The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-06)

SUNDAY, MARCH 6 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE E9

BY SARAH L. KAUFMAN

Recharge, v. To regain energy or spirit; to

inspire or invigorate afresh.

That’s a g ood description for what many of

us seek from dance this season — a spiritual

recharge, whether we’re audience members or

dance artists or both. Across the country,

troupes are stepping back onstage. Theaters

are open, tours are underway. That is, unless

they’re not.

The dispiriting specter of potential pan-

demic-related cancellations still casts a shad-

ow, making arts leaders and performers a bit

nervous. As if we needed another reminder

that in live performance as in life, the unex-

pected is a silent partner, right? Well, here’s

hoping that all the shows in this list, presented

in chronological order, take place as planned

— because powering up after the long, drain-

ing hiatus has felt so good.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has pro-

claimed 2022 the “Year of Chicago Dance,” a

citywide focus on the art form that’s being

billed as the first of its kind in the nation. The

initiative has already launched festivals, per-

formances and commissions by companies

around the city. Hubbard Street Dance Chica-

go got off to a head start with its 44th season,

titled “Re/Charge,” exquisitely apt for a return

to the stage that feels ablaze in enthusiasm.

The contemporary company has a new artistic

director — Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, ap-

pointed last year — and new dancers, and its

spring series, “Re/Connect,” seems designed to

blow away all those painful memories of dance

deprivation. Program A includes world pre-

mieres by Darrell Grand Moultrie and Amy

Hall Garner, alongside works by luminaries

Ohad Naharin and Lar Lubovitch. Program B

offers Nacho Duato’s earthy “Jardí Tancat,”

with songs by Majorcan vocalist María del Mar

Bonet, as well as Moultrie’s work and a new

dance by Baltimore native Jermaine Maurice

Spivey.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago March 2-13 at

the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

hubbardstreetdance.com.

Mark Morris Dance Group

Is there any more uplifting, optimistic and

spring-centric dance work than Mark Morris’s

1988 masterpiece “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il

Moderato”? Morris’s imagination, wit and

musicality can be counted on to send pandem-

ic-weary spirits into flight in this profound

meditation on accepting the dark with the

light. It makes sense to do so, “L’Allegro”

gently argues, for in the big picture (brilliantly

evoked by the dancing) we are surrounded by

beauty and harmony — and we are not alone.

This large-scale, evening-length piece re-

quires live musicians and a choir to perform

Handel’s luminous three-part oratorio, as well

as lots of space and supplementary dancers,

meaning it’s not often staged. No better time

than now.

Mark Morris Dance Group March 24-27 at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music. bam.org.

Lil Buck

“Michael Jackson times 10” is how Charles

“Lil Buck” Riley describes his slippery, fluid

dance style, and that’s spot on. This rubber-

limbed virtuoso in high-tops seems to melt

and fuse his bones at will as he glides and

spins. Lil Buck is the world’s most famous

Memphis Jookin’ dancer, having toured with

Madonna, starred in viral videos and ad

campaigns, and collaborated with New York

City Ballet dancers and other artists. He’s now

performing in the 90-minute “Memphis

Jookin': The Show,” which he conceived and

choreographed as a celebration of the music

and dance of his home city. He brings it to

Washington on March 25.

Lil Buck March 25 at the Lincoln Theatre.

washingtonperformingarts.org.

American Ballet Theatre

The anchor of American Ballet Theatre ’s

series in Washington is the bright, upbeat

full-length ballet “Don Quixote.” But the com-

pany’s mixed-repertory program shouldn’t be

overlooked. The mixed rep kicks off the en-

gagement with a two-day run, and includes an

enticing-sounding new work by Alonzo King,

the acclaimed director/choreographer of the

San Francisco-based Lines Ballet, with music

by Jason Moran, the Kennedy Center’s artistic

director for jazz. Also on the bill are Alexei

Ratmansky’s “Bernstein in a Bubble,” accom-

panied by Leonard Bernstein’s “Divertimen-

to,” and Jessica Lang’s “ZigZag,” featuring 11

songs recorded by Tony Bennett, with scenic

designs inspired by Bennett’s visual art.

American Ballet Theatre March 29-April 3 at the

Kennedy Center Opera House. kennedy-center.org.

San Francisco Ballet

After 37 years, San Francisco Ballet is bid-

ding farewell to Helgi Tomasson, its artistic

director and principal choreographer. The

company’s entire spring season, ending in

May, is an extended celebration of the soft-spo-

ken Iceland native who built the organization

into one of the world’s finest ballet companies.

There’s an especially intriguing array of works

on Program 6, including highly anticipated

world premieres by Christopher Wheeldon

(high-spirited music by Darius Milhaud) and

Dwight Rhoden (using Philip Glass and oth-

ers), and Tomasson’s “Prism,” accompanied by

Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Tomasson

created this piece in 2000 for New York City

Ballet, where he’d danced for 15 years.

San Francisco Ballet’s Program 6 April 6-15 at

the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco.

sfballet.org.

Malpaso

A taste of Cuba is especially appealing as I

write this during a f rigid winter. A visit by the

popular Cuban contemporary dance company

Malpaso to the University of Maryland promis-

es to be appealing and more. The 11-dancer

group will perform works by top choreogra-

phers Aszure Barton and Naharin, along with

a duet by Osnel Delgado, one of Malpaso’s

founders.

Malpaso April 27 at the Clarice Smith Performing

Arts Center, University of Maryland at College Park.

theclarice.umd.edu/events.

Kyle Abraham

The extraordinary choreographer Kyle

Abraham, founder of the dance company

A.I.M., creates works that are lush and seduc-

tive while also unmistakably clear-eyed. Amid

his dancers’ juicy musical responses, watch for

truths that may be difficult to contemplate —

they may even be tucked into his upbeat-

sounding evening-length work “An Untitled

Love.” I t’s described as a tribute to Black love

and un ity, and a celebration of culture, family

and community. In it, Abraham draws on

recordings by the influential, Grammy-win-

ning R&B and neo-soul artist D’Angelo, an

inspiration that signals a degree of complexity.

This is A.I.M.’s first full engagement at the

Kennedy Center.

A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham April 29 and 30 at the

Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater, kennedy-

center.org.

Pacific Northwest Ballet

After a run of “Swan Lake,” Seattle’s Pacific

Northwest Ballet caps its season with the

contemporary zest of Twyla Tharp. The all-

Tharp program includes “Sweet Fields ,” creat-

ed to a suite of early American hymns; “Brief

Fling ,” with its nod to traditional Scottish

dance as well as short-lived romance; and

“Waiting at the Station,” evoking an ebullient

1940s New Orleans with music by the late R&B

artis t Allen Toussaint. Tickets are also available

for a d igital-only presentation of the program.

Pacific Northwest Ballet June 3-12 at McCaw

Hall, Seattle. pnb.org.

‘Reframing the Narrative’

Black ballet dancers will be celebrated in a

six-day series at the Kennedy Center called

“Reframing the Narrative,” which includes

performances by Dance Theatre of Harlem,

Ballethnic Dance Company, out of East Point,

Ga., and Memphis’s Collage Dance Collective,

along with other Black-identifying ballet danc-

ers from across the country. The series is

curated by Theresa Ruth Howard, formerly of

Dance Theatre of Harlem and Armitage Gone

Dance and the founder of the Memoirs of

Blacks in Ballet website.

Reframing the Narrative June 14-19 at the

Kennedy Center Opera House, kennedy-center.org.

Washington Ballet

After presenting “Giselle” in April, the

Washington Ballet closes its season with

“NEXTSteps,” a p rogram of world premieres.

Two are being created by women: Brett Ishida,

whose Ishida Dance Company is based in

Austin, and Jessica Lang, whose star is rising

fast in the ballet world. A work by South

African-born Mthuthuzeli November of Eng-

land’s Ballet Black rounds out the program.

The Washington Ballet June 22-26 at Sidney

Harman Hall, Washington. washingtonballet.org.

New works, fresh ideas

and favorites

SONNY ROSS/ILLUSTRATION FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

MICHELLE REID

Andrew Murdock and Alysia Johnson perform in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's

“Jardí Tancat” by Nacho Duato. 2022 is the official “Year of Chicago Dance.”

spring arts preview | dance