Reviews or articles about ARENA Dances and Mathew Janczewski have appeared locally in numerous publications over the years, including the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Monthly, Lavender Magazine and City Pages.
The dances were a wonderful display of physicality and elegance, demonstrating the skill that has made ARENA founder and artistic director Mathew Janczewski one of the most prominent choreographers in Minneapolis and a rising star in the national dance world. Choreography reminiscent of dance-line and Charles Atlas body building poses flitted together as the projectors overhead played clips of Rio de Janeiro and beach parties, with thumping club music tying the whole event together. Carl Atiya Swanson, in The City Pages, March 29, 2008
Mathew Janczewski’s “Ten,” which celebrates his first decade of choreography for his company, ARENA Dances, vividly reminds us what a versatile intelligent and profundly talented choreographer thrives in our midst. The wide ranging two-hour program maintains the highest degree of artistic excellence, while never failing to touch audiences on an emotional plane…. Camille Lefevre in the Star Tribune, October 20th, 2006
…Mathew Janczewski can make big steps and he can use the big steps others have made: his dances soar, tumble, float, writhe. He knows how to put bodies together, how to create shapes that twist and decay before the viewer has quite figured them out, leaving echoes of connection in the air. He knows how to use that air, too: how to launch dancers through it, how to carve and rend and mend it, how to enliven it. He has a knack for endings, composing them as question marks or ellipses rather than periods or exclamation marks, often throwing in a twist just before darkness falls….Lightsey Darst, Review of “Ten”, October 22nd, 2006, MNArtists.org
The entire ensemble flows with dramatic lines, grace and intimacy that is at once energetic and tender….In execution, it feels fresh throughout; in imagery, it is at times mesmerizing. Graydon Royce, “Bankrupt City Ballad” review, September 18, 2005 in the Star Tribune.
“Plastic Language” lushly illustrates Janczewski’s supple, lithe choreographic style; at times, one almost feels transported by the kinetic power of the muscular and languorous movement. Camille LeFevre, Review of “Plastic Language” in the Star Tribune, March 12th 2005
Mathew Janczewski is a master of compelling, thought-provoking and inventive partnering. And the Mineapolis choreographer’s concert, performed by his company ARENA Dances, is embedded with such dancing. Camille LeFevre, Review of “Resonance” in the Star Tribune, March 27th 2004