Art Intercepts

CHICAGO—Leaving Hamlin Park Fieldhouse Friday, tannins of RE | Dance’s “A Delicate Hand” still swirled in my brain. Its grape and oaky hues on costumes clothing dancers of a certain age reveling in bodies honed by decades in motion as they bob and weave among glowing cubes which cast an ethereal radiance on these hallowed grounds. I’m getting ahead of…

It’s 10 p.m. on a Saturday and I’m nearly in tears. No, this is not an overly emotional farewell to RADFest 2023, but rather a moment of stunned appreciation for the final dance of the festival’s short works series. Excuse the cliche, but the RADFest curators sure know how to save the best for last. On the wooden floor of…

Kayt MacMaster and Rachel Rizzuto huddle together under a sheet, telling stories of fifth century B.C. debauchery by flashlight. MacMaster lays on her back. Rizzuto wraps the sheet around her waist and straddles MacMaster who occasionally pops out from beneath the makeshift skirt to bark a blunt declaration about dicks. Many dicks. Anarchy ensues as the pair rope the unsuspecting…

A light breeze of patchouli wafted throughout the Wellspring Theater as the lights rose on Friday evening for the second of four professional short works programs curated for RADFest’s 2023 season.  Bent at the waist, head dropped, Alice (Al) Svetic windmilled their arms forward until the turbulence lifted their oversized, striped button down shirt. They stood with breasts bare and…

A March snowstorm was no match for the hearty Michigan audiences who brushed off their boots and flocked to the Wellspring Theater for Friday night’s opening of the 2023 Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival. Now in its 14th season, RADFest has become an arts staple in Kalamazoo, attracting performers from across the U.S. and Canada to teach, create and perform….

KALAMAZOO, MI — Miami native Thryn Saxon is a freelance choreographer, educator, performer and hope-focused activist currently based in New York City. She is the director of SAXYN Dance Works and holds professional performance credits with Doug Varone, Helen Simineau, Kate Weare and Punchddrunk’s “Sleep No More.” This week, Saxon will travel to Michigan to premiere her new work, “Seolh,”…

DES MOINES, Iowa—A modest crowd, in comparison to the number of available seats, filed into the immense Des Moines Civic Center on Oct. 29 for Ballet Des Moines’ season opener, “Kiss,” a full-length evening created in collaboration with Chicago’s Stephanie Martinez and Para.Mar Dance Theater. Martinez’ pre-pandemic life often included moments like this: bowing to an audience of strangers in…

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — I thought I knew Owen/Cox Dance Group. Turns out, a 10-minute dance film, released last month on Easter Sunday, changed my perception of this now-seasoned Kansas City-based ensemble. Call it an air of spontaneity, maybe, or perhaps a sense of reverent rebellion. Honestly, I can’t quite put my finger on what’s different about “And the darkness has…

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Parents, siblings and family friends filed into the RiverPark Center last March for In Concert, Owensboro Dance Theatre’s annual spring production. Masked patrons with bouquets tucked under their arms navigated through the rows of Cannon Hall, half of which were draped with caution tape to encourage social distancing. The first half of In Concert read like most…

ST. LOUIS —The return to live shows is on the horizon for the Big Muddy Dance Company, which has made the most of a global bad hand by quickly pivoting to digital and remaining steadfastly focused throughout the pandemic. The company has thus far taken two approaches to digital dance; in November, Lemp Legends was a cinematic tour through the…