Best Dance Company

TERMINUS MODERN BALLET THEATRE doesn’t make its debut until October, but we can’t help but be hyped about the possibilities this company presents. Made up of a veritable supergroup of five principal dancers — Heath Gill, Tara Lee, John Welker, Rachel Van Buskirk and Christian Clark — who formerly performed with Atlanta Ballet, this scrappy new venture promises (as its name suggests) to meld modern and ballet influences and create works that channel the unique spirit of our city. And the fact that they’ll be taking the stage in a newly constructed space within the Westside Cultural Arts Center (a spot that’s not exactly associated with dance) makes their impending unveiling even more unconventional … and exciting. 760 10th St. N.W. www.terminus-serenbe.com.

(From left - Rachel Van Buskirk, Heath Gill, Christian Clark, John Welker and Tara Lee)

photo by: Joeff Davis

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The Atlanta Ballet branched out this season by working with some of the most impressive names in choreography, performing challenging pieces by the likes of Jorma Elo, Wayne McGregor, and Twyla Tharp. It was equally impressive to watch the ballet spread its roots locally, developing world premieres by Atlanta-based artists such as Juel D. Lane, company member Tara Lee, and principal dancer John Welker, whose intimate new company-within-a-company WabiSabi brought site-specific chamber performances to the mountains of North Georgia, the gazebo of Woodruff Park, and the fountains of the Botanical Garden. less...

It must be something in the red clay. From the Bankhead Bounce to the Walk It Out, Atlanta has a storied history when it comes to creating dances from scratch with catchy, organic raps to match. The latest in the lineage, Beef It Up, hails from a Scottdale crew called Charlie Boy Gang. "Watch me beef it up/watch me funk it out," Pimpin Duke and Mechi Man chant over percolating keys and a raw, unrefined bass line. But it's the YouTube-ready dance that's garnered the low-budget video more than a million views. Need some Beef tips? Picture Fred Sanford on the verge of a heart attack, throw in some old-school swagger, a little improvisation (the shovel, the lawnmower, the Rodney King), and a stone-cold zombie-like facial expression. Stir and serve hot. youtube.com/thecharlieboygang. less...

The emergence of dancemaker Lauri Stallings' GLOATL over the past year has been the artistic equivalent of a fire alarm going off in the middle of the night. Stallings and her troupe are interlopers; invaders of public space and consciousness. Their method of attack is rooted in Gaga, a performance technique pioneered by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. Gaga's so-called "movement language" has a balletic herky-jerkiness that bursts with athleticism and emotion. With gloATL, Stallings has eschewed the traditional stage format for venues such as Lenox Mall, the streets of Castleberry Hill, and the Woodruff Arts Center campus for her 360-degree audience/performer experiences. gloATL's 2009-10 season concluded with the epic multimedia performance Roem, setting the stage (so to speak) for the company's largest public work to date, scheduled for this fall. www.gloatl.com less...

Dancers are plenty familiar with people not eating, but this time they danced to fill others’ tummies. Pamela Dionne’s CityDance Ensemble brought together nine Atlanta companies for MOVING FORWARD, a dance festival to benefit Second Harvest’s efforts to feed the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. It was a great cause and a great show, too.
524 Plasters Ave. 404-877-0005. <a href="http://"www.studiodionne.com">www.studiodionne.com.

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Artistic director Elizabeth Dishman’s newfound mission is to create dances that even you double-left-footed movement newbies can at least partially appreciate (you seem to be laughing and clapping at the right places, anyhow), and the dances she creates for the CORIOLIS DANCE PROJECT continue to be the best brain-buzz you can get outside a Mensa meeting. We loved this year’s playful Falling, a study of balance and its absence that included the debut of Israeli import Hila Kerekesh, a sublimely subtle new dancer on the Atlanta scene. Dishman is moving to NYC, so the Oct. 1 performance of a reworked Falling (at Emory University’s Performing Arts Studio) will be the company’s Atlanta swan song.
404-931-0212. www.coriolisdance.org.

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