Dance

Terrance Calvert found his passion in dance. And through his patient tutelage, he was able to inspire the same passion in others, especially the kids who came within his purview. He had a knack for giving them the same self-confidence and purpose that he discovered through dance. "Once he found dance, he found his passion," said his mother, Linda Calvert. "A passion for dance and for life. " A future in entertainment seemed assured for this talented young man, who had already auditioned in New York City for road tours.

Izon, 13, has an abundance of energy and enthusiasm that he channels into sports and dancing. He loves to move and dance and has won a school dance contest. He also enjoys playing basketball and swimming. Izon likes school, where his favorite subject is science. He works to the best of his ability and learns the most when he is in a small-group structured setting and receives individual attention. Izon is a visual learner who benefits from simple directions given one step at a time. He responds very well to support.

Sparky, droll sexiness makes a comeback with the Ghanaian dance and music ensemble Odadaa. Not every dance or song this group performs at Movement Theater International is about mating rites, but the pure physical delight the dancers take in dancing, for each other as well as the audience, makes the whole experience a gateway to joy. The tone of the program, which was shared by another group called African Art in Motion, is set by Odadaa director...

Tongue Smell Color is a dance-theater piece that plunges you into the eroticism that many people approach with fear and curiosity when, even today, they think of interracial coupling. At Thursday's Philadelphia premiere, it was evident that the piece's creators, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, who is African American, and her German-born husband, Hellmut Gottschild, who is not, were right to choose such an explicit title. Through an 80-minute series of dances and dialogues that the two perform, they explore curiosity of the "other" in terms of gender, nationality and race.

NEW YORK - Akon has returned from a relatively quiet two years with "Akonic," a dance-heavy pop album currently slated for a Nov. 23 release on Konvict Muzik/Universal Motown. Songs from the Senegalese artist's fourth effort were previewed Tuesday at a listening session at MPD in New York. The seven songs played off the album mixed call-and-response hooks, heavy percussion and Auto-Tuned vocals. Originally titled "Stadium Music," "Akonic" follows up Akon's 2008 disc "Freedom," which spawned Hot 100 hits "Right Now (Na Na Na)"

Alvin Ailey, 58, the choreographer whose modern dances celebrated the black experience in America, died yesterday in New York. He had suffered from a blood disorder called dyscrasia for about a year and died from the disease, according to a spokesman for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which he founded in 1958. Mr. Ailey, who retired from performing several years ago to concentrate on choreography, was regarded not only as a prolific choreographer and guiding light of a major repertory company, but also as an international spokesman for American culture.

The boys were lined up on one side of the candlelit room talking, shifting their weight nervously and staring at the floor. The girls stood across the room, waiting patiently for an invitation to dance as the song "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by the Temptations played in the background. A typical eighth-grade dance? Hardly. In this case, the "girls" were mothers and the boys their sons. The venue: the first mother-son dance at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor. And judging from the distance kept between the two groups, the event Saturday night may have been more moral victory than actual success.

Cedric Andrieux. The French have good words for many things in life. Amuse-bouch e, for instance, means a small bite a chef offers to titillate your lingual receptors. The French director/choreographer Jérôme Bel knows very well how to translate minimal sound bites and movement into a substantial feast. In 2008 the Live Arts Festival presented Bel's Pichet Klunchun and Myself , a brilliantly deconstructed conversational duet. Since, Bel has directed dancer Cedric Andrieux in a one-man lecture/demonstration constructed over a two-year discourse about Andrieux's 20-year dance career.

Some dancers dance to a different tune. Terry Creach and Stephen Koester are wonderful dancers whom any dance company would be grateful to have in its ranks. In fact, they've both gone the established-company route. But now they're on to something new - and maverick. They've teamed up as a male duo and are interested in establishing a proper repertory for this rare kind of combo. The program they presented last night at Temple University's Conwell Dance Lab (and will repeat tonight at 8)

At age 5, Ronia had already set her sights on a career. She would either be a cheerleader for a professional sports team or a dancer. Now 9, she dreams of making a dance video that will start her on the way to becoming a star. Friendly, outspoken and charming, Ronia loves to talk, and can carry on a lengthy conversation about anything that interests her. She appreciates it when people take time to listen to her and watch her dance. Ronia gets along well with everyone and is regarded as a leader by the other youngsters in her foster home.