| What
the Critics Say |
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"For 37 years, her own small company, Anne-Marie Mulgrew & Dancers Company (AMM & DCO), has been part of an ecosystem of small companies carving out a creative niche in the shadow of the major institutions in the city."
"...the solo danced by Pike, 2022's Memories from Within, was a highlight. Pike had lovely extensions and a series of splits, so she had the tricks, but she also brought a touch of elegance to the performance."
"Whether carrying a partner in a lift or making gravity disappear in a jete, (Arielle) Ridley is a dancer to watch."
"Trio 2023 is the ..most interesting piece of the night."
Broad Street Review, Camille Bacon-Smith June 25, 2023
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"The 35th Home Season Concert of Anne-Marie Mulgrew & Dancers Company (AMM & DCO) began with a welcome from founder/artistic director Anne-Marie Mulgrew, who remarked upon the thrill of performing indoors for a live audience after two years outside. AMM & DCO, an experimental modern dance troupe based in Philadelphia, has a history of innovative approaches that included outdoor performances long before the pandemic. Mulgrew and the dancers brought the company's inventiveness to their exploration of today's tumultuous times. Beautiful Chaos, a new full-length work, considers the hope and potential of uncertainty."
"The dance (Beautiful Chaos) contained evocative and haunting images featuring the entire company. Ridley and Lombardi shone as a pair caught in a movement frenzy. This gave way to a space full of movement with multiple things going on at once: people dancing, someone reading a poem, and Mulgrew, shrouded in layers of clothing, seeming to represent an enduring, insightful wise woman. The piece concluded with Mulgrew alone on stage, removing the shirts and pants draped around her frame one by one. She laid them in a trail on the floor before exiting, leaving beauty and mystery in the space formerly filled by chaos."
"In finding opportunity for creation and growth in formless uncertainty, Beautiful Chaos is a thoughtful and hopeful reflection on our times and a testament to AMM&DCO's creativity and endurance." -
Broad Street Review, Melissa Strong June 27, 2022
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"Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company's performance, 'The Umbrella Dance' has happened at several locations in Philadelphia, and it brings forth language through dance, into a public space. This movement subtly touches on the mystery of the many piers along the Delaware River. The bizarre at Cherry Street Pier under a steel roof invites many vendors to showcase their products. But down the waterway harbors cruises, restaurants, and other undeveloped piers which have been abandoned over time, because my interest in this dance is a haunted time capsule."
"The Umbrella Dance cast a shadow over this active place of business. As I try to capture the elegant movement, it is a rocaille style in the fashion of Rococo. The curves and ornamental frill became an architectural movement." -
Dance Enthusiast Chuck Schultz July, 2021
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"Anne-Marie Mulgrew presented her dance company's 33rd home season concert at the Performance Garage on June 14 and 15. The playbill showcased a re-imagined One Minute Dances for Small Spaces from 2017, some film pieces, and a world premiere, From Feminine Gaze, all of which showcased her unique and poetic interpretation of feminism and relationship between our spirituality and our bodies. " -
Phindie Review Eri Yoneda
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"Interesting ideas, standout performances, and Mulgrew's signature inventive yet thoughtful use of props contributed to an enjoyable and entertaining evening of dance. From the Feminine Gaze contained multitudes, challenging notions of a single, unified female experience. " -
Broad Street Review Melissa Strong
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"Since 1986, the dancer has led the South Philly-based Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company through thought-provoking works in spaces spanning from alleyways to museums. " -
South Philly Review Grace Maorino
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"Strange Dreams was a treat, offering moments of striking beauty, laugh-out-loud humor, and thought-provoking imagery. " -
Broad Street Review June 2018
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"highlighted appealing and important aspects of contemporary dance: combining muscular athleticism with classical grace and undermining traditional gender roles. " -
Strange Dreams Broad Street Review June 2018
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"Unlike some dance performances where it is on the audiences
to reach to the world of the dance to feel and understand
what is narrated on the stage, AMM & DCO steps into our
world by citing common interests and phenomenons that may
occur in our daily lives. Dance is, in fact, one of
our most natural ways to communicate and express our
thoughts." -
Phindie Review June 2017
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"One Minute Dances were appealing and intriguing.
Anne-Marie danced two solos. Both were tender and graceful
in the movements, poetic and narrative at the same time,
which felt the shortest one minute that left the
long-lasting impressions." -
Phindie Review June 2017
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"Part art installation and part tribute, the performances of
Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company"s 30th-anniversary
(AMMDC) celebration were assortments of nostalgic delicacies
and newer movement explorations. Each still helps to define
the company"s decades-long existence." -
Thinking Dance 2016
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"quirky, visually enticing treats" -
Thinking Dance 2016
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"Highlighting the company"s longstanding commitment to
cross-discipline collaborations, founder and artistic
director Anne-Marie Mulgrew, appropriately titled the
opening installation "The Prelude" (2016). By unleashing a
slew of memorable excerpts from three past works, Mulgrew
prepared the audience for quaint props, comedic deliveries,
and lasting visual images." -
Thinking Dance 2016
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"For more than two decades, Anne-Marie Mulgrew has presented
beguiling performances all around the city, indoors and out.
With more than 60 works to her name, Mulgrew's oeuvre bears
the mark of an experimental artist who truly sees and feels
through movement. She knows how to grab your attention in
alluring fashion. Her upcoming show, Red, White and Blue,
comprises two features, including World of Dreams 2014, an
adventurous new piece created in collaboration with video
artist Carmella Vassor-Johnson that contemplates what it
means be an American." -
City Paper by Deni Kasrel May 2014
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"Conceptual, witty and prop-laden..." -
The Inquirer by Merilyn Jackson May 19, 2014
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"The evening was a pleasant one, with music that landed
comfortably on the ears (a tango sung by Carlos Garde4l,
big-band jazz by Harry James (and even a piece by Justin
Bieber) dancers who were committed and clean in execution,
and videos of people you felt you might well know."
"It is no feat to keep a company going for 28 years, as
Anne-Marie Mulgrew has done. I am glad she has been able
to grace Philadelphia with her persistence and generous
programming." -
Thinking Dance by Lynn Matluck Brooks May 2014
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"Anne-Marie Mulgrew reprised her utterly charming and
painterly Umbrella Dance, replete with ladies in white gowns
and parasols parading on the west side of the Barnes'
grounds." -
broadstreetreview.com Merilyn
Jackson
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"The Keepers Project by Anne-Marie Mulgrew and
Dancers Company was a creative piece that mixed factual
family history with feeling and emotion. What makes The
Keeper's Project such a unique piece is that emotion
is used to interpret the story, coming from both the spoken
word and the visual movement. The dancers embraced the
techno - style music along with a projection of pictures and
short videos. I interpreted The Keepers Project as
both a metaphor for the confusion and wonder of family
history, and the assimilation of others' emotions and
thoughts about their past." -
www.mightypost.org Merilyn
Jackson
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"Anne-Marie Mulgrew's latest work in her presented program ,
From Here to Seattle, continues her 25-year
Philadelphia dance legacy of whimsical landscapes and stages
inhabited with charm and panache. To this writer's delight,
she has choreographed to her own drummer, resisting popular
trends and persevering amidst erratic funding."
"The archeology of DIG, a premiere in
collaboration with video artist Carmella Vassor-Johnson,
mined Mulgrew's family roots back to her émigré forebears
from Poland and Ireland. Their histories and memories
fueled the choreographer's fertile imagination..."
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Thinkingdance.net Excavating
the Past and Future by Jonathan Stein, May 2012
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"Showcasing the range of humor, whimsy, and dark mystery of
Paris Dada, the conceptualist influence was strongly felt.
It was easy to get caught up in the scenes, as nostalgic,
French accordion music blared loudly and resonated
throughout the high vaulted ceiling of the Rotunda. The
building was the performance, as architecture acted as an
interactive sculpture coaxing the viewer and the performers.
Mulgrew and her Company have clearly made a cultural
statement and created a time machine of sorts, transporting
the viewers back to 1911 Paris and the imagery that inspired
the Dada Movement."
"Mulgrew yielding two metals poles, which she dragged around
on the floor creating a chilling yet beautiful sound and
visual experience." -
Ali Printz www.underwriteart.com
May 4, 2011
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"For 25 years, she (Ms. Mulgrew) has been one of
Philadelphia's most conceptual and prolific dance makers." -
The Philadelphia Inquirer May 21, 2009
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"SALT's...Pillars of Rumination (is) an intense and visually
evocative dance segment." -
Broad Street Review May 26, 2009
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| "In a trio of religiously grounded, mystical
movements forming the core of (SALT's) Part Two, Mulgrew
fashions a unity...She explores the duality of salt-it
corrodes and it preserves - in dancers rushing toward and
repelled by a rope stretched across the stage. Their
forceful motions ... fall to arise into a choreography that
achieves the luminous quality of a dream." -
Broad Street Review May 26, 2009
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| "...You can't help but admire the breadth of
Mulgrew's ambition. Nearly every movement in SALT explored a
different style of dance and exuded a different sensibility
of feeling. The musical selection - ranging from chanting,
stylized techno, even an opera aria - articulated a mood for
each segment, evoking moods ranging from Egypt and later
sub-Saharan Africa to the Far East, South America, and
Greece." -
Broad Street Review May 26, 2009
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| "Full of whimsy and spontaneity....Mulgrew has
been an outstanding contributor to Philly's dance scene." -
Key to Philadelphia, August 13-26, 2007 (The Hidden River Project)
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| "The piece morphs between history and
fantasy, concrete and imagined, anchored by the history of
the site"" -
The Bulletin August 24, 2007
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| "Elegance, Insight And Wit" -
The Bulletin May 25, 2007
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| "Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers in long
white gowns, carrying white umbrellas strolled down Broad
Street. Creating very pretty, wonderful street art, the
slow-moving ladies enhanced the evening." -
Janet Anderson, CityPaper (DanceBoom) June 29, 2006
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| "Their hour-long trek along Broad Street to
the Wilma Stage was an arresting and serene cityscape
installation. My favorite moment occurred when the women, in
the middle of Broad Street, locked into a two-minute group
frieze, as the wind billowed their muslin." -
Lewis Whittington, Broad Street Review (DanceBoom )
www.broadstreetreview.com July 7, 2006
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| "The work (Field of Memories) is ever-full
of striking visual imagery and whimsy." full article -
Lisa Kraus, Philadelphia Inquirer June 2, 2006
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| "The Hans Project is based on the Dance of
Death woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger. With Keith
Calmes live electric guitar sliding between classical and
flamenco improvisation, the work carried the evening-s
strongest emotional punch... its heart is an enigmatic and
virtuosically danced duet that transforms from playful
connectionedness to bewildering separation." full article -
Lisa Kraus, Philadelphia Inquirer June 2, 2006
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The most nuanced choreography is the first
of the three sections of The Big Dance where the use of
space becomes fully dimensional, the interactions
increasingly complex. One satisfying sequence repeats a lift
with changing facings and numbers of dancers being hoisted
in the split leap, like joyous, surfacing dolphins."
full article -
Lisa Kraus, Philadelphia Inquirer
June 2, 2006 |
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I loved the experience. And experience is
what the piece was all about. It was the street, the time,
the spectators as well as the dancers and their moods,
movements and images that made this so enjoyable.....The
work cannot be separated from the environment in which it
happened. The effect of this performance on the city and the
people was as much a part of the performance as the dancers
themselves."
Dances forImaginary Places, Philly Free-Fringe-For-All 2005 - Tom Blair
www.enter.net
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| "As if they were fabled magical elves that
pop up in Iceland, the dancers dressed in pure-white from
head to toe, prance in an Olde City alley, transforming the
cityscape to an uninhibited space where women celebrate
their capricious sensuality. Prepare mentally to be guided
by the show's Samuel Beckett's ideology. Gotan Project's
accompanying music inspires performers and audience members
alike." -
Three Ladies in Waiting ,Philadelphia Fringe Festival 2004 - Helen i-Lin Hwang CityPaper
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| "The Dance and Choir Project is one
of the largest dance pieces in recent memory. Performed at
the beautifully renovated Philadelphia Cathedral by one of
the city's most innovative and irreverent dance companies."
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J. Cooper Robb Philadelphia Weekly, June 2 - 8, 2004
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"In the piece (A Deconstruction of Degas)
dancers took turns donning a tutu and striking a pose of
Degas' Little Dancer. Others came in solo, pairs
and trios, sometimes emulating Degas, sometimes being
carried in sculpted poses. This dance had a lovely, hazy
quality and Mulgrew, who always uses an element of
incongruity, interjected the Pink Panther theme
after Moonlight Sonata to give it unexpected
playfulness." full article
"Mulgrew regular, Joseph Cicala, and
newcomers Gabrielle Revlock and Michelle Tantoco danced with
finesse throughout the concert, that was thoughtfully
designed for the space." -
Phildelphia Inquirer May 26, 2003 (The Philadelphia Cathedral, May 23, 2003)
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"Always appealing.." |
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Phildelphia
Inquirer June 3, 2001 |
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"The mix of straight dancing
and more concept-driven movement in ten sections revealed
Mulgrew's maturing range... The strong company of five
joined Mulgrew to create moments of freshness and engaging
complexity." |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, October 13, 2001 |
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"The six person dance-theater
piece is more earnest that mysterious. Mulgrew mixes sinuous
well performed movement... it feels less like excerpts than
a series of novelties." City Paper September 3, 2001
(Philadelphia Fringe Festival Excerpts from The Yard) "Paper
Waitress is cool and witty, its sly comments on work and
gender interactions embedded in the three dancers' moves and
use of props. Mulgrew danced a dance... vaguely Balinese in
its formality... her tour-de-force was slowly somersaulting
while keeping the tray upright." |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, June 17, 2000 |
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| "Paper Waitress is cool and witty,
its sly comments on work and gender interactions embedded in
the three dancers' moves and use of props. Mulgrew danced a
dance... vaguely Balinese in its formality... her
tour-de-force was slowly somersaulting while keeping the
tray upright." |
| Miriam
Seidel, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 17, 2000 |
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"Mulgrew is loathe to give
away too much about the four dancer work, based heavily as
it is on an element of surprise. Suffice it is to say that
urban 'beasts,' glowing inflatable structures and 35' long
bolts of fabric come into play." |
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Unknown
City preview NOW, Toronto Canada, August 19-25, 1999
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"Two pieces by Anne-Marie
Mulgrew combined literal and abstract concepts. In a light
and occasionally amusing excerpt from Unknown City (part
3-Ryoko) three women carrying suitcases perform a dynamic
sequence built from entrances and exits and circular
patterns of movement. ... The Last Ten Minutes is darker in
tone, the work features slides of abstract images that I
later learned were an MRI of Mulgrew'
s knee. A voice over
lists the names of cities around the world, where atrocities
occurred in 1999. On one area of the stage a woman lies
prone as if beaten down, across the way two ladies chat
while enjoying cups of tea." |
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Philadelphia
City Paper, Oct. 22-28, 1999 |
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"After seeing ANNE-MARIE
MULGREW & DANCERS Strange Tongues in its
one-night engagement at Parallax Pictures, I'm tempted to
describe Mulgrew as our own Margaret Mead of dance." full article |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, June 3, 1997 |
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"Their (the dancers) catching
and carrying and supported falling away from each other
placed their bodies in sharply defined new angles, each an
unexpected pleasure." full article |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, June 3, 1997 |
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"Choreographer, Mulgrew is
known for her comic dance inventions (such as PBS produced Tales
of the Buffoon) and for Swiftian commentary on social
mores told in various movement styles." |
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Philadelphia
Forum, May 29, 1997 |
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"This is the third
collaboration between Mulgrew, Vida and Price and have now
look toward their high-tech union as a source of
inspiration. The result, choreographically, is a
Cunninghamesque abstraction merged with contact-inspired
partnering and occasionally, touches of tenderness." |
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Philadelphia
City Paper, May 31, 1996 |
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"Mulgrew's choreography was
full of surprising accents, loopy inflections and irregular
rhythms." |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, May 27, 1996 |
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"Flatland is Anne-Marie
Mulgrew's ambitious ongoing work based on Edwin Abbott's
classic fantasy. The piece succeeds through the interaction
of visual artist Vida's well conceived projections with six
dancers onstage." |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, May 15, 1995 |
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"Mulgrew and her dancers were
like children attempting to use every inch of available
space to see just how far they could go." |
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WELCOMAT,
Dec. 7, 1994 |
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"One of Philadelphia-s most
acclaimed choreographers and performers." |
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Syracuse
Times, Mar. 13, 1993 |
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"Mouth, seemed to come from
Mulgrew'
s personal vision... it unfolded into a series of
emotionally charged scenes suggesting historical memories of
a single family." |
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Philadelphia
Inquirer, Oct. 6, 1992 |
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"This is an imaginatively
realized piece-full of energy and drive, like Mulgrew
herself." |
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WELCOMAT,
Feb 7, 1990 |
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"Witty, cerebral and
provocatively titled.." |
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Philadelphia
Magazine, Dec. 1998 |
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"Earth Planet Dances has a
wholeness and continuity of vision that is immensely
satisfying." |
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Philadelphia
City Paper, April 1987 |
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