Dance

Hip-hop dancer Adesola Osakalumi otherwise known as D'Incredible. He's performed on the American Music Awards and in music videos. He comes from a family of dancers. His parents formed the group Africa I Dance Theatre. Osakalumi and other pioneering hip-hop groups formed Ghettoriginal Productions. Their production "Jam on the Groove" is at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York until February 18th.

Choreographer Elizabeth Streb. Her troupe, "The Ringside Company" is currently on national tour, with "PopAction." Streb's works combine dance, athletics, daring and precision. Her dancers work on and around such props as scaffolding towers, trampolines, and walls. One reviewer described it as "dazzling speed, wit and daring." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. He founded the acclaimed Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with his partner and lover, Arnie Zane. Their partnership lasted 17 years until Zane's death in 1988 from AIDS-related complications. Jones has been a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award. His recent work, "Still/Here" is what he terms a "poem" about death. It's based on a series of "survival workshops" he conducted with people across the country who are dealing with illness and death.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews "The Balanchine Library", a series of videotapes which document the work of choreographer George Ballanchine with the New York City Ballet.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the new recording of Kurt Weill's "The Seven Deadly Sins," featuring the New York Philharmonic and soprano Angelina Reaux.

Classical Music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new recording of a major Stravinsky score, "Les Noces and Village Wedding Songs" performed by the Pokrovsky Ensemble on the Elektra label. This recording presents the pieces in the style of folk singing, rather than the usual concert style.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the trumpet player and composer's new double disc, Citi Movement, which finds Marsalis exploring longer forms.

Tharp studied ballet with George Balanchine, and modern dance with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and Paul Taylor. In 1965 she formed her own company, Twyla Tharp Dance, which she ran for more than 20 years with over 70 works created and performed. She's collaborated with Mikhail Baryshnikov and David Byrne. She has a new autobiography, "Push Comes to Shove."

Dancer and choreographer Edward Villella. Villella's new autobiography, "Prodigal Son," chronicles his rise as one of the best known male dancers and choreographers in the history of American ballet. It also looks at his often stormy working relationship with choreographer George Balanchine. (It's published by Simon and Schuster). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Duke Ellington's Carnegie Hall Concerts," a new series of CD reissues that chronicle the annual performances Ellington gave during the 40s.

Lloyd Schwartz previews the next Dance in America presentation, highlighting works by choreographer Peter Martins, which the critic says often excel in irony.

A live concert with Evan Lurie on piano, Alfredo Pedernera on bandoneon, and Jill Jaffe on violin. Lurie's music draws on the inspirations of the New Tango movement. Lurie is also a member of the the Lounge Lizards.

Kevin Whitehead doesn't like to admit liking new anthologies by Lester Lanin, whom he calls the king of blandness, and "crass and lowbrow" singer Jerry Lewis.

Farrell had a deep, complicated relationship with her choreographer, George Balanchine. She spent over twenty years with the New York City Ballet. Farrell's new memoir about her career is called is "Holding on to the Air"

The Sony Classical label has begun issuing 50 CDs of the works of composer and conductor Pierre Boulez. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews three offerings, with Boulez conducting works by Varese, Ravel, and Schonberg.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says a new recording of the ballet, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Bernard Haitink, lacks sexiness and uniqueness -- but the orchestra's precision allows the musicians to shine.

Choreographer and dancer Laura Dean. Her company's performing a two-week retrospective at the Joyce Theater in New York (through May 6).

Dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. For years, Jones collaborated and performed with his partner/lover Arnie Zane. After Zane's death from AIDS in 1988, Jones has continued to dance with the company he and Zane formed. The company is based on a philosophy that disdains the formal training of ballet and draws on athleticism, discovery, and the beauty of the movements of "everyday people."

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new album of contemporary American music by pianist Ursula Oppens. It has music both commissioned and performed by Oppens. It's "Ursula Oppens Plays American Piano Music of Our Time" on the Music & Arts label.

Choreographer Eliot Feld. He founded the Feld Ballet in 1974 as a place where classical ballet and modern dance could exist together. The company is still going strong, touring throughout America and overseas. Feld has also created ballets for many of the world's great companies, among them the American Ballet Theatre, the National Ballet of Canada, and the New York City Ballet.