After listening to the first few chords of a First Aid Kit song, it’s clear the Soderberg sisters were meant to make music. Klara and Johanna, 22- and 19-year-old Stockholm natives, have captivated audiences across the globe with their hauntingly beautiful folk-inspired melodies and atmospheric songs.
Butoh is not a dance that strives to please. It dives instead into deeper emotional waters, exploring feelings of anxiety, pain, rage and loss. The beauty of Butoh is not that it’s necessarily lovely to watch, but that it resonates with complex human emotions — emotions that are not always shared openly. Born in a […]
Imagine a dystopian world ruled by violent, power-hungry birds with 12-foot wingspans. These predators stalk, manipulate, seduce and deceive humans, introducing them to weapons, teaching them to fly, tempting them with power. In Birds of War (Aves de Guerra), the latest production by Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre and White Dog Dance Project (the company’s international […]
Their dance styles, personalities and body types are extremely different, but in the studio and on stage, something simply clicks. “She’s a little powerhouse of energy,” says Lindsey Kelley, describing Mindy Upin, a dancer, choreographer and close friend. “I’m more long-limbed and tower over her, but the relationship we have as performers, the juxtaposition between […]
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Students from Isaac Dickson Elementary School marched through downtown Asheville at noon on Friday, April 29, protesting racism. The march was part of The YWCA’s annual, nationwide Stand Against Racism. Photos by Jonathan Welch
Hand Me Down, Bestowing Our True Inheritance Through Life Lessons and Legacy, a production by the Community Choreography Project, is a collage of personal stories woven around themes of “home” and “legacy.” As Barrie Barton, choreographer of the production, puts it: Hand Me Down is a showcase of movement theater that strives to “take artistic […]
Update: Clare Hanrahan ties herself to one of the pear trees the city is removing in a downtown-wide project..
EARLIER: The city of Asheville is removing some trees in the Central Business District, including these Bradford pears in front of the Haywood Park Hotel. Arborist Mark Foster has noted, ““People planted Bradford pears because they are attractive when they bloom and they are urban tolerant.” Foster says. “It wasn’t until they began falling apart 15 or 20 years later that people realized it wasn’t such a good idea.” …
This is not to say that we’re experts on love, or even dating. We can’t tell you if you’ve got a perfect match on your hands, or a Fatal Attraction in the making. But if you do have a special someone in your sights and that someone has agreed to spend Valentine’s Day (or some […]
S/He Loves Me, S/He Loves Me Not, a modern-dance-meets-musical showcase, explores the giddy, passionate, turbulent and tumultuous — along with the sweet and triumphant — emotions inspired by love. Members of Moving Women, Asheville’s female-fronted performance ensemble and a project of Arts2People, partnered with area musicians and visual artists to present a funny, contemplative and […]
Zany, out-of-the-ordinary installation and performance art at last weekend’s Asheville FringeArts Festival.
It’s fitting that Pilobolus Dance Theatre — an acclaimed contemporary dance company that takes its name from a fungus — draws inspiration from the natural world, exploring both biological themes and the physics of the human from. At times it is absolutely awe inspiring to watch the company in motion: Dancers fold themselves over and […]
Before writing this story, I spent an afternoon working at the Pisgah View Community Peace Garden combing through rows of garlic and tugging at strongly rooted invaders with caretaker Robert White and a small group of volunteers. I was touched by the scene: Children played games in the grass by the shed; a little girl […]
In this special edition of our Local Matters podcast, Xpress staffers Margaret Williams, Rebecca Sulock, Jaye Bartell, Susan Andrew, Jake Frankel, Alli Marshall, Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt and Mackensy Lunsford share insights into their favorite stories of the last year.
Magic and theatricality are key words of inspiration for the dancers involved in Asheville Ballet’s annual production of The Nutcracker. “The story is really important to us because it’s aimed at young people and families,” says Ann Dunn, the director of the dance company, now in its 51st performance season. The curtain rises on a […]
Sugar plum fairies are ousted. In their place? Giant cats, a sausage-worshipping King, a princess with a shriveled face and a Mouse King with a thirst for vengeance. That’s all in Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre’s upcoming performance, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. This season, Susan and Giles Collard, artistic director and co-director of the […]
Breakdancers of all ages tore it up at the Southeast B-boy Championships, held on Saturday, Nov. 6 at the YMI Culture Center in downtown Asheville. See videos and photos of the competition here!
Breakdancer Michael “Frantic” Pelletier of Columbia, S.C., and Joseph Adams, of Asheville’s own Hunab Kru (a b-boy/b-girl collective), have a vision to establish a high-energy, all-inclusive break-dancing scene in Asheville. That vision takes flight at the upcoming Southeast B-Boy Championships, slated for Saturday, Nov. 6 at the YMI Cultural Center in downtown Asheville. Pelletier, who […]
The sixth annual Black & White Gala is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the YWCA of Asheville. “First and foremost, the Gala is a dance party,” says Ami Worthen, the YWCA’s marketing director. “People are there to have fun and to dance with all kinds of people who they might not normally be […]
Image by Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt
Image by Aiyanna Sezak-Blatt
