ThINKingDANCE

thINKingDANCE is a place where ideas thrive, where editors and writers engage one another in transfo

Help sustain thINKingDANCE into 2022 and join our Giving Circle on Grapevine! https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/OLWs44x/thINKingDANCE-Giving-Circle

thINKingDANCE is a collective of independent writers who produce media about dance in its broadest sense. Founded in 2011, we publish a digital journal focused on the Philadelphia area. Our mission is to:

- Meaningfully contribute to the creat

ive ecosystem by marking the presence of dance and movement-based arts
-Innovate and foster the practice of dance writing in traditional and experimental forms
-Work to dismantle dance criticism's status as a gatekeeper by engaging performing artists and writers who have historically been sidelined

We pursue these goals by training together through peer-critique sessions, with guest educators, and a two-tiered editing process. thINKingDANCE is a place where ideas thrive, where editors and writers engage one another in transformative dialogue, and where we imagine a more just dance media landscape.

11/04/2025

We're approaching the end of the year and it's time to party! Come join us as we celebrate this years writing, some of our big changes, and look towards another year of thINKingDANCE in Philly and beyond! More details coming soon...

Image Description: in a grey square with two sets of dark teal lines highlighting the corners there is bright orange and black font that reads: Save the Date! Join us on December 14th for an end of year party at Cardell Dance Studio, more info coming soon, thinking dance.

11/03/2025

✨ Apply Today and Spread the Word!!!
We’re thrilled to continue to spread the word about our inaugural Emerging Writers Fellowship! This new initiative supports U.S.-based undergraduates in performing arts, journalism, writing—or related fields—who have a passion for dance criticism and storytelling.

Here’s what we’re offering:
📌 Publication of the fellow’s article on our site early next year.

📌 A $500 stipend to recognize their work and support their development.

📌 One-on-one mentorship: our editorial board will dedicate three hours of professional development time to help refine the selected writer’s piece.

📌 We encourage bold, experimental, hybrid forms of writing covering any dance genre, aesthetic, or style.

🗓 Application open from October 15 to November 15. Selected fellows will be notified by December 1.

👉 Link for the application form and detailed submission guidelines - https://buff.ly/ONxz9Pv

We’re committed to amplifying fresh voices in dance criticism and creating space for new perspectives to flourish. Whether you’re a writer eager to dig into movement, theatre, culture—or the intersections of those worlds—we want to hear from you.

Image Description: A dark teal corner of covers the lower fourth of the square. In the white space above and to the side it reads Thinking Dance Emerging Writers Fellowship.

11/02/2025

✨ It's almost that time of year!
We invite you to dive into Megan Mizanty's latest piece: “A Tale of Two Cities: The Nutcracker in Pennsylvania” — a thoughtful exploration of how this beloved ballet finds different voices, spaces and communities in two distinct Pennsylvania locales. 🩰🎄

https://buff.ly/NfRrhgE to read the full article and join us in appreciating how performance, place and people come together in the dance world’s holiday mainstay. 🌟

Photo: Victoria Bastian Photography
Image Description: Various cast members of The Nutcracker at Ballet Theatre of Scranton pose and smile against a white background. They gaze at one another, wearing costumes from the show: tutus, a giant mouse costume, men in leggings and boots. The women wear diamond crowns and curls in their buns, and everyone looks delighted to be with one another. A group of happy onlookers stand behind them. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read A Tale of Two Cities: "The Nutcracker" in Pennsylvania and black letters that read by Megan Mizanty.

11/01/2025

✨ New on thINKingDANCE
Found in Translation by ankita — a profound reflection on culture, memory and movement through the eyes of choreographer Keerati Jinakunwiphat. In 17 chapters, Of Dishes and Dreams weaves objects, culture, movement and language into one kitchen-performance story at Baryshnikov Arts Center in NYC— rice bags become movement; cleaning tools fold into gesture; daydreams slip into choreography.

Jinakunwiphat defies the notion of being “lost in translation.” Instead, she lives in translation — moving between East and West, home and abroad, memory and present.

https://buff.ly/t1T7Tvy to read the full review and join us in unpacking what it means to carry your home in your body and to translate it for the stage.

Photo: Maria Baranova
Image Description: Keerati Jinakunwiphat, a brown-skinned, Thai femme, sits on the floor, wearing a loose red shirt and cream colored linen pants. Her legs gently curl toward her body in a protective ball, one hand resting on her knee. She gazes down to the left, eyes focused on a spot outside the frame of the image. Her lips part slightly in serious contemplation. On the right side of the image,woven Thai objects, plastic stools, and a broom make a balanced sculpture. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Found in Translation and black letters that read by ankita.

10/31/2025

Read our latest review by Rachel DeForrest Repinz on Kinetic Light´s "The Next TiMes".

https://buff.ly/v2eovMD

Photo: Cherylynn Tsushima
Image Description: Alice Sheppard and Tatiana Cholewa face off. Alice is balancing on super short crutches, legs bent and folded under herself, tops of her toes grazing the floor. Tati’s legs are also bent and folded under, but Tati is a bit lower than Alice, with their hands planted on the ground. They peer at each other with curiosity and intensity. Alice is a multiracial Black woman with short curly hair, Tati is a white person with very short hair; they both wear silver pants and shimmery black tops. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read The Future Is Disabled (And Wearing Silver Fringe) and black letters that read by Rachel DeForrest Repinz.

10/31/2025

Check out Zoe Farnsworth´s review of The Naked Stark´s "Bodies of Water" at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center.

https://buff.ly/tEpMxbl

Photo: Ben Bloodwell
Image Description: Six dancers in grey jumpsuits sprawl across the top of a concrete wall in a large warehouse-like space. They fall on top of each other, with arms extending out in different directions, fingers and hair blurred as if caught in motion. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Filling Empty Pools and black letters that read by Zoe Farnsworth.

10/31/2025

🎃🖤 at thINKingDANCE 🎃🖤

Step into the shadows with us as we look at Lauren Berlin's recent dive into the spine-tingling world of Philadelphia Ballet’s Evening of Horror — bold enough to pair the infamous tale of Lizzie Borden with the world-premiere of Valley of Death by Juliano Nunes.
From masked minions and fraught pas de deux to baroque silhouettes and ghostly grandeur, this is ballet for the gothic soul.

link for this and other recent articles by Lauren Berlin - https://buff.ly/Q4Ptfsu

Photo: Alexander Iziliaev
Image Description: A Dancer in a long sleeved dark green dress stands center stage. She holds an axe. On the left side and at some distance stand the dancer playing her father and the dancer playing her step-mother sits in a rocking hair. They are dressed in puritanical new enlgand attire, black, long sleeve, full length, modest. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Grim.Grotesque.Grand and black letters that read by Lauren Berlin.

10/30/2025

Our latest piece from ankita is their interview with Eiko Otake and Wen Hei, about their collaboration in making What Is War (2025) for this year´s Next Wave Festival at BAM.

https://buff.ly/lG1pNFT

Photo: Jingqui Guan
Image description: A Chinese woman, Wen Hui, stands in a grey, concrete room with three long vertical doorways. A figure dressed in black, whose back is turned to the camera, in the background. She gently touches an old, heavy, rust-encrusted horizontal mirror, dusty from time, hanging in the air. Warm light shines on her face, a worn down curiosity in her expression. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Old Lessons For New Wars and black letters that read by ankita.

10/30/2025

✨ to Lauren Berlin's review of the reflection, and dedication, found in Marina Kec’s work, “Where Echoes Remain,” which peels back the myth of ballet and reveals the raw, human heart behind the buns and barres.

From the whispered solos at the barre, the chalk-scrawled inner lives on a blackboard to the candlelit liberation of movement beyond perfection — Here’s to all the bunheads, all the quiet devotees, the dreamers in rehearsal studios — you are seen. You make ballet yours. 🩰

https://buff.ly/12yMPCg

Photo: Lauren Berlin
Image Description: Marina Kec, hair down and barefoot, slides to the floor. A chalkboard covered in hand-drawn loops stands in the background. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read This One is Dedicated to the Bunheads and black letters that read by Lauren Berlin.

10/29/2025

Read our latest review by tD writer Xander Cobb, about Asian Arts Initiative´s Anh Vo: Punish, Perform, Possess.

https://buff.ly/Y7RIBjs

Photo: Albert Yee
Image Description: Anh Vo and Kristel Baldoz stand facing each other. Baldoz holds a clothes iron pressed to Vo’s toweled chest. Vo holds the top of the black towel wrapped around their body. They look at Baldoz, their mouth slightly open and their face relaxed, though their exact facial expression is hard to read from the profile view. Baldoz looks down at the iron, the edges of her lips are turned down. She’s wearing a bra and a shimmering green-gold skirt. Both of their hair is down and a bit messy. Two megaphones at different heights are blurry in the background against a white wall and a projection of a blurred word. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Translation Again, and Again, and black letters that read by Xander Cobb.

10/29/2025

Our latest thINKpiece is now live! Check out Jennifer Passios´ article about the unexpected life of a dancer after finishing graduate school.

https://thinkingdance.net/articles/2025/10/19/not-a-dancer-if-only-for-a-little-while/

Photo: Tor Howley
Image description: On a sunkissed June afternoon, a brunette woman wearing a bandanna as a shirt spins gently through a field of lupines. The tall flowers obscure her legs. She looks off toward a distant stand of leafy green trees as her hair swishes in a wave over her right shoulder. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Not a Dancer, If Only For a Little While and black letters that read by Jennifer Passios.

10/29/2025

✨ Enough with sitting—let’s move.
Nylah Jackson’s bold invitation in her piece Can You Feel It? The audience is not merely watching—they’re invited in.

For this and other articles by Lauren Berlin - https://buff.ly/3LL2TWv

Photo: Nylah Jackson
Image Description: The full cast of Can You Feel It? basks in applause under blue stage lighting following their performance at the Asian Arts Initiative Black Box Theatre. A dark teal border on the left side with a light grey banner across the bottom frames this image. In the lower-left corner, in black typewriter font, a lowercase t and uppercase D, the logo for Thinking Dance. Filling the banner are dark teal letters that read Still Sitting? This is Your Cue and black letters that read by Lauren Berlin.

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thINKingDANCE captures dance activity in the Philadelphia area and beyond through written reviews, essays, and online commentary. Our writers contribute 150 articles per year that raise the level of dance discourse in the general public, helping cultivate artistic excellence and audience engagement.

thINKingDANCE continues to stretch our coverage in new directions. We recently added 11 new writers to our team. Please make a donation http://thinkingdance.net/donate

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