Dance entertainment in USA
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Lusty Lady
It’s owned by women, the strippers are unionized, and it operates like an old-fashioned peep show. Drop quarters into a slot in a private booth, and a nekkid woman dances behind glass till your quarters run out.
reviewed
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Granada Theatre
This restored 1930s Spanish-Moorish-style theater is the new home of several arts institutions, including the ballet, the opera and the symphony.
reviewed
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Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
This is the largest performing-arts center south of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. It hosts major concerts, touring Broadway productions, plays, the Tampa Ballet and special events. The complex has five theaters: Festival Hall (a 2500-seat venue where touring Broadway shows and headliners perform), Ferguson Hall (with 1000 seats), the Jaeb (a three-floor cabaret), the Teco (with 200 seats) and the 100-seat Shimberg Playhouse, a ‘black box’ venue for cutting-edge performances by local and national artists and groups. Free backstage guided tours are offered Wednesday and Saturday at 10am, by reservation.
reviewed
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Mahalia Jackson Theater
The New Orleans Ballet Association (www.nobadance.com) usually runs a few productions annually. The season is very short, and is fleshed out with presentations by visiting dance companies from around the world. Performances are primarily held at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in Louis Armstrong Park and Dixon Hall at Tulane University. Also held at the Mahalia Jackson Theater are productions from the New Orleans Opera(www.neworleansopera.org). The company rarely causes much of a stir, but remains an important part of the local culture.
reviewed
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Boston Ballet
Boston’s skillful ballet troupe performs both modern and classic works at the Opera House, although they still put on occasional performances at the Wang Theatre, which is part of the Citi Performing Arts Center. During the Christmas season, they put on a wildly popular performance of the Nutcracker. Student and child ‘rush’ tickets are available for $20 two hours before the performance; seniors get the same deal, but only for Saturday matinees.
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Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco
One of the most revered flamenco artists in North America, Maria Benitez stopped performing in 2004 but still directs this outstanding troupe of protégées. She occasionally joins for a solo. These intensely focused and festively garbed performers have earned every accolade for their impressive Spanish dance and perform June through September at the Lodge. Can't get enough flamenco? El Farol stages performances on some Wednesdays, while El Mesón has flamenco on the first Saturday of each month.
reviewed
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Savage Jazz
A bit like the Smuin Ballet, Savage Jazz performs ballet to nontraditional music. Like jazz itself, the dancing is often explosively athletic, energetic, almost, well, savage. All the traditional jazz greats are given their due using a combination of classical vocabulary, modern dance, jazz dance and improvisation, reflecting the rich and varied textures and moods that are the hallmarks of jazz music.
There are two regular home seasons in Oakland and San Francisco when the company is not touring.
reviewed
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Herbst Theater
The UN Charter was signed here in 1945, and the luminaries keep on coming with music and dance performances, and the city's stellar City Arts & Lectures series. Aimee Mann, Philip Glass and other guests have to really put on a show to not be upstaged by the splendid beaux arts murals. The theater hosts jazz and classical voice and instrumental soloists, duos and quartets in its Piano Series, Guitar Series and Virtuosi Series.
Family matinees are popular on Saturday afternoons.
reviewed
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Lily Pad
We are loathe to classify this place as a jazz club because, frankly, this place defies classification. It’s a tiny space that fills up with music and performance art, whether it’s tango dancing, narrated jazz storytelling or a musical conversation between jazz piano and tap dance. You might also hear indie, avant-garde, folk and even chamber music. The space is stripped down – basically folding chairs in a room – which adds to the underground effect.
reviewed
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Liss Fain Dance
This is one of the most innovative modern-dance troupes in San Fran. The dancers have solid classical training, yet they look for ways to crack, if not actually break, the mold. Their movement is precise, but imbued with an athletic physicality not only very American, but very western American. Performances combine movement and music with strong visual design. Check the website for details of performances held in venues throughout the Bay Area.
reviewed
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Theater Artaud
Trooping across this stage are local, national and international theater, music and dance troupes. Acts have ranged from a world premiere noir thriller to a multimedia celebration of Iranian literary arts. Behind the scenes, the Artaud is a live-work space that started up in 1972, way before the concept became common. Although a highly successful operation, it's one of the city's most adventurous houses. (They really like gettin' naked here.)
reviewed
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Coliseum Ballroom
Also called the Palace of Pleasure, this ballroom opened in 1924 and, over the years, big bands, classical orchestras and rock bands have all played here. In 1985, the Colliseum Ballroom made its film debut in Cocoon with an incredible ballroom scene. The red-oak dance floor is classic. If you’re here on a Wednesday, big band Tea Dance sessions run from 1pm to 3:30pm (bring your own booze).
reviewed
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Joffrey Ballet of Chicago
This famous group has flourished since it relocated from New York in 1995. Noted for its energetic work, the company frequently travels the world and boasts an impressive storehouse of regularly performed repertoire. Joffrey practices and instructs in the swanky new Joffrey Tower on Randolph St in the Theater District, though it typically performs at the Auditorium Theatre.
reviewed
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City Center
This red-domed wonder almost went the way of the wrecking ball in 1943, but was saved by preservationists, only to face extinction again when its major ballet companies departed for Lincoln Center. Today, this overlooked treasure hosts the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey and American Ballet Theater, as well as the New York Flamenco Festival in February and other dance performances.
reviewed
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Dance Place
The only truly cutting-edge dance space in the capital is tucked away up in Northeast DC. It’s run by five resident modern-dance companies offering a year-round calendar of new work, which includes festivals featuring African dance, tap dancing, step dancing and other genres. It also hosts the work of top-notch national companies, such as the Joe Goode Performance Group.
reviewed
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Dance Theater Workshop
You’ll find a program of more than 110 experimental, contemporary works annually at this sleek dance center, led by artistic director Carla Peterson. Residency showcases, First Light Commissions and various international productions bring fresh works to the stage, with shows that will often include pre- or post-show discussions with choreographers or dancers.
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Sundance Saloon
Pull on your cowboy boots at Sundance Saloon and two-step Texas-style to country music with moustached daddies and their cowpoke admirers. Show up early for lessons. The happy, loyal crowd thins by 10pm: daddies need their rest. It’s in the middle of nowhere, but the bus stops a few blocks away and runs till midnight, long after the party ends.
reviewed
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Zaccho Dance Theater
Dance Mission always has something going on, from contact improv to dance jams and classes. There's a lot of ‘extreme dance' in the Bay Area, experimental forms combining aerial performance, site-specific work, circus arts and dance. For these we particularly like Kunst Stoff and Zaccho Dance Theater .
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Kunst Stoff
Dance Mission always has something going on, from contact improv to dance jams and classes. There's a lot of ‘extreme dance' in the Bay Area, experimental forms combining aerial performance, site-specific work, circus arts and dance. For these we particularly like Kunst Stoff and Zaccho Dance Theater .
reviewed
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Palace Theater
The resurrected, historic Palace Theater is Hilo's cultural crown jewel. Its eclectic programming includes arthouse and silent films (accompanied by the house organ), music and dance concerts, Broadway musicals, and various cultural festivals. Every Wednesday morning it hosts a 'Mornings at the Palace' Hawaiian cultural series with rotating programs.
reviewed
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Nevada Ballet Theatre
Founded more than 35 years ago by a dancer from the Trop’s Folies Bergère showgirl revue, Nevada’s only professional dance company performs both classical and contemporary pieces ranging from Stravinsky to Sinatra, mainly at the Judy Bayley Theatre and Artemus W Ham Concert Hall of the UNLV Performing Arts Center.
reviewed
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Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Company
One of the premier Asian American dance troupes in the country, Dana Tai’s performances tend to blend Asian themes with modern dance trends in ways that have been critically acclaimed by local and national media. The company regularly tours both domestically and internationally, but also holds performances at various venues across town.
reviewed
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Bravo Bravo
The mood is flirty, the dancers are polished, and both men and women wear their best clothes to this salsa and Latin dance club popular with the under-30 set. Set in an enormous basement, the place gets going around 00:00 on Friday and Saturday nights and doesn't slow down until after 04:00. Thursday nights feature live go-go music.
reviewed
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Kahilu Theatre
Waimea may not be hopping with nightlife, but it enjoys a first-class year-round slate of dance, music and theater. Performers at Kahilu have included Chick Corea, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Laurie Anderson, Chanticleer and the Harlem Gospel Choir. A big draw is the annual Waimea 'Ukulele & Slack Key Institute concert.
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Hawaii Theatre
In a beautifully restored historic building on the edge of Chinatown, this is a major venue for dance, music and theater. Performances range from top contemporary Hawaiian musicians, to modern dance and film festivals. It also hosts the Ka Himeni Ana competition in which famous Hawaii musicians play in the falsetto style.
reviewed
