"Out of the blue came the unknown troupe Happy Nia Dance Theatre with Cure Contemporary Ballet, and did it ever pack a wallop. "
"In My Language just a walk or an uplifted arm resonated with the fierce pride and determination of black Americans as they honored their past."
HappyNia Dance Theatre
 | ||||||
Click herReview: The Journey is Long but the Struggle Stays Strong text.
African rhythms rule South Dallas Dance Festival
01:09 PM CST on Monday, November 12, 2007
By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor
The deck was stacked Saturday night in favor of African dance and drummers. At the seventh annual South Dallas Dance Festival, Home at Last!, at the South Dallas Cultural Center, they had the advantage of intoxicating music and go-for-broke dancing.
"The two youngest groups made a respectable appearance. Lisbon
Elementary School's "Character Counts" Dance Company featured
five girls in white dipping and turning with solemn grace. Although
the dancers in HappyNia Dance Theatre range in age from 10 to
over 40, only the kids performed God is Able and Never Heard a
Mumbling Word. They danced with a pleasing clarity."
Year in Review 2007: Dance
09:17 AM CST on Monday, December 17, 2007
By MARGARET PUTNAM / Special Contributor
Try quirky, arch, ironic and high energy – that seems to be the direction modern dance is going. To best understand how vastly it has abandoned formal structure and operatic emotion, look at Martha Graham's Primitive Mysteries (1932) and BJM Danse's Les Chambres des Jacques (2006) for contrast. Ballet training has also crept in everywhere, giving a high gloss to forms so distinctive as modern, tango and even flamenco.
And modern has made inroads into ballet, sometimes to the extent of choreographers ditching pointe shoes, and sometimes not. But plenty of room remains for the classical style, as pristine as ever, as you'll see from these picks of the best 10 performances of the year.
10. Stella Maris Jamaican Dance Company: March 16 at Naomi Bruton Main Stage Texas Black Academy of Arts and Letters' annual "Rhythm and Soul of the People" threw caution out the window with three outlandish works. Local company Happy Nia Dance stirred things up with a sizzling Old School Soul Limbo, while Stella Maris Jamaican Dance Company weighed in with a go-for-broke Ridin', and the comic masterpiece Liza.
