By Dennis D. Rooney Cellist Jacob Shaw and pianist David Lau Magnussen brought to a close this season’s Classical Café concerts at the Duncan Theatre’s Stage West on March 29. The room was designed for easily understood speech. Its dry acoustics reinforce that quality. Music fares less well there. Although these players did not especially seek tonal elegance, their … [Read more...]
Group offers bluegrass version of Who’s ‘Tommy’ at the Duncan
By Dale King The rock opera Tommy, guitarist Pete Townshend’s high-powered musical about a “deaf, dumb and blind kid” who becomes a “pinball wizard” despite his sensory and other personal obstacles, stops by the Duncan Theatre on the Lake Worth campus of Palm Beach State College at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The show will be performed in its 75-minute entirety, but in a completely … [Read more...]
Momix’s ‘Opus Cactus’ stuns, but only intermittently
The Sonoran Desert in Arizona is a very impressive place. Imagine seeing it for the very first time if you grew up on a dairy farm in rural Vermont. How would you react? Moses Pendleton — who did — was so impressed that he created his own version of it to put on the stage. Although he is not really known as a choreographer, he created his first incarnation of Opus Cactus as … [Read more...]
BodyTraffic brings another challenging program to Duncan
Two years ago, in a fresh and gutsy program, the audiences at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth got to experience BodyTraffic, an upwardly-mobile contemporary dance company that hails from Los Angeles. Earlier this month, the company returned and presented a program of new works by different choreographers that was perhaps less fresh but equally gutsy. Founded in 2007, … [Read more...]
Brilliant Barton work makes Malpaso appearance something special
When one sees a great deal of dance, it’s always thrilling to experience a work that is richly unique in its movement vocabulary and is performed by a group of dancers who move in an exceptional way. I always hope to be totally caught up — delightfully submerged — in the artistry and creativity onstage, but it just doesn’t happen that often. But then unexpectedly, and for … [Read more...]
Stamina, style of Philadanco wows Duncan audience
With unabashed energy and brazen athleticism, The Philadelphia Dance Company, better known as Philadanco, launched the popular and highly respected Duncan Theatre’s Dance Series at Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth on Friday night. Presenting four works by four choreographers that drew upon African-American culture, classical ballet, and modern/contemporary dance, the … [Read more...]
Philadanco founder on mission to make dance look like America
By Tara Mitton Catao Joan Myers Brown has been on a mission since she was 6 years old: to create equal opportunities for black dancers. An only child, Brown began dance class in the 1940s in the only dance school in her hometown of Philadelphia that would accept black children. Later, pursuing her love for classical ballet, she became the first black student to train at … [Read more...]
Season Preview 2016-17: Dance
By Tara Mitton Catao The dance season in Palm Beach County offers a wide variety of everything from classic ballets presented by one of the best troupes in the country to new work by young, innovative companies making their own mark on the field. Here’s a look: Miami City Ballet will add five major works to its repertoire this season, included a highly anticipated world … [Read more...]