shows some of my favorite scenes in the…

  • LaLaLa Human Steps – Velazquez’s Little Museum 4/6

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    I am posting an interesting section of the film, Valazquez’s Little Museum, choreographed by the Canadian choreographer, Edouard Lock. The dancers are members of Edouard Locks company, La La La Human Steps. They are Berner Herbert, Louise Le Cavalier, Markita Boles, Edouard Lock and Christine Tessier. Valazquez’s Little Museum, was created in 1995 and is…

  • Precious Blood

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    Powerful and full of pathos between mother and son, this duet is danced by the renown American contemporary dancer of today, Desmond Richardson and former Ailey dancer, Carmen De Lavallade. The piece is choreographed by Dwight Rhoden and the music is composed by Kevin Keller. Desmond Richardson is an amazing dancer who was a principal…

  • Tyrell Rolle Takedemi

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    Clever and captivating, this performance by Tyrell Rolle of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre, dances a solo choreographed by Robert Battle called “Takedemi”. The music features Sheila Chandra. This piece as a wonderful fusion of South Indian Kamatic rhythms, that have been “deconstructed and abstracted” into contemporary dance language. The movement is driven and shaped…

  • Paul Taylor’s Esplanade – Part 5/5

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    Exhilarating and joyous! This video shows the last movement of Paul Taylors’ ballet, Esplanade. The music is J.S. Bach, and this section is the Concerto for 2 violins, strings and continuo in D minor, Allegro. It is danced by members of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. This piece is considered to be a classic of…

  • The You Show – Kidd Pivot | Crystal Pite

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    Riveting and intense, these performers dance with their whole bodies and show excellent use of Release, Contact and other contemporary dance techniques. This video shows clips from “The You Show” by Canadian choreographer, Crystal Pite. The music is composed by Owen Belton and performed by members of Pites’ company, Kidd Pivot. This work has me…

  • Beneath

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    This video shows a fascinating solo called “Beneath”, choreographed and danced by Takako Matsuda. I like this piece. It is interesting to see how Takako has interpreted this universal theme of social masks. What I see is that her gown represents a social mask or uniform. She sets us up with the expectation of dancing…