ARCHIVES – DANCE THAT OPENED IN FEBRUARY.2014


abrahamKYLE ABRAHAM/ABRAHAM.IN.MOTION. THE RADIO SHOW. You only have until Saturday to catch this World Stage offering. Abraham is one of New York’s brightest lights. The supple dancers execute fluid, total body choreography in this show about memory and communication. As a dancesmith, Abraham knows how to rivet the eye with movement that always catches you by surprise. No wonder he won a genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation. An ambitious show in content that maybe doesn’t get quite get to where it should in substance, but the choreography rocks. (Closes Feb. 8, Fleck Dance Theatre, www.harbourfrontcentre.com.)

DANCE IMMERSION. CELEBRATING OUR MEN IN DANCE. This show, also on a short run, is part of Black History Month. Curator Vivine Scarlett has opted to program 8 male choreographers to present black men in a positive light. They hail originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, and Jamaica, while two are Toronto born. The dance ranges from traditional to contemporary and presents a wide spectrum of themes. While the quality is uneven, the bill of fare is entertaining. This is an important show because it speaks to Canada’s multicultural mosaic. (Closes Feb 8, Enwave Theatre, www.harbourfrontcentre.com.)

Mirvish Productions. Heartbeat of Home. This new production, from the team that brought you Riverdance two decades ago, is an immensely enjoyable, professional-looking, polished dance show where everything hangs together as smooth as silk. The music score is sensational and the band it hot. Despite some weaknesses to the look of the show, it certainly deserves a long shelf life. (Closes Mar. 2, Ed Mirvish Theatre, www.mirvish.com.) See full website review, http://wp.me/p2s1nr-zz.

Mirvish Productions. ARRABAL. There’s mostly good news about the dance theatre show Arrabal. The choreography is sharply-edged sensuality and the music is scorching hot. On the down side, the book is weak, but, in the final analysis, who cares. The look of the show, from the gorgeous Argentinian dancers to the towering projections and sexy costumes, is scrumptious. In this coming of age story, the virginal heroine Arrabal (Micaela Spina) discovers that her father is one of the desaparecidos, a dissident who was arrested by the ruling military junta and made to disappear. (Choreographed by Sergio Trujillo and Julio Zurita, book by John Weidman, Closes May 11, Panasonic Theatre, www.mirvish.com.) See full Globe and Mail review (http://bit.ly/1g0KvNh).