Category: dance

“The pair do not subscribe to Australia’s old ‘cultural cringe’; they are living proof of what the country is capable of artistically. But asked how they would improve Australia, they answer immediately and in unison: ‘More money to the arts.'”

“This is not choreography for the faint of heart. Tethered by harnesses and ropes, belayed by riggers from above, the dancers engage in constant risk management, watching for jagged surfaces, crumbling sandstone beneath their feet and the ever-present threat of rope snarls.”

“While art museums have dabbled in live performance since the 1960s, ‘the real estate has changed,’ said the choreographer Ralph Lemon … ‘Museums are now offering performance spaces beyond just the gardens and basements and unannounced hallways.’ The trend is proving a sure way to drive up traffic.”

“Kate Champion, artistic director of Force Majeure, and Kelli Jean Drinkwater, associate artist and fat activist, talk about the company’s new show featuring big-bodied performers. Nothing to Lose is ‘driven by dance’, says Champion, but also draws on the dancers’ real-life experiences to challenge preconceptions and reclaim a performance space for large bodies.” (video)

Choreographer Patrick Scully, who has already done a similar project in Germany, hopes to get a cast of 100 kayaks, racing sculls, motorboats, paddleboards, and maybe even a barge to perform a work on the river in the Twin Cities this summer. (No sailboats, though.)

Sports fans and viral video mavens have seen the haka, the traditional pre-battle dance that New Zealand’s national sports teams (most notably, rugby’s formidable All-Blacks) do on the field before a match. Now the clever Kiwis have figured out how to do the haka on skates. (video)

“Male and female roles are clearly defined in Pakistan, and transgender people often face harassment and abuse. One role where they are tolerated is as dancers at weddings and other celebrations at which men and women are strictly segregated. In between the dancing and showers of rupee notes, they must fend off groping from drunken guests.”

Advice from a ballet master at Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.

“‘Now you get into the heart of the choreography challenge,’ Scully said. ‘You can’t teach a sailboat to do a cartwheel.'”

“While major ballet companies usually have plenty of dancers who fully deserve the title of ballerina, most don’t boast more than one or two who will define their generation and redefine its accomplishments. “