Want Romance? Take a Chance, Go See Dance
February and March are the grand-jete months of dance around San Diego, with new homegrown shows and not-to-be missed annual productions. Several touring shows hit local stages too. Here’s a look at shows leaping your way. To help you navigate, our TOP PICKS are starred.
Anna Bass and Monica Bill Barnes bring zany dance and cocktails to “Happy Hour” in March. Courtesy photo
*Happy Hour previews new work by Monica Bill Barnes, a New York favorite who calls San Diego home. The UC San Diego alum has been compared to Tina Fey and Buster Keaton. She’s currently the star of “Three Acts, Two Dancers, and One Radio Host,” with Ira Glass, and long-time dance partner, Anna Bass. Barnes is known for confetti, turtlenecks, and dances in fountains and swimming pools. Happy Hour is billed as a “Cocktail Party Dance Show.” The bubbly flows March 24-26 at the White Box in NTC. http://sandiegodancetheater.org/
Russian National Ballet: Sleeping Beauty Feb. 10, Don Quixote Feb. 11, Swan Lake, Feb. 12. Jacobs Music Center, 750 B St. www.sandiegosymphony.org.
*West Side Story is one of the finest musicals ever. Romeo and Juliet are dropped on the gritty streets of New York, and there’s Jerome Robbin’s choreography. James Vasquez directs San Diego Musical Theatre’s production of the classic from 1957. This is the company’s first show at the Spreckels Theatre, its new home. Performances Feb. 13-Mar. 1. www.SDMT.org.
Beyond the Barre, California Ballet: Garfield Theatre, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. Feb. 14. www.californiaballet.org.
International Dance Festival: Balboa Park Club. Free. Feb. 15. www.idasdc.org.
Viva Italia, presented by Mojalet Dance. The Vine. Rancho Bernardo. Feb. 7-15. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mojalet-Dance-Collective/111282132303315
Entwined on Valentine’s. San Diego Dance Theater. Library Dances, Otay Ranch. Feb. 14. http://www.sandiegodancetheater.org/
*Black Grace from New Zealand, with distinctive dynamism sparked by Pacific Island and Maori heritage. Presented by ArtPower! at Mandeville Auditorium, UC San Diego. $12-$46. Feb. 18. www.Artpower.ucsd.edu.
*Lux Boreal Dance Company. The attractive troupe travels from Tijuana for an intimate show at ENS 200, Studio Dance Theatre, San Diego State University. 7:30 pm. Feb. 20. www.music.sdsu.edu.
Claudia Gomez on Tap, with Trio Gadjo at Panama 66, next to the Museum of Art in Balboa Park. 7 pm. Feb. 20. http://www.sdmart.org/panama_66
*San Diego Young Choreographers Showcase and Prize has dance makers of multiple styles compete for $5000 in prize money and bold notations on their dance resumes. A panel of judges and the audience will decide the winners at 8 pm., on Feb. 21, 2015. A reception and award ceremony follows.
Dance makers include: Julio Catano, Ian Isles, Alyssa Junious, Aurora Lagattuta & Kate Vigmostad, Celest Lanuza, Sulijah Learmont, Emily Miller, Paul Mota, Jaime Nixon, Edrian Pangilinan, and Ariana Siegel. http://www.sandiegodancetheater.org/ChoreographersPrizeChoreographers.html
Judges include: Patricia Rincon, Victoria Hamilton, Kevin Patterson, and Janice Steinberg.
Categories include most original choreography and most compelling performance by and single dancer, and best performance by a group of three or more dancers.
Coronado Performing Arts Center. 650 D Avenue. Coronado, CA 92118. Tickets $20.
http://www.sandiegodancetheater.org/ChoreographersPrize.html
Concert of Philipine Dances & Music Celebrating Love. California Center for the Arts, Escondido.2 pm. Feb.22. www.samahanphilippinedance.com.
Snowbirds. The Winter Dance Residency produced by Anya Cloud is designed to build an artistic and cultural bridge between distanced dance communities. Performances: Feb. 21 4-6 pm. Feb. 22 7:30-9:30 pm. Feb. 25 7-9 pm. RAW Space off Broadway. 923 1st Ave. San Diego. https://www.facebook.com/pages/RAW-Space-Off-Broadway/281656485338716
*Balanchine Spectacular. City Ballet of San Diego presents three ballets by George Balanchine: The Four Temperaments, Rubies from Jewels, and Walpurgisnacht Ballet, the sequence from Act V of the opera Faust by Charles Gounod. Performances run March 6 through 8 at the Spreckels Theatre. http://cityballet.org/performances/balanchine.php
*MOMIX – Alchemia. Moses Pendelton’s new full-length work Alchemia manipulates the four classic elements of earth, air, fire and water. The result is a visual odyssey of athletic dance, imagery and illusion. Music ranges from Vivaldi to birdsong. Presented by La Jolla Music Society, the same group that brought us the unforgettable “Wendy Whelan – Restless Creature” and CHOREOLab2015. Mar. 13 at 8 pm. Spreckels Theatre.
Kris Eitland covers dance and theater for Sandiegostory.com and freelances for other publications, including the Union Tribune and Dance Teacher Magazine. She grew up performing many dance styles and continued intensive modern dance and choreography at the Univ. of Minnesota, Duluth, and San Diego State Univ. She also holds a journalism degree from SDSU. Her career includes stints in commercial and public radio news production.
Eitland has won numerous Excellence in Journalism awards for criticism and reporting from the San Diego Press Club. She has served on the Press Club board since 2011 and is a past president. She is a co-founder of Sandiegostory.com. She has a passion for the arts, throwing parties with dancing and singing, and cruising the Pacific in her family’s vintage trawler. She trains dogs, skis, and loves seasonal trips to her home state of Minnesota.