The big star at this San Francisco Ballet program was the house pianist, Michael MacGraw. First giving a fabulous performance…
Michael Wade Simpson
Mr. Simpson has a BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and worked as an advertising writer in Los Angeles before moving to New York to pursue a different passion: dance. He danced professionally in New York and Boston before founding a community-based modern dance company, Small City Dance Project, in Newburyport, MA. His fiction has appeared in literary journals and anthologies. He was a teaching fellow at Smith College, where he received his MFA in choreography. While living in the Bay Area for 15 years, he wrote about dance for the San Francisco Chronicle and other periodicals. In 2005, he was a NEA Fellow at the Dance Critics Institute, American Dance Festival. For culturevulture.net, he reviews dance, theatre and film. He moved to Santa Fe in October, 2008. He writes for "Pasatiempo," the Arts magazine of the "Santa Fe New Mexican."
Go figure. A 30-year-old piece by Hans van Manen seemed more concerned with looking "modern" than a brand new work…
It was an odd sight, a line of panting Gen-Y modern dancers taking their bow at Zellerbach Auditorium, UC Berkeley,…
Three living American choreographers worked directly with the brilliant, versatile dancers of the San Francisco Ballet to create a program…
When the choreography to Don Quixote was cutting edge, in 1869, the French choreographer, Marius Petipa (Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake)…
Bach: The Great Organ Works (includes Toccata And Fugue in D minor) As did his mentor, Martha Graham, the choreographer…
Oakland to San Francisco is actually a long way, if you’re a regional dance company. Karen Brown, former Dance Theater…
In Etoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, Nils Tavernier, son of renowned French director, Bertrand Tavernier, offers a romantic…
How many years does a choreographer have to be on the scene before reviewers stop talking about his influences? When…
If ballet were handwriting on a wall, Balanchine’s choreography would look like that of an industrious A student, and the…
The Poems of Dylan Thomas New Revised Edition [with CD] "Are you the man with the poems in your head?”…
San Jose, Mexican Heritage Theater September 21, 2003 Kathak is a dance form for accountants. Numbers, numbers, numbers. Originally developed…
Music from the program is included in these CDs: If anyone says Mark Morris doesn’t have a political bone in…
Flamenco has its own brand-identity, a marketing advantage; it’s one big cliche. A moment of tortured writhing and stomping feet…