Jessica Koslow

During a krump dance session a few weeks ago, a member of the Demolition Crew stepped into the cypher. It was the anniversary of his mom’s passing. As he started to freestyle, he immediately broke down in tears. In moments, everybody was crying.

“It was powerful,” shared Ricky Medina, a member of the Demolition Crew and one of the featured choreographers at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble’s “Summer Edition” of Dance at the Odyssey, running June 20 through July 5. His work, “Mighty Praise,” includes krump, house, hip-hop dance, breaking, popping and waacking.

“Some people have this perception that krump is angry and aggressive, and then you see somebody—this grown man—emoting in a way that expresses sorrow, and it’s beautiful,” he relayed. “That’s something that people don’t get to see about the street dance community if you’re not in it. For me, krump and spirituality go hand in hand. Krump has a deep history and culture around spirituality. To be able to show that on stage is a privilege.” . . .

Read the entire article at The Argonaut.

It is a classic rule of writing: Write what you know.

The second half of The Realm Company’s latest show, “Wires & Whispers: Identity Under Pressure,” which will be performed at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance starting on June 20, takes the audience inside the mind of main character Harry Louis. A preview performance will be held at the Westside Black Box Theatre on Santa Monica on June 14.

The piece, choreographed by Realm’s founder Chasen Greenwood, is, in a way, a conversation about mental illness. The dancers in the story are an extension of Harry’s mind: a depressive performer, one on a manic high and the mediator who keeps him just level enough. . . .

Read entire entire article at The Argonaut.

If you did not read my January 29 review of “Versa-Style and Friends: Celebrating the Street Dance Community,” let me introduce you to Boogie Frantick.

“Boogie Frantick’s piece, ‘Chicano Power,’ illustrated why he’s a master. The local legend entered the stage in his signature slo-mo strut and with Carla Morrison’s hypnotic ‘Azúcar Morena’ playing, he combined all his styles—including animation, ticking and waving—into a riveting one-man statement.”

I met Frantick in 2013; his career was back on track after a brief hiatus. His resume lists TV, stage and screen appearances at the Academy Awards with the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers for the Hurt Locker score; with Snoop Dogg, Talib Kweli, Hit-Boy and Egyptian Lover; and in the film Step Up 3D. He has collaborated with brands such as AT&T, Frito Lay, Microsoft, Red Bull and WSS. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

Some people go to church, temple or other religious/spiritual gatherings on Sunday. I prefer to sit in an audience packed with dance enthusiasts and meditate on street dance, which is exactly where I was on January 18, 2026 for the last of three performances of “Versa-Style and Friends: Celebrating the Street Dance Community” at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center. For me street dance is emotional, therapeutic, even cathartic. There I sat Sunday at 3:30 p.m. waiting for the lights to go up and my mind, body and soul to be moved.

The exact minute I knew I would enjoy this show was when I saw the face expression of the front-and-center dancer in Versa-Style Next Generation’s opening set. So much is communicated in street dance through facial expressions; and this artist told me with no uncertainty that it was about to be lit on this stage during this song medley, which included “Houston, We Have a Problem.” It was as if they were trying to make the audience flinch from their position on the stage; a combination of bravado and pure bliss. The entire troupe’s moves toggled between sharp and smooth, in sync and solo. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

The movements on stage for the December 14, 2025, performance of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham were smooth, sharp and exciting, but perhaps one of the most exciting moves was artistic director Kyle Abraham’s decision to sit in the audience, right near me! It is not every day an acclaimed choreographer chooses to mix and mingle with the audience. Perhaps the Carpenter Performing Arts Center holds a special place in his heart. He and his company are definitely held in high esteem by the Carpenter Center, as expressed by its executive director Megan Kline Crockett, who expressed being brought to tears while viewing a New York performance of “Dearest Home.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

Gregory Hines did it. Savion Glover does it, and on Friday night, December 12, 2025, at Give Hope Studios in East L.A. Leo Manzari did it in the second half of the premiere of his show, “Kick in the Door”—honored the dancers who have come before and paved the way. Manzari paid tribute to Gregory Hines, Jimmy Slyde and most notably, one of his mentors, Maurice Hines, who featured him in Maurice Hines is Tappin’ Thru Life. In a night filled with live music, rap, tap, and projected video and images, Manzari confirmed his place as an artist with his feet shuffling firmly on the ground and his future aimed straight for the stars. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

For DIAVOLO’s newest venture, “ESCAPE,” there are only three rows of seats set up in L’ESPACE DIAVOLO, the company’s black box performance space near DTLA. Sitting 5 feet away from the action on stage, 90 guests are invited inside to witness 22 artists up-close: their feats, sweat, fears, strength, bruises and vulnerability.

DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion is known for its bold, high-intensity, gravity-defying performances that have been presented in more than 250 cities and 14 countries and witnessed by over 100 million people. It has appeared on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and in the opening of the 66th Annual Grammy Awards with Dua Lipa. Its latest, however, offers a little something different.

“I wanted to do something in a small environment like our studio, because I wanted to give the audience an experience to feel up-close and personal to the action and the dancers,” said Jacques Heim, DIAVOLO founder and creative director. “You see everything, and that is so powerful and impactful.” . . .

Read the entire article at LA Downtown News.

This night was more than a performance; it was a celebration of dance in L.A.—more specifically, how USC has nurtured and supported dance in L.A. through Visions and Voices, its arts and humanities initiative, and USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. For 20 years, Visions and Voices has presented dance organizations at no cost to USC students and most times, free to the general public. Ten years ago, Kaufman School of Dance admitted its first 33 students, affectionately called the O.G. 33, before officially opening the new Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center in 2016. In the introductory remarks, Kaufman received a big shout out, noting that the arts philanthropist passed away this summer.

To celebrate this 20^th and 10^th anniversary, respectively, Visions and Voices threw a performance-powered dance party in Bovard Auditorium on Thursday night, September 18 featuring Versa-Style Street Dance Company, JA Collective and CONTRA-TIEMPO Dance Theater. As the audience filled into the packed house, Ninabutterfly, a current senior at the School of Dance, DJ’ed, and postcards of past Visions and Voices performances, from Alonzo King LINES Ballet to Savion Glover, were projected onto a huge screen on the stage. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

Multidisciplinary artist d. Sabela grimes counts Octavia E. Butler as one writer who has had a profound impact on his life’s work. There are others, such as Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Alice Walker and Audre Lorde; however, on this particular day we met to discuss Butler and her influence on his Parable of Portals, which is showing on September 6, 2025 at 7:30 pm at Sierra Madre Playhouse. Tickets are on sale now.

Parable of Portals is a constellation of works that draws from Butler’s personal and professional manuscripts. Each module is autonomous, yet the whole is threaded through and opens up the possibilities for accumulation, reconfiguration (including subtraction) and relation. Each project carries the DNA of the others.

It all began as a short experimental film collaboration between grimes and Meena Murugesan, called “AdiSea DAWNing.” Shot on Catalina, the 5-minute film starred Adisah Grimes, his son, as the sole actor and mover and referenced his son’s name and Butler’s novel, Dawn. It screened at BlackStar Film Festival in Philadelphia in 2018 and at MOCA in Los Angeles in 2019. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.

The audience packed into the Kirk Douglas Theatre on Thursday night, August 21, was made up of young and old fans and composers, but mostly young. Violinist and singer Emer Kinsella of Emersion Music brought together a lineup of composers, musicians, singers and dancers that she has worked with throughout her career for a 75-minute journey of transformation, MOSAIC: in the program’s words, “a hero’s story moving from shadow to light, from searching to becoming.”

The program was split into six levels, each one consisting of two parts that paired the music of Emer’s new album, Concurrence, with the work of other Emmy and Grammy-affiliated film and TV composers. The theme for each was belonging and the many ways we search for it. . . .

Read the entire article at LA Dance Chronicle.