Jonelle Seitz's Top 10 Brave Dance Artists of 2016

The year revealed how much courage and inspiration can be found in Austin's masters of movement


Acia Gray (Photo courtesy of Tapestry Dance Company)

1) ACIA GRAY Tap has been listening to us for almost two centuries. Now we need to listen back.

2) JENNIFER HART Ballet's not dead, and neither is romance.

3) JENNIFER SHERBURN A reminder to keep moving: Her series of 11 performances in as many months continues into the new year.

4) JULIE NATHANIELSZ Look to her for worldview – she'll be returning from Fulbright study in Indonesia.

5) KATHY DUNN HAMRICK When discourse is broken, meaningful abstract work is where it's at.

6) LISA DEL ROSARIO So much complexity in one dancer – kind of like everything, but nothing like her.

7) MAGDALENA JARKOWIEC Fresh, zany performances and hand-stitched perspectives.

8) SALLY JACQUES For hope in social justice, look up to her superterrestrial dances.

9) SHARON MARROQUÍN For catharsis: a spring work about death and rebirth, through her Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center residency.

10) STEPHEN MILLS For respite in fairy tales: Ballet Austin will reprise his The Magic Flute and Belle Redux: A Tale of Beauty and the Beast this spring.

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KEYWORDS FOR THIS STORY

Top 10s, Austin dance, Acia Gray, Jennifer Hart, Jennifer Sherburn, Julie Nathanielsz, Lisa Del Rosario, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Magdalena Jarkowiec, Sally Jacques, Sharon Marroquín, Stephen Mills, Ballet Austin

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