Winter Events!

by Aisha Cruse

The Holiday season is nearly upon us, and the new year is right around the corner. Take in some great dance shows that are Nutcracker alternatives, and look ahead to the new year of dance in Boston!

Thu, December 10 @ 6:30pm & 7:30pm
Sat, December 12 @ 2 pm
Through Sun, January 24
Silas Renier in Merce Cunningham's Changeling
Presented by ICA Boston
At the ICA Boston, MA
FREE with admission to the museum
The Black Mountain College exhibition at the ICA is bringing Merce Cunningham's early works to life. December is the kickoff for two months of performances by the Boston Conservatory students under the direction of former Cunningham dancer Silas Riener. From the ICA website: "Boston Conservatory students perform excerpts from early Cunningham dances including Dime A Dance, Springweather and People, Septet, Nocturnes, and Minutiae, accompanied by pianist Stephen Drury. For the December and January performances, the students will be joined by Riener, who will perform the recently reconstructed Cunningham solo Changeling, and joined by Drury performing music by Christian Wolff and John Cage."

Thurs, December 17 @ 7:30PM
FILAMENT : Luminarium 5-Year Retrospective
Presented by Luminarium Dance
At Oberon, Harvard Square, Cambridge
$15-$20
Luminarium turns 5 this year, and Monkeyhouse could not be more excited about it. Make sure you come out to see their one-night-only retrospective show, featuring 11 favorites selected by fans. If you missed out on past Luminarium shows and want to see the best of the best, go buy your tickets now! This is at Oberon, so audience must be 18+.

Fri & Sat, December 18 & 19 @ 8:00 pm
12 Dancers Dancing
Presented by Honey Blonder
At Dance Complex, Cambridge, MA
$20 Adults/ $15 Children and Senior
Thirteen Boston based dance companies celebrate the season! Featuring performances from Rainbow Tribe, Bside, Sydni Lockeby, Boston Community Dance Project, Embrace, Cambridge Dance Company, Brookline Academy of Dance, Contemporarily Out of Order, Alive Dance Collective, CreationDance, Forty Steps Dance, Steffani Bennett, and Monkeyhouse friends Ryan P. Casey and Dance'n Feet! This is also a charity event, so if you bring a new toy for the toy drive you'll get a dollar off your ticket!

Sat, January 23 @ 7:30pm
An evening of Jazz and Tap
Featuring The Tall Tribe and the Paul Arslanian Trio
The Dance Hall in Kittery, ME
$20 advance /$25 at the door
Monkeyhouse loves Ryan P Casey! Take the opportunity to get out of the city for a night and head up to Kittery Maine (full disclosure, I really like jazz music, and I think live music and tap is one of the best ways dancers can experiment with interactive accompaniment): "Join The Tall Tribe (tap dancers Gay Nardone, Ryan Casey, and Drika Overton) and The Paul Arslanian Trio with special guests for an evening jazz and tap, from classic repertory to ground-breaking original work. Infectious fun and positive energy!"

January
NACHMO!
Presented by Intimations Dance
At the Dance Complex in Cambridge MA
It's almost time for that kick in the choreographic pants, National Choreography Month Boston! All January long choreographers selected by Intimations Dance will be creating new work. Last year the final performance was in the first week of February, and there were classes, workshops, and events all month long in January. We don't have exact dates yet, but keep checking back at the link above. I can't wait!

Fri & Sat, February 12 & 13 @ 8 pm
DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! DANCE!
Featuring Daniel McCusker Dance Projects : Navarasa Dance Theater : Jean Appolon Expressions : Wendy Jehlen and Lacina Coulibaly
Presented by the ICA Boston
At the Institute for Contemporary Art Boston, MA
$15 ICA members + students / $30 nonmembers
Want to see 4 incredible local dance companies perform on the same evening? The ICA is fulfilling your wishes. Given Monkeyhouse's commitment to building and growing the Boston dance community I am unreasonably excited by this event and by the event description: "An exciting evening highlighting the diversity of dance in the Boston region ... featuring Daniel McCusker Dance Projects, Navarasa Dance Theater, Jean Appolon Expressions, and a duet by Wendy Jehlen and Lacina Coulibaly. Including a 15-minute performance by each company, DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! will conclude with a discussion among the four choreographers in which they will discuss how different forms of dance of informed their own work."

September Events!

by Aisha Cruse

It's September, the start of the school year, and the warm-up for the 2015-2016 entertainment calendar. So get ready, because the arts are in session!

Thu & Fri, September 3 & 4 @ 7:30 pm 

TWA: JAE Presents DBR, Lenelle Moise and Jean Appolon
Featuring Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Lenelle Moïse & Jean Appolon : Presented by Jean Appolon Expressions
At Boston Center for the Arts - Black Box Theatre (539 Tremont Street Boston, MA)

$25

Twa, which means "three" in Haitian Creole, will independently showcase Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Lenelle Moïse and Jean Appolon, some of the most innovative Haitian American artists of their generation. Featuring new work by Jean Appolon's Boston-based company set to music composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) as well as a performance by JAE's Teen Intensive students.  Also featuring independent performances by traveling performance poet and award-winning playwright Lenelle Moïse, and acclaimed musician and composer DBR.

Fri & Sat, September 11 & 12 @ 8:00 pm 
JEANNE, the story of a woman
Featuring Contrapose Dance and Ensemble Warhol : Presented by Fort Point Theatre Channel and Contrapose Dance
At Boston University Dance Theater (915 Commonwealth Ave Boston, Massachusetts)

$20/ $14 student & senior
This is an hour long excerpt from a full length opera by Mark Warhol and James Swindell, featuring choreography by Junichi Fukuda and music by the Boston String Quartet. From the website: "Opera singers Anna Ward (soprano) and Patrick Massey (tenor), along with Contrapose dancers Nina Brindamour, Danielle Davidson, and Magdalena Gyftopoulos, will portray a modern day tale of birth, labor, death … a story of wisdom that comes with age and of innocence that only youth can claim as their own." 

Fri, September 18 @ 8:00 pm

Indian Ocean Live In Concert
Featuring Indian Ocean : Presented by AID MIT and MIT Sangam
At MIT Kresge Auditorium (48 Massachusettes Avenue Cambridge, MA)
$75/ $50/ $30/ $20 with a student ID

This is actually a straight-up music concert, but even though seats are assigned, it seems like the kind of show you watch on your feet. From the website: "Formed in the early 90s, Indian Ocean has spearheaded the Indian rock scene and is one of India’s few politically conscious bands. A cult band in its own right, the group has amalgamated Indian folk music with Western rock. Culling their lyrics from a variety of languages, including Hindi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Sanskrit and even Aramaic, their music ranges from rocking political anthems to meditative spiritual ballads."

Fri & Sat, September 18 & 19 @ 6 pm
2015 US Championship and Provincetown Dance Trophy
Presented by Kalin Mitov
At Provincetown Town Hall, Provincetown MA
$25-$35
Thinking about an end-of-summer escape to Ptown? Check out these two same-sex partner Ballroom Dance Tournaments. The goal of these tournaments is inclusiveness, along with all the flashy costumes, thrilling footwork and incredible grace of ballroom dance. And what with the Supreme Court decision, audience and competitors alike have a little extra reason to cheer this year.

This September, we've got two incredible arts festivals happening at locations all over Boston three weekends in a row. Looking to do some dancing? Don't worry. We've got you covered.

Wed - Sat, September 16 - 19 @ 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Sun, September 20 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Let's Dance Boston
Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston
At Rose Kennedy Greenway (185 Kneeland Street Boston, MA)

Free!

I'm so excited for this I might have bounced up and down in my seat a little while writing this post. Each night, on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, there will be a two hour dance party with live music in a particular style (salsa, swing, disco) preceded by a 45 minute free dance class taught by area professionals. Wednesday is Latin Dance, Thursday is Swing, Friday is Disco, Saturday is Salsa, and Sunday afternoon is a return to golden-era Swing. All classes will be conducted on a specially erected dance floor just for the occasion. I'm going every night.

Fri - Sun, September 25-27 @ 8:15 am - 10:15 pm
Fri - Sun, October 2-4 @ 8:15 am - 10:15 pm

ArtWeek Boston
Presented by Local Artists and Arts Organizations
At Various (Multiple Boston, MA)

Varies by event, most under $25

I want to tell you about everything that is happening for this festival but there is so much going on that I literally can't. Go to the website and check out the calendar, there is just so much to see and do.  There are a ton of kid friendly events, including this amazing thing where the marquis on the citi Shubert and the Wang Theaters will be showing work by children in the Boston Public schools. Free and low-cost concerts abound. Go to the website, I'm sure there is at least one thing you'll want to see.