Seán Curran Company at the Joyce: Beautiful dancing but few choreographic surprises

For almost two decades, Opera Lafayette has been known to DC opera fans as a period-based ensemble reviving long-forgotten gems of French Baroque and Rococo chamber opera repertoire. On Thursday night, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater hosted Opera Lafayette’s most recent creation: its production of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s pastorale/tragédie en musique Actéon.

Acclaimed violinist and 2024 MacArthur Fellow Johnny Gandelsman invited four choreographers to join him on a marathon through Bach's six cello suites. His musicianship was the highlight of the evening. 

In their penultimate stop on a US tour, Ailey's second company produced exceptional performances in an Ailey classic and four handsome new works. 

A hypnotic evening with two percussionists and six dancers in Noé Soulier’s The Waves, inspired by the Virginia Woolf novel.

An evening of Ronald K. Brown's choreography for his own company, Evidence, brought infectious joy and had the audience dancing in the aisles.