Category: dance

“Partnerships are very particular to the world of ballet – chemistry between two performers can create a stage presence that’s wonderfully larger than their individual selves. What creates that chemistry is as mysterious as any real-life love affair.”

“Ballet dancers develop differences in their brain structures to allow them to perform pirouettes without feeling dizzy. Researchers from Imperial College London said dancers appear to suppress signals from the inner ear to the brain.”

Katherine E. Brown: “It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. … The ballet needed a new approach. It had incurred serious deficits, and ticket sales and financial sources were declining.”

The music “was sung by the dancers themselves. And according to some accounts, those dancing the carole would often go on for hours.” Then there’s the problem of the Devil …

According to a Dance/USA survey, small companies “are holding more performances (up 3%) and bringing in more audience members (up 12%). Ticket revenue rose 14%, though only in New York.”

“Years of training in ‘spotting’, the technique of quickly and repeatedly bringing your gaze to two specific points in front and behind you, certainly helps, but new research suggests that the brain’s ability to adapt plays a powerful role. And it could help better treat and diagnose people who suffer from chronic dizziness.”

“Choreographer Hofesh Shechter is to guest direct Brighton Festival 2014, an annual mixed arts event that takes place across the city. Shechter, who is also a composer and musician, will open the festival with his contemporary dance company’s new production in May.”

“The Rolling Dance Chair was born from the brain of a dancer, not an engineer. It has taken seven years and $150,000 of grant money to get to this point, evolving from a stripped down Segway — those rolling devices that tour groups ride through cities — to a sleek, elegant design.”

“The choreographer said his organisation was about to enter a period of ‘development and growth’ over the next two years, which will include the revivals of the ‘crowd-pleasing hits'” – The Car Man and Edward Scissorhands – alongside new large and medium-scale projects … [including] a dedicated rehearsal and studio space.”

Dance/USA gives a rundown of the relevant issues on the Capitol’s dockets, from sequestration to visa requirements for foreign artists to NEA appropriations.