LOS ANGELES (AP) — Once a week on Southern California's most famous beach, just before the sun dips into the Pacific Ocean, dozens of people gather and silently dance like no one is watching. Those swaying on the sand wearing wireless headsets with decorative LED lights streaming music from a nearby DJ are practitioners of ecstatic dance. Moving their bodies and losing themselves in the music, participants describe an almost spiritual experience. The gatherings held on Venice Beach and organized by Ecstatic Dance LA are normally held indoors and

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Orpheus recounts the story of Myrrha, who is cursed by Aphrodite to fall in love with her father. After becoming pregnant she is forced to flee to Arabia, where the gods take pity on her and transform her into a myrrh tree. This is where Junk Ensemble’s The Misunderstanding of Myrrha – staged as part of Dublin Dance Festival Winter Edition – begins, the figure standing on a pedestal with a dramatic head-dress of branches. It is also the point when Ovid’s moralising male authorship is finally

Shannon Dyer brought home the trophy in the ‘under eight’ category after impressing the adjudicators with her talent at the competition held in London last month. This was Shannon’s first win at a major competition since lockdown and saw her competing against dancers from across the globe. Proud mum Lisa said: “For a year she was doing Zoom classes and it was just keeping her fitness up and she had no face to face classes. "She started competing again in July. "She’s had a few local competitions since then and recently there was

Cheickne Sissoko 5Tamans, a cultural troupe of Mali specializing in Mali’s centuries-old traditional music and dance, participated in the 2nd National Tribal Dance Festival 2021. This festival was held at Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh, from October 28-30, 2021. “It was a unique opportunity not only for the Malian troupe, which was on its first visit to India, to showcase the richness of their Malian culture in India but also for the Indian audience to get glimpses of Mali in India and appreciate their diverse and attractive cultural traditions,”

When people think about dance, they often think about ballet, jazz and ballroom. San Anselmo dancer Barbara Framm wants to add Indian classical dance to the list. A longtime performer, Framm shares her passion with others at her dance school Saraswati Kala Nilaya School of Indian Dance (Saraswati is the goddess of the arts), a hidden gem in the Knights of Columbus building in San Anselmo. Her school started more than 30 years ago when she was asked by a parent to teach a class. What began as

Performers of Chinese and Indian classical dances appeared at The Bridge Chinese-Indian online concert on Friday, depicting pleasure, anger, sorrow and joy through various forms of artistic expression. Chinese classical dancer Jiang Wei performed the dance Xuanzang to a mysterious oriental melody during the concert. Xuanzang ranks among the most illustrious Buddhist figures in Chinese history, famous for his 16-year pilgrimage to India and career as a translator of Buddhist scriptures. Thus, Jiang used many squatting, kneeling and sitting gestures to express the monk's arduous journey to India. "No matter

Millions of people viewed Virginia Commonwealth University student Morgan Bullock's TikTok videos last year choreographing Irish dance moves to hip-hop hits like Megan Thee Stallion’s song “Savage,” featuring Beyonce. Those posts garnered recognition from Beyonce’s mom and admiration from lovers of Irish dance and Ireland’s head of government. But they also brought out critics coming to grips with the fact that Bullock is a Black American who has embraced Irish dance. Now the 22-year-old School of Education student and longtime Irish dance competitor is a member of the touring cast of Riverdance,

Theatre Nisha’s online play, Margazhi, portrays chapters from a dancer’s journey through learning, recognition, stage performances, compliments and criticism, struggles and compromise. Though the protagonist is a Bharatanatyam artiste, Margazhi could be the story of any classical dancer. Vaidehi faces the usual dilemma. She realises that skill and hard work alone will not get her performance opportunities at major festivals in India and abroad. Should she then do the proverbial round of handshakes to get what she deserves or risk becoming one of the numerous capable also-rans relegated to being unknown