Dance Excerpts and Insights From Across the Season

This clip features an improvised solo danced by Josette Wiggan from The Nutcracker Suite, which is co-created and co-choreographed by Wiggan, Hannah Heller, and Michelle Dorrance of Dorrance Dance, a company known for redefining tap dance for modern audiences.

From Josette Wiggan, choreographer and dancer: “[This] rendition of the Sugar Plum Fairy—or, as Duke Ellington renamed it, the Sugar Rum Cherry—is sultry but inviting, rhythmical but always cool and collected. The movement is rooted in the intersection where vernacular jazz meets tap dance. And it is inside of this intersection that the choreography and movement of the entire Nutcracker Suite lives and breathes. From the opening scene where we meet Claire and her family, down to the final number in the show where Claire returns home from her journey, the style of this show is rooted in this blend of jazz and tap dance. We wanted to create a whimsical world where jazz was king and could be felt in every aspect of the show. The set design, the costumes, as well as the choreography itself, all pay homage to the movers and shakers/creators of the early to mid 1900s. It was these players who set the bar for what jazz is, and we are merely drawing from and reflecting upon the world that they so brilliantly created.”

Dorrance Dance performs their tap rendition of The Nutcracker Suite in its Bay Area premiere at Cal Performances December 14–15, 2024, just in time for the winter holidays.

This clip features an excerpt from Revelations, company founder Alvin Ailey’s most iconic work and one of the most recognizable modern dance pieces today. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, who has an annual residency at Cal Performances, is known for fusing a number of styles in works that shed light on the Black American experience.

From the company: “In this section of Revelations—‘Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel’—the dancers extend their limbs to extremity, they move through wide-legged stances as their spines twist and curve into inverted T positions, they hinge at the pelvis as their knees descend to the floor—all signatures of the Horton technique that company founder and choreographer Mr. Ailey learned from his mentor, Lester Horton. Other modern techniques that influenced Mr. Ailey include those of Martha Graham, seen in the strong contractions undulating the torso. In Mr. Ailey’s work, however, these torso articulations are given a rhythmic significance—pulsing to the rhythm of the spirituals—revealing that such pelvic and torso contractions, often credited as Martha Graham’s invention, have deeper roots in African dances. This forging of modern techniques with dances rooted in African traditions is what established Mr. Ailey as a singular voice in 20th century dance. Finally, the clip demonstrates Mr. Ailey’s use of universally understood iconography—the dancers’ hands clasped together, arms extended, heads thrown back, necks exposed—communicating an agonized pleading and a deep-rooted strength.”

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to Cal Performances for their annual residency April 8–13, 2025. Though program details will be announced later in the season, we are sure to see multiple performances of Revelations across the various programs.

This clip, which highlights elements of Gumboot dance from South Africa, shows an excerpt of Step Afrika! dancers in “Wade” from The Migration: Reflection on Jacob Lawrence. Based in Washington DC, Step Afrika! pulls from step dancing popular with Black fraternities and sororities in the US, as well as African dances.

From the company: “’Wade’ is Step Afrika!’s tribute to the Black church. It is a percussive merger of stepping, tap, and the South African Gumboot dance with the African American spiritual. Step Afrika! is unique in its blend of percussive dance styles practiced by historically African American fraternities and sororities with traditional African dances, and ‘Wade’ is a perfect example of the company’s ability to merge various art forms into a cohesive, compelling artistic experience.”

Step Afrika! will perform The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence on November 2–3, 2024, kicking off Cal Performances’ 2024–25 dance season.

This clip showcases Grupo Corpo dancing in Rodrigo Pederneiras’ Gira. Grupo Corpo, which makes its Cal Performances debut on the 24–25 season, is a Brazilian troupe with a distinctive style rooted in ballet, as well as folk and popular dance in their country.

From Rodrigo Pederneiras, choreographer: “Gira was inspired by the movements used in Umbanda during the incorporation of entities [religious ritual]. These movements are blended with classical ballet techniques. Umbanda is an essentially Brazilian religion, with elements from African Candomblé, Catholicism, Kardecism, and rituals of native Brazilian peoples. It is important to emphasize that Gira is not a literal representation of what happens in the ceremony, but rather an artistic interpretation of the rituals and movements.”

Grupo Corpo will perform the Bay Area premiere of Gira, as well as a piece entitled 21, at Cal Performances, April 25–26, 2025.

This clip from Pepperland, choreographed by company founder Mark Morris as a tribute to the Beatles, is entitled “Wilbur Scoville,” named for the man who invented the scale that measures heat levels in hot sauce. Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) has been an annual visitor to Cal Performances and is one of the preeminent modern dance companies of our time.

From Sam Black, company director and former MMDG dancer: “‘Wilbur Scoville’—or ‘The Blues,’ as we call it—is my favorite section of Pepperland, both to dance and to watch. Everyone, band and dancers alike, gets to improvise within a set rhythmic structure, so every performance is different. Mark provides a video of the blues dancer Al Minns as inspiration, but otherwise it’s completely open. As Ethan Iverson [composer] writes in his liner notes for Pepperland, ‘The first thing we hear on the LP is a guitar blues lick, here transformed into a real blues for the horns to blow on. Wilbur Scoville invented the scale to measure heat in hot sauce: The original Sergeant Pepper?’”

Mark Morris Dance Group makes its annual visit to Cal Performances May 9–11, 2025.

In this special clip, Pilobolus company directors talk through the inspiration and meaning behind “Noctuary,” part of the company’s re:CREATION program. Pilobolus is a highly imaginative dance theater company known for the physicality of its dancers.

From Renée Jaworski and Matt Kent, artistic directors: “In our piece, ‘Noctuary,’ which means ‘a journal of the passings of the night,’ we use the Pilobolus dancers’ strength and agility to create a world in which they float, invert, and traverse time. Our Pilobolus dancers can move with grace and apparent effortlessness through their incredible and rigorous study of technique and physical strength, stamina, and flexibility. Pilobolus dancers use strength and agility to create the illusion of flight, of falling, and of a buoyant atmosphere, much like a dreamscape… The movement evokes flight and the impossible task of shifting time, but it also has moments of humor and the dancers playfully engage with each other.”

Pilobolus visits Cal Performances with its re:CREATION program November 30 – December 1, 2024.