All the Right Moves For someone who grew up studying classical ballet, modern dance seems foreign to me. Where are the outward foot positions? The high jumps? Of course, ballet and modern share some of the same principles, and this month you can see moves that reflect both traditions. In Austin on May 7-9, May 14-16, and May 21-23 the Deborah Hay Dance Company presents Nine Nights of Music in May, a series of solos performed by local dancer Deborah Hay and three fellow artists. Hay recently completed two commissions for Mikhail Baryshnikov and his White Oak Dance Project. From May 23 through June 2 the Houston Ballet presents the premiere of a one-act ballet by Australian choreographer Natalie Weir—who has been described as a modern-dance choreographer at ease melding classical with contemporary—alongside revivals of Lila York’s Rules of the Game and George Balanchine’s neoclassical ballet Serenade. The Dallas Black Dance Theatre, the city’s oldest continuously operating professional dance company, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary May 31 and June 1 with a gala spotlighting guest performers and the crème de la crème from the modern ensemble’s past choreography. (See Austin: Music/Dance; Dallas: Music/Dance; and Houston: Music/Dance.)
