Make Thick My Blood presented by DeCruit at Theatre Row (directorial Debut)
Directed and choreographed by Alexandra Beller, the production starts with an extended, non-verbal, movement piece that explores the trauma suffered by this couple – the initial experience of it, the holding of it and the resonance of it. Calling this work, which is re-visited throughout the performance, “movement” is a bit of an understatement. In the hands of Ms. Beller, physicality becomes physicalized text that tells a specific story of it’s own, sometimes in tandem with – sometimes in opposition to, the spoken word. While this opening can feel a bit intellectual at times, Ms. Beller is cleverly laying a foundation for her vision that delivers plenty of emotional punch as the show progresses.
stageandcinema.com, KEVIN VAVASSEUR
What is refreshing is that this production could have focused only on the nightmare. But it focuses on the effort to wake up; the effort to move on from what no human can fully move on from: the loss of a loved one. The movement in this production, under the helm of Alexandra Beller, an award-winning choreographer in her directorial debut, successfully brings the full range of emotion felt by the couple to the surface. The adaptation and direction carved out space for empathy and relatability in a story that other productions typically leave out. The story of one couple's trauma reminds us that, in our bodies, we all carry the presence of past trauma and that it can manifest itself in unpredictable ways.
InfiniteBody, Kate Foster Vishniakova
Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son at Milwaukee Rep
“In fact, the play is so dependent on movement that one almost wonders why it isn't entitled Antonio's Dance. Movement Director Alexandra Beller has been collaborating with Orlandersmith and Suarez for years on this project, for they always knew their play was meant to be as much a dance as anything. Per the Rep's Audience Guide, Beller says: ‘Antonio did a lot of improvising while speaking the text and I cataloged what naturally came from his body. Then I would hone it and crystallize it and teach it back to him... But it had all been generated from his body through the text, and that seemed really magical to both of us.’ “
Fandango for Butterflies (and Coyotes) at Engarde Arts
"Alexandra Beller’s exhilarating choreography endows the production with momentum and visual flair. "
TheatreScene.Net
BEDLAM THEATRE'S Sense and Sensibility
"Again and again, I was struck by how the movement of the characters and the sets may have been clever and playfully imaginative but always, always was keyed to the tenor of the scene and the emotional undercurrents.”
Michael Giltz, Huffington Post, February 2016
"In a moment’s notice, the scene dissolves into something completely different with the simple flick of the choreographer’s switch, conceived with football play-like precision by Alexandra Beller. [I wouldn’t be surprised if she drew up charts of Xs an Os in figuring out how each scene unfolds.]”
Eric Uhlfelder, Huffington Post, February 2016
"The entire company engages in a blend of traditional and up-to-date social dancing marvelously choreographed by Alexandra Beller.”
Theater’s Leiter Side, February 2016
"One of the best aspects of the production is the constant stage movement which really drives the momentum of the story."
The Daily Actor, February 2016
"They assemble... for a rowdy, rave-style dance that, by degrees, segues into something like a country ball gavotte."
The New York Times, February 2016
"Director Eric Tucker bookends his irresistible production with smart choreography. The ensemble morphs from refined 18th-century allemande to freeform modern grooves. Every era comes with mating dances.”
New York Daily News, February 2016
"Alexandra Beller choreographed the nifty comings and goings, under Eric Tucker's astonishing and clever direction."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 2016
"From a gravity-defying scene in bed to a carriage ride using only people as special effects, the company’s stagecraft is whimsy, dynamic, and refreshingly lo-fi. The physical production also manages to capture swells of intense feeling — like heartbreak and betrayal — by doing a lot with very little.”
TOWELROAD, February 2016
"Within minutes—and via some clever choreography—those same actors have successfully turned back the clock about 200 years.”
Theater Development Fund, February 2016
“Indeed, almost everyone fares much better in Sense and Sensibility. He’s aided at every stage especially by the choreography of Alexandra Beller.”
Huffington Post Entertainment, December 2015
Sense and Sensibility at the Folger Theater:
"Working in tandem with Choreographer Alexandra Beller, Tucker delivers a dizzying whirlwind of spectacle that is both mesmerizing and evocative. Beller births a glistening glissade of movement, an Austen-esque ballet if you will, by capturing not only physical shifts in position but changes in perspective because of these movements. It is wondrously majestic, scintillatingly surreal, and truly a remarkable theatrical device to further entreat the audience to the inner workings of Tucker's vision."
Theatre Bloom, September 2016
"Choreographer Alexandra Beller amazingly controls the virtually non-stop, intricate movements."
Washington Life Magazine, September 2016
"Alexandra Beller's choreography switches from Regency to today in the blink of an eye... The fluidity, energy and attack of the production are excellent."
DC Metro, September 2016
"The revolving ensemble is equally matched by John McDermott's free-wheeling sets and Alexandra Beller's associated fast-paced, precisely timed choreography, who prove to be stars in their own right."
Fairfax County Times, October 2016
"It is an absolute marvel of Alexandra Beller's choreography that keeps (the play) in near constant motion."
Alexandria Times, September 2016
Two Gentlemen of Verona
(Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival)
“Choreographer Alexandra Beller’s driving disco dance sequences had us itching to pop out of our seats and join in, which easily happens at the end of the play.”
Roll Magazine, July 2014
“Choreographer Alexandra Beller keeps the company rocking with one dance number after another.”
Times-Herald Record, July 2014
" Dance elements and body sculpture choreographed by Alexandra Beller are incorporated throughout to simulate architectural elements such as Julia’s tower window and even a fountain, with half a dozen actors spouting water from their mouths simultaneously. "
Hudson Valley One, July 2014
What Comes after Happy
Alexandra Beller/Dances
“...takes on the American pursuit of happiness head on through spot lit vignettes and sharply observed, often wickedly humorous character studies that could have been plucked out of a Broadway show...”
InfiniteBody.com
“It is always good to see an artist pushing at awkward, deeply felt realities, and Ms. Beller does so with a generous spirit… her choices are smart, including her fine dancers. They slide with aplomb between comic-pathetic exchanges and Ms. Beller’s full bodied, voluptuous choreography.”
The New York Times
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Alexandra Beller/Dances
“Pick any topic over which conservatives and liberals lock horns—immigration, Abu Ghraib, abortion, politicized religion, same-sex marriage; Beller visits them all. How she does it is pretty astonishing. Beller—a bright young force on the experimental scene—dreamed up the idea and the choreography. And her voluptuous, no-nonsense presence socks almost every point imaginatively home.”
Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
“The masterful timing and pacing of this show reflect Beller’s years of experience as a performer...Taking the idea of love and relationship and sex and turning that into an exploration of one’s relationship with a country is a concept that requires such an excellent performance to make it work.”
Quinn Batson, OffOffOff.com
“Beller makes us rethink the symbols and ideas of patriotism to which we are daily exposed, and calls on us to question our own relationship with the U.S., love, war, bigotry, hate, sex, the French: Beller covers it all with sophistication and a full throttle performance.”
Carley Petecsh, Brooklyn Rail