Press Articles

Press Quotes

“A modern dance choreographer with an unmistakable voice, [her work] brims with literate, colorful dance achievement.”  Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

“Blessed with a vivid imagination and an unforced, effective understanding of what constitutes good theater, Garfield is simply one of the finest storytellers working in contemporary dance today.”  Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY.

“Garfield's work is wicked, witty and full of prickly dance intelligence.”  Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

“Garfield is that rare thing, an artist capable of the most delicate of performance modulations, the most devastating of satiric thrusts.”  Don Daniels, Ballet Review

“Keely Garfield's gaze and small-boned flouncing have a wicked glint to them, as do the profoundly human creatures she finds under the rocks pulled up by her dances.”  Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

“A performer of distinctive depth, wit, and force.”  Robert Greskovic, New York Native

“David Mamet once wrote that a good piece of theater leaves one afterward thinking or talking about one’s own life rather than the work itself.  A good performance resonates so deeply, or reflects with such specificity that one is easily led to reflection; in dance perhaps a strong work also leaves one physically moved.  Keely Garfield’s work is the perfect mix of emotional intimacy and detailed description to achieve this."  Emily Harney, Lesbian & Gay New York.

“This woman is a riot…, a tall dignified Brit, totally liberated, with impeccable timing and a wild comic sense.”  Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice

“Garfield is a master at presenting intimate moments of life with style and irony.”  Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY

“Garfield's work is funny and incisive, witty and mordant.”  Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice

“Wordless dances– tender, elusive pieces that cover dark, psychological territory with aching and ironic invention.”  Stephen Greco, The New Yorker

“This British choreographer has it all: sensual movement, bone-dry wit and in most cases, a song to set the mood.”  Gia Kourlas, Time Out NY

“If laughter is the best medicine, Keely Garfield ought to bottle herself, her performers and her dancers as an over-the-counter cure for innumerable ills.”  Elizabeth Zimmer, The New York Times

“Exquisite and poetically subversive.  Do not miss– if you know what’s good for you.”  Don Daniels, Ballet Review

“Brutally funny…Garfield’s troupe has the soul of a naughty child and a child’s impulse towards stark truthfulness.”  Stephen Greco, The New Yorker

“Garfield has created an entire world of everyday fear and desire.  Her expansive use of stage-time is hypnotic and very American.” Don Daniels,  Ballet Review.

“Crazy-smart…superbly timed wildness."  Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice.

“It’s a marvelous, hilarious act that no genius ever thought of before Garfield did…. Its funniness and, better yet, beauty, appears like a brilliant wit’s personality.”  Rick Whitaker, Ballet Review

“Distinguishes itself with subtlety and style…, a marvel of timing and wry human observation.”  Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice

“Under Garfield's dance’s lighthearted surface pulses a delicate violence, a sense of impending disaster that requires of everyone a riveting attention.  They watch one another.  We watch them.  We come away changed.”  Elizabeth Zimmer, Village Voice

“Sex underlies everything in Garfield’s work, as it does every place– but quietly, without diminishing its potency by calling attention to itself.”  Rick Whitaker, Ballet Review

"Garfield's cartoon violence is exquisite and poetically subversive.  Do not miss– if you know what's good for you." Don Daniels,  Ballet Review

“Ms. Garfield's real triumph is that this teasing glance at a ballet classic is not only funny but touching and beautiful."  Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

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