dance

Howard County datebook

A recap of the May 20 season finale of "Dancing with the Stars"

Dressed in skinny jeans, flats, a white shirt and still wearing her stage makeup, the petite Ashley Blair Fitzgerald sits cross-legged in a small conference room after her matinee performance in "Smokey Joe's Cafe" at Arena Stage in Washington.

A recap of the May 12 episode of 'Dancing with the Stars," as some even bigger stars offer encouragement, while Amy Purdy really takes off

Gansler tangos around Brown attack on reprimand

A recap of the May 5 episode of "Dancing with the Stars," as Abby Lee Miller puts the dancers in their places

When community theater vaudeville landed on Main Street in the Laurel Mill Playhouse's spring production of Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party" weekend before last, it roared.

Groups and special events taking place at Howard County library branches

University of Maryland Symphony musicians will play Copland's 'Appalachian Spring' from memory while performing choreography devised by Liz Lerman at Clarice Smith Center.

A recap of the April 28 episode of 'Dancing with the Stars,' as Ricky Martin is the guest judge and injuries seem to rule

He had us wrapped from the first note of "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." Hidden in the wings of the Smith Theater, we first heard the baritone sing the familiar "Figaro, Figaro" before we actually saw Steven Eddy, one of two opera-singing contestants in the recent Rising Stars competition at Howard Community College.

On May 3, a Taneytown couple will take their tango to the dance floor to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association's Greater Maryland Chapter.

At Anne Arundel Community College, spring carries a major entertainment season to the Robert E. Kauffman Theater stage at the Pascal Center for the Performing Arts.

A recap of the April 21 episode of "Dancing with the Stars," as everybody gets down on some serious party music

Ballet Theatre of Maryland concluded its 36th season and artistic director Dianna Cuatto's 11th with its 'Director's Choice' show last weekend. The performance was an excursion to the edge of classic and contemporary dance, allowing audiences to glimpse a future where intense levels of passion and beauty are portrayed.

Lutherville Timonium Recreation Council will honor on May 10 longtime dance teacher Louise Kurtz, who has been teaching for nearly 50 years.

A recap of the April 14 episode of "Dancing with the Stars," as everyone gets jiggy with some classic Disney tunes

The American Rosie the Riveter Association exists to recognize and preserve the history and legacy of working women during World War II. Their membership was expanded beyond the iconic Rosies that worked in shipyards and plants to include all women who contributed to the war effort by joining the workforce. Two Laurel Rosies are active members of the group, Wilma Foster and Lorraine Miller.

Jodi Levitan still gets choked up when she talks about her father, who died of dementia on Father's Day of 2012. Her mother, the caretaker, died of cancer and was buried on Mother's Day, 2013. On Saturday, April 8, Levitan and her husband, Scott, will be dancing the cha cha and Western swing at the annual Memory Ball, a fundraiser for memory loss and Alzheimer's research.

A recap of the April 7 episode of 'Dancing with the Stars," as Julianne Hough gets added to the mix, Drew Carey channels Elvis and Meryl Davis brings it.

Jean West Lewis has mastered a crowd-pleasing rumba. When the sultry sound of Michael Buble's rendition of a 1962 Italian hit, "Quando, Quando, Quando," fills the room April 12 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, the retired county schools employee will take the dance floor before a throng of 900 people who are already primed for what comes next.

The area is currently enjoying two innovative productions of The Bard: Compass Rose Theater's "Romeo and Juliet" ¬— reviewed here last week — and Annapolis Shakespeare Company's "Hamlet," now playing at Bowie Playhouse.

What do you really need to know about the man who will make his Orioles debut Wednesday night at Camden Yards? Ubaldo Jimenez loves to dance. A lot.

Last week, Diana Nyad and Sean Avery got the boot. Please, please let's put Billy Dee out of his misery this week on "Dancing with the Stars."

Since 1975, the Columbia Figure Skating Club has provided area skaters with the opportunity to pursue both recreational and competitive skating. Each spring, Pat Muth, her daughter Martha, granddaughter Melissa, and a host of volunteers put many of these rising ice stars in a standing-room-only spectacle, this time around appropriately called "Frozen In Time," at the Columbia Ice Rink.

Blob's Park, the Bavarian beer and dance hall his family has owned and operated in Jessup for more than eight decades, was closing — for good this time, after temporarily shutting its doors in 2008.

Inside the main studio at the Teelin School of Irish Dance the fiberglass heels and toes of step dancing shoes pack a thunderous wallop as they pound the floor in precise rhythm.

While most people have put away the shamrocks, corned beef recipes and green clothing until next Saint Patrick's Day, two Anne Arundel girls are preparing for a demanding international Irish dance contest that combines athleticism and artistry.

Ellicott City residents are among the nation's top-ranked ballroom competitors in their age division, having won a national title in 2012 and gaining international experience and accolades along the way.