Category: dance

“Growth is the buzz word at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre these days. The company announced Wednesday that it acquired 10,800 square feet of space … in the Strip District as part of a four-phase plan to grow Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s enrollment and engagement with the community.”

Peter Martins: “We are the largest ballet company in America; we dance more performances in the course of a year than any other ballet company [on] earth; we have close to 200 ballets in our entire repertoire – that requires a tremendous amount of concentration from everybody. Somehow it is a fantastically smooth-running machine.”

“Before Nureyev, one scarcely took note of male ballet dancers. Ballerinas were the stars. After him, ballet came into balance. He made it sexier and more electrifying, and male dancers everywhere stood a little taller. Technical standards rose, and the male range expanded, as audiences and choreographers reacted to new possibilities.”

“Most of the sets and costumes of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance, stored in a West Village basement, were submerged under 6 feet of water in Hurricane Sandy flooding, company officials said on Friday.”

“At 5 foot 9 inches, or 175 centimeters, with the square shoulders of a champion swimmer and a fiercely energetic drive to her dancing,” Marie-Agnès Gillot “is the odd woman out amid a slew of female dancers who tend to be demurely accomplished and physically well-suited to the Romantic-era roles of the classical repertory.”

“Between teaching, professional development and rehearsals, I’m in a studio or theater between 35 and 40 hours each week. That doesn’t include additional private lessons and guest teaching I do several times a month.”

Dancer “Carlos Acosta’s plan to inject life into the island’s hidebound ballet scene by refurbishing Havana’s crumbling dance school and turning it into an international center for culture and dance has ignited controversy for daring to reimagine the original architect’s vision.”

“To any observer the most evidently sensational feature of jookin is the extensive use of what a ballet observer is bound to call pointwork: the men, in sneakers, go onto tiptoe.”

“After this past winter’s turmoil seemed to threaten Ballet San Jose’s status as one of California’s premiere dance companies, the organization has recommitted to fundamentals. In its latest dramatic gesture, the ballet hired Emmy award-winning music director and conductor George Daugherty, while announcing that every performance this season will feature live music by Symphony Silicon Valley.”