Category: dance

“After accusations of sexual harassment and physical and verbal abuse” – and following an arrest (his second) for drunk driving on Thursday – “Peter Martins, the powerful leader of New York City Ballet who shaped the company for more than three decades, has decided to retire.”

That’s not the only idea, of course, but: “Offering a full range of activities will help to combat the stereotypes and ‘cultural norms’ that are putting girls off sport before they reach junior school, according to Ruth Holdaway, who is chief executive of Women in Sport. In addition to giving female pupils the option to play cricket and football,’boys should also be asked what they want, and given the opportunity to do a zumba class or whatever,’ she said.”

Ashley Rivers talks to Vandana Hart about We Speak Dance, in which Hart travels from Bali to Vietnam to France to Nigeria to Lebanon to watch and meet with dancers – traditional and contemporary – and sees how the art form is used for everything from religious ceremony to political weapon.

People used to say Atlanta has the “potential” to be a destination city for the nation’s great dancers and choreographers. Like a L.A. with Southern hospitality or a New York City with affordable housing and better weather. I would argue that the sophistication and quality of the work puts us in a world class. The work is here.

“What I know is that dance has made me aware of both emotional and physical empathy. I never fathomed that playing such a wide array of parts in ballet would be a kind of unexpected “cognitive behavioral therapy” that would change patterns in my relation to the real world by forcing me to constantly reevaluate myself and update my perceptions.”

“The Deutsche Oper announced the last-minute cancellations on Twitter, saying that a ‘technical defect’ in the opera house’s fire sprinkler system caused the stage to flood.”

If you’re going to do Nutcracker in Alaska, you better do it right: “Every few years, they set the plot against an Alaskan backdrop with characters the audience intimately recognizes. Instead of a Mouse King and his army of rodents, the Nutcracker goes to a battle with Mosquito Queen and her swarm. He’s assisted by housemaids with fly swatters.”

Gomes resigned as a law firm investigation the allegation of behavior from eight years ago. Neither American Ballet Theatre “nor the law firm that was handling the investigation would give further details about the accusation against Mr. Gomes. ‘A.B.T. does not tolerate the alleged behavior,’ [the chairman of the board of trustees] said in his statement. ‘I am profoundly disheartened by this matter,’ he added.”

“The children who enter these competitions train up to 30 hours per week, primarily on weekends and after school. Because children must compete in many styles – hip-hop, ballet, jazz and others – versatility is essential, and training can be rigorous to the point of extremity.” Says one judge, “It was never like this when I was a kid. These kids are like gladiators.”