C Derrick Jones

In June, brides usually take center stage. This week, one will literally do so, while shunning the traditional, gift-registry-at-Macy's, white-veil, walking-down-the-aisle route. In fact, New York-born Nehara Kalev won't even be wearing a dress -- or shoes for that matter -- when she's joined in connubial bliss to C. Derrick Jones on Saturday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. What she and her groom will wear are harnesses.

In June, brides usually take center stage. This week, one will literally do so, while shunning the traditional, gift-registry-at-Macy's, white-veil, walking-down-the-aisle route. In fact, New York-born Nehara Kalev won't even be wearing a dress -- or shoes for that matter -- when she's joined in connubial bliss to C. Derrick Jones on Saturday at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre. What she and her groom will wear are harnesses.

It shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the stylish, architecturally driven local group Diavolo Dance Theater to learn that its latest creation, "DreamCatcher," stars a large, silver Ferris-wheel-looking thing that tilts and eventually whirls like a high-art carnival ride. Over the years, in collaboration with his athletic dancers, artistic director Jacques Heim has created a series of dreamlike works that depend on giant set pieces.

It's about time. The Rachel Rosenthal Company's "Timepiece," which opened Cal State L.A.'s "Fall Ahead" festival over the weekend at the State Playhouse, was the best work I've seen from the veteran performance artist. The piece explored both cosmic and quotidian time in sharp, compelling imagery--visual and spoken--accompanied by a percussive score by Amy Knoles. Rosenthal's new company is remarkable. Her last major piece seen in L.A., "Zone," appeared bloated by its cast of 55.

It was a night of love, hate and the power of movement. Some dreams were crushed, others were realized; and it all took place under the stars -- and on the towers, literally -- of the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. In an oddball but successful pairing, a concert Friday titled "Sans Detour" featured the emerging talents of two husband-and-wife-teams: Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project and Catch Me Bird. The former, directed by Esther Baker-Tarpaga and Olivier Tarpaga, drew on Tarpaga's roots in the West African country of Burkina Fasa.

In the beginning was ... well, what, exactly? A person of faith would say the universe began with God, the creator. A person of science might speak of primeval atoms and an immense cosmic explosion. "Creation," a new presentation at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, dovetails both views, acknowledging scientific explanation as part of the larger dream, or plan, of a creator -- referred to, as all-embracingly as possible, as "the presence."

Thirty or so years ago, many critics, audiences and dance professionals found radical and even threatening the notion that anything could be dance -- that movement drawn from such nontraditional sources as sports and shaped by a choreographic vision could stand as an equal beside long-established techniques of dance expression.

In their aerial duet "Guiding Rings," which they'll perform Saturday night at the annual Celebrate Dance showcase at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, husband-wife team Nehara Kalev and C. Derrick Jones perch 15 feet above the stage in interlocking aluminum spheres while executing intricate choreography. "If there's one quick shift, then the whole structure gets rocking back and forth . . . and we could fall out quite easily," Jones says. This vulnerability, however, is an integral part of the show.

A concert under the stars stirs up images of picnic dinners and sparkling wines for audiences. But for dancers, outdoor venues are a unique canvas, offering site-specific possibilities and their own set of challenges. Now through October, Los Angeles' two major outdoor theaters — the Ford Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl — will be showcasing 20 different dance companies, each customizing the space to match artistic vision and practicality. The 1,245-seat Ford, with its bi-level performance area, terraced steps and lush trees and vegetation, has proved to be a perfect, well, stomping ground for Kultura Philippine Folk Arts.