Dance section: Metro Weekly

Flamenco Male Call

Edwin Aparicio puts the focus on men in flamenco

Published on December 1, 2011, 2:03am

Edwin Aparicio is testing the waters, trying to shift perceptions about flamenco. ''American audiences are used to seeing the typical [flamenco] company with lots of girls with pretty dresses -- the polka dots, the ruffles, the trails -- but not much [focus on] men,'' says the choreographer. ''I thought, 'What if I got good men from Spain and also here and create a show around an all-male cast?''' And that's exactly what he's done with Flamenco Men, which will have ...[more]

Dance for Youth

The OASIS Dance Company offers a performance for LGBTQ youth

Published on September 8, 2011, 4:54am

''Many people are living the dream, but in other areas we're still working to progress,'' says Steven Wilson. After the unveiling of the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial on the National Mall, Wilson offers his own tribute to King. ''Images: Secrets from Within,'' performed by Wilson's OASIS Dance Company, incorporates dance and fashion, and benefits Transgender Health Empowerment's Wanda Alston House, which serves D.C.'s homeless LGBTQ youth. ''The main character is a model who's struggling to come out, and ...[more]

Go West

Trey McIntyre is working to broaden dance's appeal, including by establishing roots in Idaho -- yes, really

Published on May 5, 2011, 6:11am

What's a 10-person modern dance troupe with three gay members -- including its founder -- doing based full-time in Boise, Idaho? ''It's a pretty liberal city,'' Trey McIntyre says. ''It's a college town, so like any red state, the college town is usually where all the crazy people go.'' Since McIntyre set up his Trey McIntyre Project in Boise three years ago, there has been ''zero issue'' about his being gay. ''My partner is the [Project's] executive director and also ...[more]

Avant-Garde Homos

Brian Freeman revives his ‘90s-era theater group Pomo Afro Homos

Published on March 3, 2011, 2:29am

''What's the model for this? Is it the Village People?'' Brian Freeman's '90s-era group Pomo Afro Homos may not have been nearly as popular as that disco group, but he has nonetheless revived his avant-garde theater ensemble, whose name is shorthand reference for post-modern African-American queers. Freeman just doesn't expect to keep it going ad nauseam. ''I don't think this is going to be a return to that kind of ensemble for an extended time,'' he says. ''The whole notion ...[more]

Flamenco Fantasies

D.C.'s Edwin Aparicio is helping flamenco evolve

Published on December 1, 2010, 11:56pm

''I will be the gay advocate flamenco dancer for all of us,'' laughs Edwin Aparicio. In fact, he already is. Among other pursuits, the 35-year-old Aparicio is on the faculty of the Washington School of Ballet, and travels regularly to Spain, birthplace of the multicultural art form, which incorporates music as well as dancing. He's helping the art form evolve. ''[Traditionally] flamenco is very manly and macho, with no room for femininity,'' he says. More recently though, male flamenco dancers ...[more]

Homecoming Tribute

Dakshina returns to Clarice Smith Center for a tribute to Anna Sokolow

Published on November 4, 2010, 4:33am

As early as 1955, Anna Sokolow refused to alter her choreography with a gay sequence for a concert. ''She was a Jewish, straight white woman. There was really no reason for her to take that [gay-affirming] stance,'' says Daniel Phoenix Singh. ''She could have easily said, 'Okay, I'll change it.' It wouldn't have affected the dance much. No one would have known.'' The 38-year-old Singh has admired the late choreographer since before his days at the University of Maryland. Tonight, ...[more]

Modern Love

The Washington Ballet's Septime Webre sees resonance in today's struggle for same-sex love in 'Romeo + Juliet'

Published on October 28, 2010, 2:07am

Did you know William Shakespeare's Mercutio might be gay? ''Perhaps Mercutio is bisexual, who knows? He's a sexual provocateur, let's put it that way,'' says The Washington Ballet's Septime Webre. For his adaptation of the classic Prokofiev ballet Romeo + Juliet, Webre has this popular secondary character taunt Tybalt sexually -- even kissing ''the classic bully'' on the lips at one point. He also has his company's dancers convey Mercutio's deeper feelings of love toward his best friend Romeo. Those ...[more]

Raising the Barre

Ballet Across America II showcases the ''diversity of dance in America''

Published on June 10, 2010, 2:29am

''The dance world is relatively small, and many people know each other, so this is like a reunion,'' says Meg Booth, lead organizer for Ballet Across America II and dance programming director for The Kennedy Center. The biennial event brings nine dance companies to the Kennedy Center Opera House for a series of programs next week. ''It's a way for companies to showcase their strengths and also celebrate their regional specialties,'' says Booth. For example, this year Ballet Memphis will ...[more]

Flashdance

Shi-Queeta-Lee rallies her forces for a quick, vibrant hit

Published on January 27, 2010, 10:36pm

Piers Morgan of America's Got Talent has become an unlikely inspiration for female impersonator Shi-Queeta-Lee. ''A bunch of lip-synching old drag queens who can't dance is not what America needs right now,'' judged Morgan, after Lee's group performed on the show last summer. ''Not exactly Barack Obama is it?'' ''I'm still trying to figure out what [Morgan's Obama reference] has got to do with us being drag queens and lip-synching,'' says Lee, who performs regularly at Town and Nellie's Sports ...[more]

Mozart Moves

The Washington Ballet and In Series join forces to celebrate Mozart

Published on January 21, 2010, 5:54am

''I love choreography,'' says The Washington Ballet's Jared Nelson, adding with a laugh, ''When I can't kick my legs up anymore, I hope to do a lot more [of it].'' No worries for now. The 31-year-old guesses he's got about another decade of kicking up his legs as a professional dancer. But he dips his toeshoes into choreography every now and then, as with a new collaboration between The Washington Ballet and The In Series. The two have joined to ...[more]

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