Jane Franklin Dance - Press Page

Jane Franklin doesn’t sweat the technique: Her choreography is always lovely and expansive, but it’s never flashy enough to be distracting. Maybe that’s a function of Franklin’s wry and perverse sense of humor bubbling beneath the surface of each of her pieces. Or maybe it’s because she never seems content to let her audiences simply savor the beauty of the dancers in motion: Bodies become cogs in the machinery (as in Temporal Interference) or alternate instruments (as in this year’s impressive Sound Walk) or, really, anything but bodies. Sometimes Franklin seems more like a composer than a choreographer, frequently breaking her pieces into separate “movements,” each with its own funky rhythm. Of course, modern dance has very few rules, and Franklin breaks all of ’em. —NG, Washington City Paper

Jane Franklin wowed with her "Clear Cut" with backdrop pictures of the Civil War. It gave a powerful anti-war statement as it showed how violence moved from the battlefield into the maddening crowds.

-Bob Anthony, Review 4 U

"Exquisite found moments.....explored with innocence and integrity."
-The Washington Post

“The pictures and music worked so wonderfully with the dance and the lighting to create a stunning ever-changing tableau. I can't remember the last time I was so moved by a performance!”

-Gerda Keiswetter, audience member Concert for Community

"Limber, quick thinking, musical. And brave."
-The Washington Post

"You all made an excellent decision to bring Jane Franklin Dance. What a talented group of dancers and innovative choreography."

-Dr. Marilou Johnson, Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Letters, James Madison University, New Dance Festival"

Four members of Jane Franklin Dance are charging around an Arlington rehearsal room. They are waving sticks in the air. Plastic bags are tied to the end of each stick. With a twist of a wrist or an extension of a leg, the dancers morph their sticks-and-bags into javelins, bird-catching nets, baseball bats or canes. The plastic contributes to every move."
- Nicole Lewis, The Washington Post

"Her dances have fascinating, precise, complex structures, and she's a first rate comedienne."
-Boulder Daily Camera

"Franklin has the ability to choreograph with a twinkle or a sigh and to do both without undue sentiment."
-The Washington Post

"...thoughtfulness and a sense of humor."
-The Washington Post

"'Take a Deep Breath' ... was to be presented outdoors ... A thunderstorm forced the dancers to perform inside, but after seeing the piece I'd be willing to stand in the rain to see it again." -Boulder Daily Camera

"Franklin's 'Self Other Self' is a day-in-the-life of most of us ... a marvelous allegory for a 'woman in a man's world' scenario." -Dance View

"Is Jane Franklin the Erma Bombeck of local modern dance? Perhaps, for this Arlington-based choreographer has a keen eye for portraying everyday suburban banalities with wit, vigor and flair."
-The Washington Post

"'Home Bodies' lets expressive poignancy seep through the lovingly performed dance of childhood."
-The Washington Post

"captures the notion of old and new forms residing in harmony." -The Washington Post

"...conclusive proof that compelling art can be developed with community participation."
-Nicole DeWald Arts Coordinator City of Greenbelt MD

"I admire the way you work with (dancers) on one exercise into the next, into composition so seamlessly!"
-Karen Sly Dance Faculty Carlisle School Martinsville VA

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