Category: dance

“If there is such a thing as the wrong side of the tracks, that’s where Misty Copeland grew up. She, her divorced mother and five siblings moved around like nomads. Down on their luck, they ended up here at this motel on a busy street in Gardena, California — the whole family piled into two rooms. She hadn’t been back in almost two decades until she returned with us.” (script plus video extras)

“Veteran film and music video director Sanaa Hamri (Something New, Just Wright) has been tapped to direct MGM’s Taking Flight, an adaptation of the book Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina by Michaela DePrince and her mother, Elaine DePrince.”

“‘Programs fight to get boys to come to their programs and offer them incredible financial packages, just to come to their summer workshops,’ Madonia says. ‘They might get full tuition. In many places, they get housing. Sometimes they even provide transportation, a stipend, a living expense.'”

“You’ve heard of farm-to-table, surely. Vermont is now one step ahead, with Farm to Ballet, a series of performances across the state this month. It’s the brainchild of Natch Pregger, a professional dancer who has performed with the Boston, Washington, D.C. and Houston ballets. As a native Vermonter, he wanted to create a performance piece around the state’s bucolic rhythms.”

“[The company] on Thursday announced the resignation of its executive director, Courtney Mauro Barker, and the departure of its artistic director, Gabriel Zertuche. … A spokeswoman for the ballet said the organization would have no further comment beyond its announcement, which gives no reasons for the departures.”

“To understand what it takes to become a professional ballerina, I wanted to find out how much the required ballet training really costs. There are many factors that go into the cost of training, and when I totaled the core expenses, I found that a pre-professional ballet education for girls can easily amount to a total of more than a hundred thousand dollars.”

“Ballet is, in many ways, a superhuman art form, but it’s important to remember that dancers are still human. … With Instagram, dancers have found a way to break through the tulle and tiaras by presenting backstage life on their terms.”

Richmond Ballet member Kirk Henning gave his company colleague and bride, Valerie Tellmann-Henning, a big, wonderful surprise – a surprise that’s been viewed more than 165,000 times. (includes video)

“This day has been in the planning for two years and we want it to run with no surprises, please. Like an athlete in training, you want to be ready, but not overtrain, leaving your race at the gate. The cosmetics are about showing control – at least to myself.”