Recent Reviews
Review: Here. Now. by Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 17, 2025
Here. Now. was a patchwork quilt of diversity, teaching the lesson of the common search for identity, purpose, and meaning across every culture.
Andrea Ariel Dance Theatre (AADT) continues its winding path along the leading edge of the Austin performing arts community with Here. Now. The show is an essential dance show with exquisite live music accompaniment. The show is a compound of techniques and themes that Ariel has addressed in her 35-year Austin dance career. It intentionally incorporates elements of AADT’s Community Voices workshops, endowing it with reflections and echoes of AADT’s 2024 Borderless show. …
Review: Kaleidoscope (2025) by Ventana Ballet
by David Glen Robinson
Published on May 10, 2025
With their flashing kaleidoscope of dance Ventana Ballet and Austin Camerata have again raised the bar of ballet performance and show production in Austin.
The third annual edition of Ventana Ballet’s Kaleidoscope has just taken place at the Draylen Mason Music Studio in the still-new KMFA radio station near Austin's Lady Bird Lake. The sampler of ballet pieces by different choreographers informed and delighted, as always. Aptly named, the seasons turned round, and the views through the looking glass of dance revealed fresh new performances. The quality of the offerings seemed even higher than those of the previous year …
Review: The illusionary Games of Edward Rye by Filigree Theatre
by David Glen Robinson
Published on April 29, 2025
The world of stage magic and murky hypnotic manipulation raises questions in the psychological thriller with action-adventure overtones.
The Illusionary Games of Edward Rye, a world premiere authored by Ashley Griffin offers a brainy riff on illusionism, mesmerism, mentalism, magic, agnosticism, faith, free will, determinism, card tricks, math tricks, therapy, trust, ethics, and plush toy tigers. That's a lot to chew on. It's clear that Griffin researched these topics. The lead character is Edward Rye, played by Malcolm Stephenson, not a neurosurgeon or alien abduction hypno-researcher, but a slightly down-at-heel stage illusionist. Rye's faith in …
Review: Feast by Shrewd Productions
by Michael Meigs
Published on April 28, 2025
Gogerty's script and Katherine Catmull's electrifying performance need to be seen again and again. Unshielded by any metaphorical fourth wall, you're embraced by a ferocious storyteller.
Feast offers a shrewd re-interpretation of the classic bourgeois entertainment of "dinner and a show." Before Katherine Catmull's intense one-woman performance of Megan Gogerty's brainy, scary script based on the ancient saga of Beowulf, you can elect to start with a leisurely meal of comfort food. Dinner and a show. But this isn't a night on the town in NYC or Chicago, folks, it's Austin theatre. Sign up for the pre-performance dinner if you …
Review: Premiere by Allysen Hooks Projects
by David Glen Robinson
Published on April 26, 2025
Two ambitious pieces by Allysen Hooks explore the qualities of dream states, dreamscapes, and dream logic. We want to see more.
Allysen Hooks Projects, one of the newer dance companies in Austin, was inaugurated in 2024. Hooks, its producing artistic director, is a native Texan who moved e to NYC arly on and earned degrees from Julliard and Sarah Lawrence, then pursued her dance career in NYC for seventeen years. She brings to Austin is a fresh take on contemporary dance and a future-forward philosophy. As she phrases it, “I construct surrealist narratives aimed to …
Review: Gimpses of the Tenth Austin Dance Festival, Organized by Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company
by David Glen Robinson
Published on April 15, 2025
Quick looks at the sixteen pro presentations of KDH Dance Company's tenth annual Austin Dance Festival.
Quick looks at sixteen presentations over three days in Austin “How the West Was,” KDH Dance Company, Austin, TX. The title keys our expectations for this company for quirky, absurdist, and athletic performances underlain by deep themes of protection and commitment. Although many in the audience are familiar with the company, now under new leadership (Alyson Dolan, stepping forward for the retiring Kathy Dunn Hamrick, still beautifully present), we …