The best of 2018 according to DM contributors.

From Dance Magazine, they share what their editors and writers chose as their favorite dance events of 2018.
Here are the movements, the moments and the creators that caught them:

1 – The most heartbreaking history lesson: THEM

Originally made in 1986 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, THEM was revived this year at Performance Space New York just as our collective memory of the crisis loomed dangerously close to oblivion. Created by choreographer Ishmael Houston-Jones, composer Chris Cochrane and writer Dennis Cooper, the piece is a brutal and vulnerable exploration of gay sexuality and the horrors that AIDS inflicted on the artistic community. The cast, a youthful group, primarily made up of men of color, appropriately reinterpreted improvisation-based choreography for a time when so much has changed and yet so much has not.

2 – The feminist art we all need: the glass of people’s engines

What happens to a community forced to live under a glass ceiling? Glass , a film and performance project by Kate Ladenheim and The People Movers, handled heavy and heady concepts, such as internalized misogyny and the patriarchal paradigm, in a way that was as witty and entertaining as it was intellectually stimulating. . The four artists painted the audience’s fingernails, dressed in a pantsuit and buttoned up their buttons, and showed really smooth contemporary chops.

3 – Most daring re-interpretation of a classical ballet: Giselle by Dada Masilo

Laura Gutierrez wanted to talk about her heritage in Houston Tejano. What better place to do that than a Fiesta Mart, your ideal place to shop for everything from piñatas to quinceañera dresses? For Center Aisle Blues Gutierrez spent weeks getting to know the staff and exploring his way through the store, finding its nooks and crannies. His vocabulary ranged from elegant, linear movement to elaborate ways of connecting to the aisles. She completely owned the idea of dancing in the middle of a supermarket. The piece ended with her standing in her car in the Fiesta parking lot dressed in a shiny fringed jacket, facing a city still recovering after the hurricane like a beacon of hope. – Nancy Wozny, contributor

It has style. He has speed. And he has chutzpah. We know this. But have we ever seen him dancing in shorts and high heels? At the American Tap Dance Foundation’s Rhythm in Motion showcase, Caleb Teicher blew us away with his Great Heights genre-bending solo . His legs thumped, stomped, and pounded the floor before he pounced on a stool. He then kicked and kicked up a storm in that elevated position.

6 – More creative use of accessories: Mean Girls

Who knew plastic lunch trays could stop a Broadway show? In Mean Girls Casey Nicholaw swaps pads for pans to create percussive effects similar to classic song and dance numbers. The coffee shop based “Where Do You Belong?” is an ironic song, and it’s delightfully overplayed.

7 – Most dynamic performance: Dorothée Gilbert in La Fille mal gardée

As Lise in Sir Frederick Ashton’ s La Fille mal gardée Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Dorothée Gilbert possessed a mischievousness and charm that made the audience laugh. From his perfect attitude walk (supported only by ribbons) to his sharp footwork and even sharper comic timing, Gilbert’s performance was as much a technical dream as it was an artistic dream.

8 – Mayor Boost to Ballet: San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival

With 12 world premieres by artists such as Justin Peck, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Alonzo King, San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound Festival was a 17-day heterogeneous mix of dance. But it was so much more: principal dancers revealed new aspects of their artistry, the roles portrayed transformed corps members into stars overnight, and wildly imaginative works like Arthur Pita’s Björk Ballet got everyone talking. At each intermission, the lobby of War Memorial Opera House echoed with impassioned debates about what worked, what didn’t, and what was unlike anything seen before on the SFB stage. Unbound gave the ballet and the audience a thrilling adrenaline rush.

9 – Best Breakthrough: Lauren Lovette in Namouna by Alexei Ratmansky

Occasionally, a performance seems to reveal the essence of a dancer. Lauren Lovette has always been a vivid performer. But during her debut in Alexei Ratmansky’s fantastic comic Namouna, a Grand Divertissement the principal of the New York City Ballet imbued her with a dancing and lack of inhibition that seemed new. “I tailored the role for him, raised the passions and performed the battles so he felt he could be great on stage,” Ratmansky says of their collaboration. That push seems to have unleashed something in her. Channeling his already distinctive personality through the eccentricities of the role, he was more present than ever.

10 – Most Promising Debut Season: Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre

In four world premiere works, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre’s inaugural season in Atlanta offered dance that was technically pristine and highly entertaining. Facing torrential spring rains, Tara Lee The Vertical closed out the outdoor season with a playful and candid look at aging. Whether in the community or in a traditional theater, the company’s five founding members, all former Atlanta Ballet dancers, have proven they know what it takes to present a memorable show.

11 – Most inventive dance game: The beast in the jungle.

12 – Most delightfully unexpected trend: contemporary dance in music videos

Florence + The Machine – Big God

This year, Florence Welch and Akram Khan worked together on Florence + The Machine’s “Big God”; Emma Portner created movement for Maggie Rogers’ “Falling Water”; and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui choreographed Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s “APESHIT.” High-profile musical artists hiring contemporary choreographers seemed to be the trend of 2018, even for music that is not traditionally considered “dancy.” These collaborations gave contemporary dance a bigger platform and showed what it can bring to any style of music.

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