Category: dance

“In her Moscow neighborhood, the women in her favorite grocery store have taken a shine to the delicate American teen, helping her pick out fresh fruit and keeping her favorite almond butter stocked. And in the local Starbucks they have learned to spell her unusual name on her cup.”

“Those two words, put together, conjure up the image of a haughty, stern old gentleman in breeches, pounding out musical tempi on the floor with his cane and poking dancers’ bodies into desired positions. Ballet may be a traditional art form that’s proud of its roots, but it’s safe to say that — thankfully — this dusty figure no longer exists.”

But by the time she was 30, in 1907, she had launched a career that would take her to Bali and Java, India and Ceylon, and North Africa, writing about the dance she found for London publications from Ballet to The Daily Telegraph.

“No matter what sector we’re in, the big questions are the same: What does it mean to have your body under scrutiny on the job? How does it feel to be asked to represent your entire race in a company meeting? How do you find the right people to mentor and guide you?”

“Five years ago France had barely half a dozen professional dancers over 60; now they’re increasingly common.” Half a dozen of them tell how they do it.

“Most dance companies are equally composed of men and women, which gives the impression that dance is one of those rare places where equality and fairness are the order of the day. But as the chart shows, many more women than men are competing for about the same numbers of places.”

“Not since Darci Kistler (who arrived in 1980) and Maria Kowroski (who became a corps member in 1994) has a newcomer seemed so tailor-made for [Balanchine’s] goddess roles.”

Does the piece need it? Well, it was created “for a Russian troupe by a French choreographer (Marius Petipa) and a composer from Austria (Ludwig Minkus).”

“Rukmini Devi, born on February 29, 1904, in a Brahmin family in Madurai, was considered to be the most important revivalist in the Indian classical dance form. Despite strong protest, she not only supported this art form, but also took it to a higher level, which was considered a low and vulgar art in the early 1920s.”

“Making her way from her small apartment in the city where she grew up, passing bombed out buildings, crowded cafes and ubiquitous security checkpoints, Nagham ventures daily to the studio where she first honed her internationally recognized skills as a ballerina.”