American Dance Festival Tickets

Pilobolus once again pushed modern dance to new levels of creativity and expression. The program combined vintage numbers which we have come to enjoy plus the most amazing performance--Hapless Hooligan in Still Moving (2010). This number combined combined multi-layers of dance, cartoon effects, video imagery, shadow dancing, and lighting illusions. The NYT praised this newest addition to the repertoire, saying it pushed dance to a new artistic level. I hope anyone who loves dance will have the opportunity to see Hapless Hooligan wander through visual fantacies that are truely remarkable.

My 9 year old giggled through the entire show. The group did an amazing job of getting all of the audience involved. I wish it could have gone on longer.

As a first time viewer of a live Pilobolus performance I found it greatly entertaining and a wonderful experience. Hope to see them again.

We expected much more. The show only lasted an hour and when it concluded, we thought it was intermission until it was clear that everyone was leaving. Half the time was spent talking to the audiance rather than performing. Finally, we expected to see some of the shadow shapes that one sees on YouTube, etc., but they did none of this.

I loved seeing (again) the early piece based on walking that opened the program and my five year old found it surprising and funny. Very age appropriate. And the dancers did a great job of interacting with the kids in the audience. Having some interactive activities that every audience member could do from our seats and the one North South East West exercise that brought kids up on stage worked well to keep us engaged. The solo was fabulous, classic, Pilobolus body as sculpture, though a little subtle for my daughter. The final piece (starting with the rocking chair as sports car [?]) revealed innovative imaginative ways to use bodies and props, but was rather confusing even for the adults and definitely for my daughter.

The opening act was fantastic. And the 2nd act was very light and funny. The ending act was too loud..way to loud...especially for us 'older' folks in the audience.

Will look to see them next year. I had a wonderful time

what fun... I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids.

As usual pilobolus was excellent. Their athleticism is so unique. However, the world premier of "Contradance" was disappointing. It was very unathletic and seemed like something any dance company could do just as well. That dance seemed to drag on unlike the rest of the show!!

I had not seen Pilobolus for about 5-6 years at ADF. This year I decided to bring a student that I mentor and I thought Pilobolus would be fun for her. Well, it was fun for me. I had not seen any of the material so it was all new to me. My student was speechless. The dancers appear as if they have no weight at all but at the same time have infinite weight. One of the numbers was so flowing and graceful -- another was funny and athletic. Pilobolus continues to be one of the most innovative and enjoyable companies around. I thoroughly loved it..and will not wait so long before I go again!

If you love dance... and are open to the unique works that today's dance environment produces, then RUBBERBANDance is a must-see. Combining urban dance styles with a variety of music ranging from classical to jazz (Take Five, for example) this small group of athletic dancers bring a calm, lyrical, and even humorous bent to the an evolving genre. Three girls, three guys, including both artistic directors, RUBBERBANDance is mesmerizing, never failing to bring something new to the dance floor, making each piece something truly special.

I found the slow-motion dance that was hip-hop, breakdancing to classical music was captivating and breathtaking. The emotion conveyed through their dances was palpabel. The athleticism of these six dancers was unbelievable. What an amazing opportunity to watch them all dance!

Absolutely phenomenal performance! The fluidity of each performers body and how they interracted with each other was a joy to watch. Highly recommend them for all ages.

The cynical teen in our party thought this was too absurd, but for me it all made some kind of crazy sense. Wonderful dancers, with choreography like nothing else. Compare to Charlie Chaplin, Magritte, Edward Scissorhands, and Fellini on drugs.

A series of choreographed "meditations" on "free will," "romantic love," and other abstractions which this troupe managed to make concrete, and emotionally wrenching. HOW? that was the magic. Wistful, cabaret-like music--sort of Brecht-Weill--extraordinary, evocative, 3-dimensional lighting, mechanized movements of the superb dancers, certain metaphors which work PHYSICALLY (a chair attached to a female dancer's bottom; a male figure with two heads, one emerging at about crotch level, i.e. two dancers playing one human; above all, marionette-like "ribbons" attaching some dancers' hands to their feet, so that an apparent pull of a hand lifts a foot). I have never seen anything else like this--the blend of dance, a kind of "literary"intelligence, mime, and music. And it evoked very complex reactions in me, including profound sorrow. Consequently, a profound evening! There was a standing ovation, and an intelligent post-performance discussion with the audience hosted by Avshalom Pollak and the troupe.

The company was just not together as I would expect such a top-tier company to be. Many costumes were gaudy. The dancing itself was well done, and the choreography was excellent.

For the pundits who want a complete change from the usual tutu clad, ballets that seem to catch families at Christmas with the Nutcracker - don't get me wrong, those ballets are excellent too. I would suggest a complete turn around with a viewing of the MMDG. Mark Morris brings true dance passion, 'serious' frivolity, strength with artistic ease, and really good entertainment for everyone. After the show, you'll know what I'm talking about, and will want to see more of what the big world of dance has to offer. The dancers were amazing, all with incredible core strength, precision, grace and presence. The pieces were masterfully lit, all with a zen like quality - just enough, not too much! All in all, it was a good selection of pieces for the ADF crowd. Traditional ballet buffs need to check out Mark Morris' 'Hard Nut'.

Slow, monotonous, lack of depth in the choreography, uninteresting costume and set design. I struggled to stay awake. The solo piece was nice. I am not sure why this company is the flower of AdF I also expected more from the venue. Sound was not good and the rows are about 25 people deep and narrow. One tall person sat in front of me so I missed much of the staging because of the arrangement of the seats.

I took my 3 year old daughter to the children's matinee, thinking she would like seeing a bit of ballet. She was very excited to go and watch people dancing, and all through the "special backstage preview" of watching the dancers stretch for fifteen minutes of the 1-hour show, she kept asking me when the dancing would begin. After the stretching, there were 30 minutes of dancing followed by a 15-minute question and answer period. One of the dances contained lyrics about a mother beating her child - not a great choice for a children's matinee. Overall, I was disappointed.

As a fan of modern dance I was looking forward to seeing Paul Taylor Dance Company at the ADF. What a a disappointment! The three sections were too similar (a lot of crawling on the ground and stepping over those crawling on the ground.) Synchronization was absent. And there were no "wow - do that again!" moments. I'll stick with Alvin Ailey.