“Today there are only two full-time dance critics in the country … For a medium that can be difficult to understand, generalist coverage remains vital to the accessibility of the dance scene. As Deborah Jowitt, the former Village Voice critic, put it: ‘If art is valuable as a reflection – of a time, of a place, of a creation – then dance is just as important as literature or film, even though the audience for it is smaller.”
Category: dance
With Ballet Dancers More Diverse Than Ever, The Audience Is Still Very White
“Next to the vivacity of hip-hop or jazz, ballet may seem an odd choice to back as dance that could represent the country well.”
You Can Never Be Too Old For Ballet
“Just as gardening is not just a means to fresh air and purposeful exercise (but also produces the delights of a garden), so ballet for old people is no merely useful in strengthening muscles or regaining suppleness. It adds a new character to its practitioners’ hundred other accomplishments. Forget the tutus and pumps; ballet begins inside.”
Rupert Pennefather Leaves Royal Ballet, Effective Immediately
Neither the company nor Pennefather gave any reason for the departure. He had danced with the company for 16 years and was named a principal in 2008.
Morris Dancers In Mass Bar Brawl With Blind Soccer Team
“The footballers were enjoying a match on the village green at Rattlesden, near Stowmarket, using a ball with a bell in it so they could keep up with play. … A player kicked the ball off the pitch towards the Brewers Arms, and then mistook the morris dancers’ uniform bells for the one in the ball. He promptly kicked one of the dancers in the shin” – and so it began. – Hugh Dunnett?
The Street Dance Of The Favelas Becomes A Hit – And Reclaims Brazil’s African Heritage
“The spirit of danças da rua (street dances) – whose fusion of hip-hop, samba and the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira are most at home in gritty neighbourhoods – led to the formation of Balé de Rua, which now dazzles audiences in 13 countries.”
Buenos Aries’ Storied Teatro Colon Ballet Company Banks On A New Direction
“Argentina’s political and financial troubles over the last four decades have inevitably left their mark on cultural institutions. The ballet season has shrunk from about 15 ballets per season in the 1960s to just five now. At times directors have come and gone at a disquieting pace.”
Why Does So Much New Dance Have So Little To Do With Dance?
It’s an interesting reflection on something – either an overwhelming trend in Toronto’s contemporary dance scene or dance-curator Amelia Ehrhardt’s taste – that the choreography (so far) has been so sparse on actual “dance.” I use the term a bit loosely; I don’t mean to imply that text and pedestrian movement can’t fall under dance’s domain. But it’s surprising to see that so many young choreographers are more interested in breaking down barriers between forms than they are in finding innovations that exploit the singularity of their own.
ABT’s Newest Principal Is 37 – And Came Back From An Injury That Nearly Ended Her Career
Just as she was turning 30, Stella Abrera damaged her back and sciatic nerve; recovery took 18 months and a relearning of her technique. Six years later, she’s been made a principal dancer. “It’s got to be unprecedented by someone at my age, at this point in the game to be promoted.”
‘Center Stage’ Meets ‘Breaking Bad’: A Look Inside Starz’s New Ballet Series, ‘Flesh And Bone’
“If you think it’s strange that an Emmy-winning veteran of Breaking Bad has moved on to a show about ballet, then clearly you haven’t seen what can happen to feet crammed inside toe shoes all day.” (video)