"Her [Tanya Chianese] work is distinctly, handsomely, “retinal,” and this is exactly one of her strengths...Chianese is a structural and spatial wizard. Both in Cookie Cutter and now Readymade, Chianese arranges and re-arranges objects and humans in positively feng shui-esque configurations."
Sarah Chenoweth
BAYWATCH / Review / Oct 2016
"Chianese’s formidable choreography, innovative yet technically grounded at the same time... it is impossible not to mention the company’s noteworthy and impressive spatial awareness."
Heather Desaulniers
Critical Dance / Review / Oct 2016
"...busting into the Bay Area dance scene, garnering immediate critical acclaim, and selling out every seat…"
Sarah Burke
East Bay Express / Preview / May 2015
“[Tanya Chianese's work] is accessible and provocative, as well as unafraid to meld innovation with time-honored dance conventions.”
Nirmala Nataraj
SF Chronicle / Cover Story / Jan 2015
"If you’re in the area, go see it and if you’re not, make a special trip. Tanya Chianese and ka·nei·see | collective are important players in the emerging contemporary dance scene."
Heather Desaulniers
Critical Dance / Review / Jan 2015
"If Chianese’s intentions were to braid together her passions for contemporary dance and abstract art into an eruption of connected patterns within themes of imagination, fear, play, control, oblivion, and seeing the world through a positive lens, then she, and the dancers, certainly succeeded."
Brandy Miceli
Xpress Magazine / Cover Story / Nov 2016
"The actual dancing in this work would blow anyone away. The ka.nei.see | collective’s movement encapsulates the distinct blend of thrust and sinuosity that seems to be dominating the contemporary dance appetite. This can be chalked-up not only to Chianese’s own training and performance experience, but also the dancers’ preeminent facility. Requiring both the classical training to execute triple pirouettes and soaring extensions, and the modern training to devour floor space and fulfill gesture, these dancers are downright superstars."
Sarah Chenoweth
BAYWATCH / Review / Oct 2016
"What is also very clear and uncompromising is the choreography and its execution by the dancers of ka·nei·see | collective. The movement quality was robust both in temperament and reach. The dancers never gave up, committing fully to each change of mood and intensity."
Michelle R. LaVigne
SF Dance Matters / Review / Oct 2016
"The choreographic points of view impressed and in every instance, the dance artists handily communicated the breadth, range and distinctness of the material...Musical arpeggios and articulated limbs were married. No part of the work dominated the other – the achieved cohesiveness was stunning and rare."
Heather Desaulniers
Critical Dance / Review / Feb 2016
“Unapologetic dance.”
Rita Felciano
East Bay Monthly / Critic's Choice / Jan 2015
“Berkeley’s Shawl-Anderson Dance Center has been incubating modern dancers and choreographers since 1958. Lately it’s been especially fertile ground, nurturing resident artists like Tanya Chianese and Stranger Lover Dreamer, whose recent performances garnered critical and audience raves.”
Claudia Bauer
Speaking of Dance / March 2015
"Performers are serving up sweet steps...beautiful art can sprout from the seeds of self-doubt."
Michelle Mills
Pasadena Star News / Feature / Jan 2016
“Tanya is a young and talented emerging artist with the will to create in a conscious and compassionate way that will contribute significantly to the cultural landscape of the Bay Area to the benefit of its audiences”
Rebecca Johnson
Executive Director, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center / Nov 2014
"Artistic Director Tanya Chianese of ka·nei·see/collective has a knack for creating ensemble works that have both strong technical choreography and deep narrative themes. And she has a keen ability to translate these goals to a large-scale format for a large cast – Masses is proof of this."
Heather Desaulniers
Critical Dance / Review / Jul 2016
"The two exciting young companies [ka·nei·see | collective and Peter & Co.], both launched in 2014, already have produced some impressive work."
Andrew Gilbert
Mercury News / Recommended Show / Jul 2016
"Please Don’t delves into weighty and vital subject matter...While indeed a heavy work, Chianese also cleverly injected moments of humor...and moments of hope. The most significant observation for me in Please Don’t was the eye towards sisterhood and shared understanding...And not to detract from the serious narrative theme, but the technical acuity of the company must be mentioned."
Heather Desaulniers
Critical Dance / Review/ Apr 2017
PRESS
AUDIENCE RESPONSE FROM LOS ANGELES COOKIE CUTTER TOUR
I was involved the entire time, and that isn't normal for me. It is difficult for me to watch dance and not dissect, evaluate, and go off on my own personal tangent...Being from a theatrical background I appreciated the flow, the timing of the show and the order of the dances, the curation of it all. And your dancers were great. You are very lucky to have found so many talented dancers to stay with you, that is an amazing feat."
We SO enjoyed the performance last night. The dancers were AMAZING! I am blown away by Tanya's creativity. It is just beyond me how the creative mind works, really. I just loved the whole thing. And as a longtime Vegetarian (over 40 years now...) but not a vegan, that one "milk" piece got me thinkin' again....so very effective but certainly not accusatory in the least. Just thought provoking."
Wow!!!!! Last night was so fantastic!!! What an amazingly mature, thoughtful, artistic, and creative production. I am so glad I got to see it!"
That was something else last night! I was so impressed with everything! The dancers were brilliant and so talented.The choreography was absolutely wonderful! What an accomplishment! I absolutely loved it!!!! It was so great to get to see all the blood, sweat, and tears come together in such a thoughtful, creative production!"
[Tanya] is such a talented choreographer and her company of dancers are a delight to watch. I especially like how she incorporated many different styles of dance in her pieces, classical being the common thread."
Please tell [ka·nei·see \ collective] how dazzled I am by [their] work."
The way I feel about dance (or music or martial arts) is that it can take us to a place beyond where words can go....an expression of an emotion, evoking an emotion, telling a story, whatever. And your inventive and original choreography and amazing dancers expressed [that] so beautifully! In that small space I would imagine that it was difficult for the dancers to be "right there" next the the audience, but it was unique and very human to hear them breathe together! I felt like I was breathing with them!! We loved that part! When an audience member feels a part of something it is just an elevated experience."
The cutting edge [show] cookie cutter...each vignette was composed of a specific theme, ranging from a lighthearted Cookie Monster piece to spreading awareness about water usage in California...contemporary dance can be viewed in a new way and be taken away from its stereotypes using the figurative idea of cookie cutters."
AUDIENCE RESPONSE FROM ODC'S TAKE 5 PROGRAM
Modern dance at its best. Dynamic semi-fierce.”
Great choreography--worked well with the music. Made me want to see more.”
Music, structure! Everything made sense! Love it!”
Why are you so awesome?”
Excellent use of space in the sense of amount of stage used but also the 360 degrees around each dancer (arm and leg movement, cartwheels, extension, etc.)”
...finding movements of togetherness; independence amidst the flow of life.”