Whether it was Madonna, David Bowie, The Violent Femmes, The Cure, or Siouxsie and the Banshees, a specific music ruled the airwaves and the clubs back in the 1980’s. Now these singers and bands are household names, but at that time, they hadn’t yet broken into mainstream culture. Today, the sound of the 80’s continues […]
Casey Carlsen
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Recap: PUSH Physical Theatre in “Fake Off” finals
Rochester’s PUSH Physical Theatre nearly brought home the $100,000 jackpot in Monday night’s final episode of TruTV’s “Fake Off.” The show challenges performance groups to come up with the best “fakes” using a combination of illusion, theater, acrobatics, and black lighting. PUSH received a score of 28 out of 30 for their on-stage interpretation of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Theater Review: RBTL presents Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”
A nearly sold-out audience filled the Auditorium Theatre, Tuesday, for the opening night of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella,” brought to town by the Rochester Broadway Theatre League. I was surprised at the full house (on a Tuesday) and the age-span of the viewers, from pre-school tots to grandparents pushing walkers and in wheelchairs. Little girls […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Dance Review: Garth Fagan’s home season opener
Garth Fagan Dance again had Rochester on its feet, applauding in unabashed awe and appreciation, during the opening night of the company’s home season at Nazareth College Performing Arts Center, Wednesday evening. Celebration seemed to be a strong tenet in several of the pieces performed — that Fagan-esque shout-out to the deep currents of physical, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
PUSH Physical Theatre
Darren and Heather Stevenson, co-producers of PUSH Physical Theatre, have been asked more than once whether they wanted their extreme-movement, physical performance company to appear on national television (“America’s Got Talent” has called several times). But this is the first time they’ve accepted. PUSH is currently appearing in the reality competition show “Fake Off,” a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
DANCE | Upstate NY Fall Latin Dance Festival
The 3rd Annual Upstate NY Fall Latin Dance Festival, hosted by Essence of Rhythm Latin Dance Co., takes place this weekend and includes workshops and performances featuring performers from as far as Detroit, Boston, and Toronto. Darin Price, director of Rhythm Society, expects participants from all over New York State and beyond. DJ Sisco from […]
Posted inCulture
U-Theatre Taiwan
U-Theatre Taiwan’s “Sound of the Ocean” at Nazareth College Arts Center last week was a meditative journey that must have spoken personally to each audience member. A primitive, yet finely-tuned energy reverberated from the group’s drumming, movement, and theatrical presence that surely reached everyone watching and listening. It was, indeed, like being pulled in by […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Casey reviews “Garth Fagan Dance: Up Close & Personal”
Experiencing Garth Fagan Dance perform is a little bit like coming home, especially when you live in Rochester where the cutting edge contemporary dance company (now in its 44th year) also resides and works. Familiar dancers, familiar pieces, familiar Fagan — both wise and jocular in his comments and anecdotes. Seeing the company dance in […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Casey reviews Biodance and “Diaghilesque”
All of Rochester could have been lit by the energy Biodance exuded at GEVA’s Nextstage last night. The show reminded me of a collection of excellent short stories. Each unique piece vibrant and well-worked out — good enough to stand alone, but even better as a group. Missy Pfohl Smith, Artistic Director of Biodance, seems […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Casey reviews PUSH Physical Theatre and “Germination”
PUSH Physical Theatre is always entertaining, but it has deep ideas to communicate as well. Through movement, of course. The company’s new piece, “Strangers,” is still a work in progress. But judging from the excerpt the award-winning, Rochester-based group premiered at Fringe Festival on Saturday afternoon, it is going to be a work of powerful […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Casey reviews Sisters of Murphy and “Unbridled”
Friday on the Fringe was full of free offerings, but fun, not free, is the word that epitomized the night for me. I left feeling happy, energized, and excited about the festival; music, dance and photography cavorting in my brain. Sisters of Murphy, a local band that fuses traditional Celtic drinking songs with rock ‘n’ […]
Posted inSpecial Sections
Autumn moves
It’s never easy previewing the upcoming dance season and singling out which performances promise excellence, but with Rochester dancers and choreographers focused like a laser on the imminent Rochester Fringe Festival (September 18-27), information about later dance shows was hard to pin down. So, along with the picks outlined below, look for pop-up performances from […]
