Category: dance

“If dance, for two countries with a fractious history and a tense present, is a mutually comprehensible language, then Hallberg is something of a poet laureate. Who better to represent the state of American art? Who better to turn rivalry into collaboration?”

“The breakout stars of last night’s Super Bowl halftime show were, needless to say, the sharks. Flanking Katy Perry, they mutely waved their fins and flapped their jaws to the words of ‘Teenage Dream.’ … But Left Shark, (who, for what it’s worth, was actually ‘stage right shark’), visibly struggling with the choreography, promptly became the butt of the internet’s jokes.” But we should cut him some slack. (includes video)

“Flex is said to have originated in the 1990s in Jamaica with a dancer who called himself Bruck Up. It developed in Brooklyn, mainly in dance battles and tournaments, both informal and organized. Although the form has found exposure through television competitions and an ocean of online music and dance videos, the attention from the likes of Mr. Sellars is recent.”

“Every dancer has her head positioned at the same angle, all in perfect rows, symmetrical, identical. Some productions include uniform wigs for all of their dancers. This aesthetic can still be seen on full display with the Russian companies today, and is one of their signature artistic strengths. Is racism therefore subconsciously built into the very structure of classical ballet?”

“The ballet world, desperate for an heir to Balanchine and Robbins, tends to deify bright young men, and as it tries to puff Justin Peck up, he seems determined to stay firmly on the ground, so to speak.”

“I am convinced that choreography is not only the best [art] form to buy a ticket for, it is also an orchestration of encounters, the setting up of encounters between different minds,” she said. “I hope we give audiences the possibility to enter the choreography themselves, but also to intellectually stimulate the publics we encounter, more than just satisfy them and try to do it very gently, not aggressively.”

Says the choreographer about Ballet 422, Jody Lee Lipes’s new documentary about the creation of Peck’s first dance for his colleagues at New York City Ballet, “I was actually a little bit surprised by how young I look in it. I felt like I was watching this kid stand in front of the room and make a ballet.”

“When she came across Kathak, the staccato rhythms of the dance form reminded [choreographer Helena] Waldmann of the rapid needle of a sewing machine. She saw the stomping footwork of Kathak as the perfect symbol of the pressures faced by garment workers.”

“The Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova and contemporary dancer Jonathan Goddard become the first to win in both major dancer categories, while Carlos Acosta takes home the lifetime achievement honours.”

“Northumbria University conducted a study about the male dance moves that are attractive to women. Now you won’t have to think twice the next time you go to a wedding. Just take a look at the science.” (video)