“Mauro Bigonzetti, who was appointed as head of the La Scala Ballet at the beginning of this year, has been forced to step down. A severe back problem has persisted since the beginning of the summer.” In May, more than four dozen of La Scala’s dancers publicly protested Bigonzetti’s planned repertoire for this season.
Category: dance
Researchers Discover That Music And Dance Change Our Brains In Markedly Different Ways
“The pathways that were most affected were bundles of fibers that link the sensory and motor regions of the brain and the fibers of the corpus callosum that run between the hemispheres. In the dancers, these sets of connections were broader (more diffuse); in musicians, these same connections were stronger, but less diffuse, and showed more coherent fiber bundles.”
The Not-So-Slavish Devotion Of A Pupil To His Greatest Dance Master
“As precise as Kawaguchi is at duplicating Ohno’s twisted body moves and ascetic style, his primary purpose is something other than the creation of an exact copy — because he knows that’s impossible.”
Dancing For City Ballet As A New Parent
“I was talking to a former dancer, Pauline Golbin, who’s had two babies, and she said, ‘Doesn’t your dancing just feel more efficient?’ I said, ‘That’s a great word for it.’ I don’t use way too much energy anymore, and I can just dance. I’m calmer.”
Can Audiences Enjoy New Dance Pieces More If They Know *Nothing* About Them In Advance?
“The idea goes against the grain in arts marketing, as venues increasingly provide preview trailers, rehearsal clips and artist interviews for audiences to watch in advance.” But London’s Dance Umbrella festival is giving it a try. “A lack of knowledge about the art form can stop audiences from coming to dance, so [festival director Emma] Gladstone wanted to free them from worrying about what they didn’t know.”
Can A Dancer Win A Competition Without Spectacular Technical Feats?
“Many people argue that we’ve gone too far, and competitors shouldn’t be so focused on double-digit pirouettes and flips. Dance is an art form, and there must be ways to judge a performer that have to do more with quality than quantity. But can a dancer take home a medal without pyrotechnics?” It depends …
How You Choreograph Dance For “Hamilton”
“For every one step in Hamilton, I probably cut eight steps. Only one makes the final cut. For the transition out of the opening number, I choreographed a 30-second transition for the entire ensemble. That 30-second transition is now one second long, a drum beat and a pose.”
University Of Southern California Opens Major New Dance Facility
“Groundbreaking took place in 2014. The dance school welcomed its first class in fall 2015, with 33 students collaborating with dance professionals while studying styles including ballet, ballroom and hip-hop. Classes were held in a temporary facility on campus, then moved into the new 54,000-square-foot building in August. “
Johan Kobborg And Alina Cojocaru Talk About Their Ordeal At Romania’s National Ballet
Kobborg: “Actually, you could say I’m still waiting to hear, because the last thing I heard in the meetings I had in July were that the management was going to contact me with a proposal. But I see they’ve hired someone else [the Italian Renato Zanella]. So I guess that’s it.”
Helpful Hints For Taking Crowded Classes At Dance Conventions
“Whether you’re attending your first convention or your 20th, spending a weekend in a crowded ballroom with hundreds of other dancers can be equal parts exciting, intimidating and overwhelming. Conventions are a chance to learn new styles, take classes from top teachers and network with the people who may someday hire you. So how do you take advantage of this opportunity and stand out from the crowd?”