Category: dance

“When Misty Copeland was discovered at age 13 by a ballet instructor at her local Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, Calif., she was so poor that she’d never seen a ballet, heard of ballet or knew what a ballerina looked like. … Today, at 30 years old, Misty Copeland is the first black female in two decades to be a soloist at the American Ballet Theatre.”

“Much of the UK ballet world is in mourning today, following the announcement that Alina Cojocaru and her partner Johan Kobborg will be leaving the Royal Ballet at the end of this season.”

“Council member Gamal Hamed, of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, said ballet dancing promotes ‘indecency’ in society. ‘[Ballet] is the art of nudity, spreading immorality and obscenity among people,’ Hamed said.”

“That freedom of movement — the idea that movement comes from within the body and is expressed through the entire body, not just hands and feet, was very influential.”

“For about two decades after the death in 1983 of the great choreographer George Balanchine, critics lamented the dearth of important new dance makers in classical ballet. … Then at the dawn of the 21st century came Christopher Wheeldon at the New York City Ballet, and Alexei Ratmansky at the Bolshoi Ballet. Suddenly ballets seemed to offer something fresh and new.” And they’re not by any means the only ones.

“Benoit-Swan Pouffer has resigned as the artistic director of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet … Mr. Pouffer, who served as the artistic director since 2005, resigned roughly two weeks ago and left to pursue other opportunities, according to a statement released by the company.”

“It’s a job that makes a good amount of money. It’s almost impossible to find in business a job where you can make that amount of money. So you get involved in that and it becomes an addiction, making money. It becomes a body addiction too. It’s definitely not a passion.”

“After years of struggle, including possible eviction because of unpaid rent, cash flow problems, trouble getting foundation support and the loss of a major rental partnership, Dance New Amsterdam, a dance space in Lower Manhattan, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.”

A poor choice of words by Australian Broadcasting Company broadcasters – the phrase “Sydney dance company” is not, in fact, generic – misled concerned supporters and fans to believe that SDC would be closing in the wake of allegations of child sexual abuse.