“It’s an exciting time for the art form, with new works and artists emerging: there is plenty to look forward to. It’s very different to the sense of gloom I remember when I started watching in the Nineties.” Zoë Anderson has a theory about why ballet was in a funk 20 years ago (like so much else in the world, it’s about the ’60s) and why things seem so much more promising today.
Category: dance
Three Black Female Dance Legends Sitting Around Talking
“Why is [Misty Copeland’s] breakthrough possible now, and what does this civil rights triumph mean for the future of ballet’s performers and its audience? Copeland and … Raven Wilkinson and Carmen de Lavallade joined us live on stage for a conversation on July 17, moderated by writer and producer Susan Fales-Hill.” (video)
‘The Common Denominator Is Pain’ – Two Dozen Greats Of Dance Talk About What The Life Is Really Like
Steven McRae, Wayne McGregor, Tamara Rojo, Hofesh Shechter, Marlon “Swoosh” Wallen, and others giver their takes – including this immortal advice: “Become an accountant.”
Working To Inspire More Misty Copelands In The Twin Cities
“The school aims to handle funding and other matters so students can bring their best work to the dance floor. The school helps students with everything from getting dance clothes and transportation to making sure there are healthy snacks available between classes.”
How Three Boys From Utah Changed Ballet In, And Brought The Nutcracker To, America
“The restless Christensens couldn’t seem to stay put. Which turned out to be providential for American ballet, especially on the West Coast. Willam brought ballet to Portland, Oregon, and later established the formidable Salt Lake City company that would be known as Ballet West. In between, there was San Francisco, where he and Harold spun off the ballet troupe from the opera company.”
What Do Ballet Companies Need To Do So Misty Copeland Isn’t A Lone Black Superstar?
“Right now, unfortunately, I would probably point to Europe. … In Europe, they’re actually looking for diversity. There is a lot of opportunity.”
How Do You Get More Dance In Rural Areas? Here’s One Plan
“The Rural Touring Dance Initiative, a three-year project, has been launched by the National Rural Touring Forum and seeks to address an under-representation of dance in rural areas. A report by Arts Council England in March found just 2% of national portfolio dance companies toured to rural regions in 2012 and 2013.”
What Marcelo Gomes Fears About Choreographing
“When you’re choreographing you have to be able to try things out, and to fail, and the fear is always that I’m putting my reputation as a dancer at risk. But now that I’ve started, I can’t hold myself back.”
Dance, Disability And Stretching The Limits Of Human Movement
“There still seems to be a distinction between companies interested in presenting diverse bodies and companies committed to a long-standing aesthetic norm. For now, the solution still exists in parallel structures rather than full-scale integration – not so different from what’s happening in ballet or, for that matter, sports. What’s fascinating about this debate between “excellence” and inclusivity is that it doesn’t exist the same way in breakdance culture.”
Black Dancers, White Ballets – Misty Copeland Is Not Enough (Classical Dance Makes The NY Times Op-Ed Page)
Laurie A. Woodard, formerly of Dance Theater of Harlem, now teaching at NYU: “Ms. Copeland’s career, on the stage and beyond, has brought ballet into the wider culture in ways Louis XIV could not have imagined. … [Yet] the insular world of classical ballet has limited not just the number of black ballerinas; there are only a handful of black classical choreographers. And for companies other than D.T.H., black spectators are rare. The days of whiting-up are behind us, but ballet still needs to change.”