sensedance@sensedance.org

“It is apparent that Mr. Rübsam has imbued his dancers with all of the beauty and passion of his imaginative genius.”  

Sue Salko, nytheaterguide.com (Nov. 7, 2011)

“HALF-LIFE and Göttingen poignantly tackle the big questions and put Rübsam forth as the Anselm Kiefer of dance.”

S E N S E D A N C E at Joyce SoHo by Lori Ortiz, readingdance.com (June 26, 2011)

"Rübsam is a German romantic at heart and an American realist in practice. His choreography is structured and disciplined; he masters a variety of techniques to express an idealism that approaches the mystical. He was born in Germany and educated at the Juilliard School, a combination that accounts for his mastery of technique, large movement vocabulary and inventive choreography."

The Clouds, Caves And Secrets of Sensedance by Suzanne K. Walther, ATTITUDE - The Dancers' Magazine (Vol. 22 No. 4 Winter 2009)

SENSEDANCE      1425 Third Avenue, #3c      New York, NY 10028      USA       001.212.717.6869

“Classically trained at the Hamburg Ballet before capping off his training at the more experimental Juilliard School in New York, Rübsam's early work as part of the Jose Limón Company is apparent in the eye-pleasing rounded movements and the attention to facial gestures, which is however set off by an equal passion for jagged, rugged movement reminiscent of more experimental choreographers. This constitutes just another fascinating duality in one of our more intellectual downtown choreographers.” (Christopher Atamian, The Huffington Post,  January 28, 2013)

Henning Rübsam’s company, Sensedance, presented six engaging works. They were Petit Pas (2003), Göttingen (2006), obsession/calm (Premiere), Charon (2008), Half-Life 102 (2011), and Brahms Dances (Premiere). Recorded music ranged from Bloch to Barbara. This was my first experience with Sensedance, and I immediately noticed a freshness in Mr. Rübsam’s choreography, a poetic energy....
The final work on the program, Brahms Dances, brought out the entire company, including Mr. Rübsam, who danced with a seasoned, seamless flair. The score was a stream of seven select recordings of Brahms’ vocal works. The second, danced by Erin Ginn and Matt Van, was notably evocative of Jerome Robbins’ lyrical partnering and emotional transparency. When the ensemble joined the soloists, there were hints of inspiration from Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering, a tribute to Mr. Rübsam, that his aspirational models are the crème de la crème of ballet choreographers.   (Roberta Zlokower, RobertaOnTheArts.com, Oct. 27, 2012)

2013 review

Huffington Post

Henning Rübsam, artistic director & choreographer

BRAHMS DANCES        photo: Jan La Salle, 2013

WINTER 2014 in New York City

FOCUS FESTIVAL AT APAP
City Center Studio 4
Friday, January 10 at 9:45pm - 10:15pm
as part of RIVER CITY ARTISTS MANAGEMENT’s showcase

FALL 2013

Nov. 16 & 17: SALON SERIES at The Ailey Studios

Nov. 23 & 24: Performances at Peridance Capezio Center

Now in its 22nd season, choreographer Henning Rübsam’s company SENSEDANCE presented three premieres alongside earlier works in a program styled Two by Two.

Rübsam, a resident choreographer for Hartford City Ballet and on faculty at Juilliard, appeared in two of his pieces on the evening.

The program’s title references the pas de deux that made up the bulk of the program, and it was in these pieces that Rübsam was at his best. The choreographer showed his sense of humor in Save the Country and Russian Lesson (music by Laura Nyro and The Grooves, respectively). Save the Country, with its flashes of violence, playfully contradicted the breezy folk-pop throughout the piece. In his wry and cocky Russian Lesson, Rübsam’s two male dancers (Juan Rodriguez and Matt Van) strutted to a mod groove while a French voice gave a baffling crash course in Russian.                                                  EYE ON THE ARTS, NY – Geoffrey Lokke, November 26, 2013

...Spoken word features also in BORDERS, a stylized and other-worldly duet danced by Temple Kemezis and  Henning Rübsam; this displayed Mr. Rübsam's choreography at its most impressive, and Temple, with her unique look and potent dancing, seemed wonderfully at home in this dancescape.
The evening's final new work was SARAO, a jazzy pas de deux to music by Ricardo Llorca. This piece featured some of the evening's most imaginative partnering and was finely executed by Erin Ginn & Matt Van.                                                                                                                  Philip Gardner - OBERON’S GOVE, November 25, 2013

Save The Country  (from ART OF LOVE a tribute to Laura Nyro – 1997) is free and breezy with a spine tingling close as Oisin Monaghan twirls Jacqueline Stewart with her feet aloft. Aside from the delightful Save the Country, two of three premieres Russian Lesson and Sarao stood out for their intriguing ambiguity, and indirect communication. The scores for both these works are fascinating, The Grooves being oddly seductive and understated, while Ricardo Llorca’s piano solo is passionate and sophisticated. His guitar composition for Caves is also fabulous. In Russian Lesson, Juan Rodriguez moves with relaxed precision, seemingly an aloof, calculating loner willing to while away some time with another stranger.

The fact that Rübsam’s newest works have more emotional shading bodes well for the company’s evolution. Roundly applauded by a full house, Sensedance's program proves that a small ballet company with a single choreographer and small budget can thrive.                                            The Dance Enthusiast, Deirdre Towers, November 26, 2013

Choreographer, writer, scholar, the German born Henning Rübsam honors balletic traditions, crafting his dances with musicality, clarity, and nuance.

The Dance Enthusiast, Deirdre Towers,

Nov. 26, 2013