Category: dance

“Many young dancers find themselves in compromising situations as they begin their careers. While some involve misunderstandings that become funny over the years, other bad situations – including public weigh-ins, sexual misconduct and unpaid overtime – can be so damaging to the spirit or the body as to end a career. There may not be a completely foolproof way to avoid a nightmare job, but there are steps you can take to protect yourself and learn what will be expected of you before signing on the dotted line.”

“The most recent report from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project found that three-quarters of the more than 92,000 alumni surveyed who are currently working as artists say they depend on entrepreneurial skills in their professional lives, but only about a quarter of them acquired these skills in school.” And schools are finally beginning to change that.

“A young boy making the choice to study ballet as a kid is strong enough to push against the ridicule of his peers so he’s probably already a bit of a maverick … It’s natural for girls to be in the ballet world so they don’t have to resist anything – and they are prized for their ability to be obedient, to conform. So all the qualities that got the boy into ballet class in the first place are the same qualities you need to be a creator.”

“All told, since Angel Corella’s arrival, 22 dancers have left the company, with some retiring, some joining other companies and others simply not being re-engaged. With Wednesday’s appointments — of dancers from around the United States, as well as from Russia, Cuba, Japan and South Korea — Mr. Corella has now brought on 29 of the 43 dancers on the company’s roster.”

“1,040 robots, each just under 44 centimeters in height, started their synchronized dance routine in Qingdao city. Of them, 1,007 finished the challenge, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous robot dance.”

Co-artistic directors Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten have two themes to their work at the company: “Le Corps du Ballet” (deliberately not corps de), and “‘Le Corps en Révolte’, the body in revolt, where ‘the ballet is used almost for protest’, says Greco. The aim is to create a space for demonstration, ‘like Taksim Square’.”

“[Georgina] Pazcoguin, currently on leave from City Ballet, recently spoke about opening night, Sunday, at the Neil Simon Theater – the nerves! – the differences between ballet and Broadway and what it’s like to become Victoria. What follows are edited excerpts from that interview.”

“She’s hoping that her success will create ‘a new structure for how dancers are treated.'”

“Imagine the most dashing and magnanimous princes of 19th-century literature and you’ll conjure an idea of his magnetic presence as a performer.”

He’s Scott Altman, currently ED of Ballet West. “The executive director position has been vacant since Paul Kaine left the company in April 2008. Soon after, Victoria Morgan added the CEO role to her artistic responsibilities. In the course of one year, Morgan, working with staff and board, eliminated an $800,000 deficit. Since then, the company’s annual ticket revenue has grown more than 70 percent, while attendance has climbed nearly 30 percent. The company’s endowment, just $1 million when Morgan became CEO, is now $11 million.”