Category: dance

Can’t get to The Nutcracker this year? That’s OK; just go shopping, and the ballerinas will come to you.

What’s up with the hard times at Clara’s family Christmas? No live music plus a terrible recording equals a ballet without life.

“If a political campaign across a country as large and diverse as the United States can coordinate hundreds of thousands of people then there is no reason a small profession like dance cannot do the same in the UK.”

“A new business model is important for the organization’s future, he said. ‘What that entails, however, is not what interests me as an artist. And it’s important to find someone whose vision aligns with that new direction.'”

“With this week’s resignation of artistic director Christopher Stowell, Oregon Ballet Theatre faces a midseason crisis that raises questions about the financial and artistic future of Portland’s premier dance company. The abrupt departure comes as OBT is experiencing staff turnover and belt-tightening that echoes what it underwent in 2009, when the company … came close to shuttering for good.”

“The origins of dance are simple emotions, like joy or sorrow. Maybe some ceremonial dances, like rituals, could be included in these two basic emotions that force humans to move, to dance. When ballet-makers try to attach very complicated matters, it does not really work.”

“OBT’s Board of Trustees has determined that the organization must adopt a new business model and, after much thought, I have come to the conclusion that I am not the best candidate to lead OBT into that future.” Stowell spent nine years as the company’s artistic director, presiding over a leap in OBT’s profile and stature.

With popular choreographers such as Olivier Wevers, Danielle Agami and Zoe Scofield, a good infrastructure of classes and studios, an enthusiastic audience, and costs of living and creating work far lower than in New York, the Emerald City has become a destination for young dancers.

“1. You see sugar plums. We see dollar signs. … 2. Your family outing might equal your mortgage payment. … 3. We depend on child labor. …” And so on.

CBS’s flagship newsmagazine profiles the US’s flagship ballet company. Correspondent Lesley Stahl talks with ballet master Peter Martins, visits a School of American Ballet class, and watches from the wings a performance of Balanchine’s Apollo.