notable press

Myelination

“Rhythm keeps accumulating and multiplying in ‘Myelination’… it’s an exhilarating ensemble piece, including solos and duets, that switches gears from section to section. Most lovable is its inclusiveness: dancers of different races, of widely unalike temperaments and couture, coexist calmly here, often in exactly the same intricate meter but sometimes in overlapping sequences and facing separate directions. The live music — with vocals, piano, guitar, percussion and other instruments — is in a range of appealingly melodic jazz styles; its harmony with the dancing is never simple. ”
          – Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

“[An] effervescent, twitchy piece… [Myelination] showcases a bit of everything: from graceful, gliding swoops to one-armed balances that pull hip-hop back to tap… Throughout, Ms. Dorrance, a brilliant conductor, pushes the boundaries of tap while exposing its true nature: that it is music. She juxtaposes quick duets and then, in fast gusts, pulls all of her instruments — the dancers — together in rows, bringing the stage to life with unison footwork. It’s a rush, and not a cheap one; Ms. Dorrance has choreographed a glittering closer that needs to have a second life after the festival. Please, someone, make that happen.”
          – Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
 

ETM: Double Down

"A fresh and innovative show... When “ETM: Double Down” is rocking, Dorrance Dance is one big band."
          - Brian Siebert, The New York Times

"This is a show that will surely do for today’s tap what Bring in Da’ Noise and Tap Dogs did for previous generations."
          - Judith Makrell, The Guardian

“ETM: Double Down,” a collaboration between Ms. Dorrance and her longtime friend and company member Nicholas Van Young, incorporates his electronic tap boards, which he compares to electronic drum triggers; here, they work for the feet. “The entire stage is an instrument” is how Mr. Young described the effect. (“ETM” stands for “electronic tap music,” a nod toward electronic dance music.) “There are a million different elements, and then there are larger themes inside of it, ” Ms. Dorrance said of the work, which explores acoustic and digitally produced sounds. “But at the same time, our taps will always be present.”
          - Gia Kourlas, The New York Times
 

The Blues Project

“The Blues Project ... was entirely glorious. The geometries of stage space, again and again, became a delight, with left and right, front and back, wittily opposed… Better yet was the collaboration of dance with Ms. Reagon and other musicians. Music and dance were often plainly pursuing separate lines; the amalgam of the two therefore felt all the more wonderful.
          – Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

“Their show - which really should be called The Bliss Project - landed Wednesday at the Kennedy Center. It’s difficult to recall when the Eisenhower Theater has ever felt so funky - and so central to human existence. This intimate and rowdy merging of dance and music, with one disappearing into the other, hits you like a sonic distillation of a blistering American past and its perilous present, with a transcendent strength of spirit woven through.”
          – Sarah L. Kaufman, The Washington Post
 

SOUNDspace

“Ms. Dorrance makes full use of tone, timbre, volume, tempo and, of course, rhythm, constructing patterns that lock together thrillingly…The main emotion that “SOUNDspace” produced was excitement: excitement about sounds, and about the development of this talented choreographer, the most promising one in tap right now.”
          – Brian Seibert, The New York Times