Arts & Books Stories No one is dancing when I arrive at Jones. I’m here to meet Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers Olga Krochik and Lucas Threefoot and their friends, ostensibly for a night on the town. But it’s early    More

Movie Reviews & Stories According to one expert in First Position, the keys to making it in the cutthroat world of ballet are “body, training, passion, personality.” Freshman director Bess Kargman manages to find s   More

Arts & Books An exploding egg, electronic birdsong and dancing in the lobby: maybe not what you’d expect to find at the ballet, although you will encounter all three at Oregon Ballet Theatre’s The Stravinsky Project.The three-part program, which runs through this weekend, is united by the Russian composer’s music, in live, recorded and remixed forms. It opens with Yuri Possokhov’s version of Firebird, a ...   More

Arts & Books Like Stravinsky and Balanchine or Cunningham and Cage, Tchaikovsky and Petipa created great dance by collaborating closely on steps and score. Their partnership produced some of the classical ballet world's greatest hits, including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Oregon Ballet Theatre already had the first two in its repertoire; on Saturday, the company opened its 21st season ...   More

News Chairs are more than set dressing to choreographer Nicolo Fonte. They're stilts, barriers and fainting couches. Their legs are extra limbs for busy dancers and their seats new territory to be conquered. Those chairs, three simple black wooden fold-ups, figure largely in the dance-maker's Left Unsaid, a truly wonderful 2003 work for six dancers that Oregon Ballet Theatre presented for the first ...   More

News Don't have any plans tonight? You ought to get over to Mississippi Studios and see Uprising, a short performance that a handful of talented Oregon Ballet Theatre dancers have created with achingly wonderful local folk band Horse Feathers. It is well worth it's $15 ticket price and tonight is the last of its three shows. Uprising is a new program that brings ballet to unconventional venues and ...   More

News There are two solid additions and one sorry subtraction in Oregon Ballet Theatre's spring program, Duets. First the good news: OBT has beefed up its rep with two musically and choreographically engaging contemporary pieces. Known By Heart Duet (2001) is the first Twyla Tharp work to which the company can lay claim. It's set to selections from Donald Knaack's Junk Music, which is built from “found” ...   More

News Making its Portland debut Thursday night as the opening to the 13th season of the White Bird Dance Series, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal held up its reputation as a “feel good company.” Under the direction of Louis Robitaille, the Canadian company “explores the creative side of contemporary trends, yet is still firmly committed to classical aesthetics.” Thursday's ...   More