Category: dance

Star Of Bolshoi’s Aborted ‘Nureyev’ Ballet Speaks (By The Way, It Had No Nudity)

“When such a huge collective [as the Bolshoi Ballet], after being told of the cancellation in the morning, still musters the strength to go out and perform in the evening – it’s nothing short of a miracle. It’s no longer just about the job, but something much more.” (Also, “all the talk about nudity is false. I don’t think something of that sort would be possible on the Bolshoi’s stage.”)

The Ballerina Who Can ‘Suspend Time Altogether’ – Alastair Macaulay On NY City Ballet’s Tiler Peck

“Most of us, most of our days, are subject to time. We follow calendars and clocks like slaves. Great dancers, however, seem to govern time, to find and possess it without haste and even, for moments, to suspend it altogether. The music’s pulse runs on apace; but they pack every measure with important-seeming activity, now and then playing with the beat, here a hairbreadth behind and there a bit ahead of the music, sometimes pausing miraculously amid the pressing momentum of the dance.”

A Ballerina Explains What It’s Like To Move From Europe To The U.S.

Dores André, a principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, “loves life in the United States. She considers San Francisco home. But with her Spanish perspective, she says she would like to see the government and US citizens reflect on their collective past more often. ‘By being a pioneer, sometimes you forget to look back and [check] on your own history,’ she points out. ‘I think that learning from its past could be a really good thing.'”

Ballet West Keeps Connections To Cuba Despite New Trump Restrictions

“‘Being in Utah, and seeing those mountains is one of the best experiences of my entire life,’ 17-year-old ballet student Marcos Ramirez-Castellano said. Likewise, watching Ramirez-Castellano’s strength and precision in partnering class last week was awe-inspiring. Sklute said ‘there is no better training for male dancers in the world” than in the Cuban system.'”

They Warned Him Not To Take This Gig With The Bolshoi, But Choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot Made It Work

“‘It was a huge gamble,” Mr. Maillot, the director of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, said in a phone interview from Monaco. ‘Everything was in place for it to fail.’ It did exactly the opposite. A success since its 2014 premiere, The Taming of the Shrew has become a calling card at home and abroad for the Bolshoi.” Laura Cappelle reports on the difficulties and delights of the project.

The Guy Who Started The Ballet-Hip-Hop Mashup Wants To Launch A Professional Hiplet Dance Company

About 25 years ago, at a rap concert in Canada, Homer Bryant had an idea: “I thought if I put rap and ballet together, I might have a hit on my hands.” Eventually, he did: video of his dancers went hugely viral (and got the pearl-clutchers a-clutching). Now (if he can find the donors) he’s hoping to go fully pro. (includes slideshow and video)

What The Bolshoi Ballet’s Director Came There To Do (Besides Throw Shade At His Predecessors)

Makhar Vaziev: “When I accepted this position, [Bolshoi general director] Vladimir Urin set a concrete task before me about what he wanted to see from the troupe, and we came to a mutual agreement about that. In terms of classical ballet, I prefer irreproachable, ideal form, and that doesn’t change from theater to theater. What I demand of the dancers here today – the highest level of performing, both aesthetically and technically, among other things – is nothing new to them, but it’s possible no one paid attention to it before.”

Three Tips For Staying Sane When You’re Both A Dancer And Choreographer

“Many people see dance and choreography as separate pursuits, or view choreography as a dance career’s second act. For some dancers, however, performing and choreographing inform one another. … Though a dual career can be fulfilling, simultaneously inhabiting the roles of dancer and choreographer requires focus, organization and a great deal of energy.”

A New National Center For Choreography – In The Heart Of Ohio

“Enter the new National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron. Its mission: to support the research and development of new dance by providing choreographers, dance companies, arts administrators and dance writers access to [its] world-class facilities … seven dance studios, two black-box theaters and main-stage theaters of two different sizes.”