Category: dance

“Within hours of the [Inquirer] article being published, it spread like wildfire among dancers on social media. Many were outraged. Others expressed sympathy for the company members who were let go. But I’ve also seen comments from Philadelphians who are very happy with Angel’s vision and welcome the changes. It’s a big change, and one I’d say many expected.” Which makes it no easier for the now-out-of-work dancers.

The conflict over Johan Kobborg’s job as artistic director of the Bucharest National Opera’s ballet company has spun out of control. Craig Turp traces the seeds of the trouble to a right-wing nationalist website, and he gives a solid recap and analysis in English of how the mess has unfolded so far.

Patrick Harrison is currently executive director of the Cambridge Arts Theatre. Prior to which he was director of commercial operations at the National Theatre.

“Vlad Alexandrescu announced that he would be stepping down in a posting on his Facebook page Wednesday, after he failed to solve a conflict at the Bucharest National Opera that has seen three shows canceled so far.”

Founder Lin Hwai-min talks about the birth, the growth, and the aesthetic of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

“In a letter dated April 25 that was sent to the Bucharest National Opera’s security department, Cojocaru, Kobborg” – who is supposed to have been reinstated as artistic director of the house’s ballet company – “and seven others can only enter if they are permanently supervised by security.”

“Of 43 dancers, 12 were let go and five are leaving on their own. Others, dancers say, are thinking of leaving. … Dancers say six others were paid to leave last year” – the first under artistic director Ángel Corella.

“Grouping young ballet dancers by their developmental rather than chronological age could help lower their risk of injury, a study has suggested. The technique, known as bio-banding, is growing in prominence for other sports, including football and rugby.”

“Part of Ms. Hay’s mandate as a choreographer is to change learned behavior in dancers — to challenge them to relinquish their habits by posing questions that shift the tone and texture of a performance.”

“‘Her name was Carmen,’ choreographed by Russian Andrei Kuznetsov-Vecheslov, is set in a camp ‘on the fringes of Europe.’ It will be premiered by Kolesnikova and the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre at the London Coliseum in August before taking on a world tour. Part of the proceeds from London ticket sales will go to help Oxfam’s work.”