Category: dance

“On Friday 5 October, at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Céline Gittens and Tyrone Singleton of Birmingham Royal Ballet will dance the lead roles in the company’s production of Swan Lake. In doing so, the pair will turn an important page in the art form’s history. Both are mixed-race, and it will be the first time that the ballerina role has been taken by a non-white dancer.”

For instance, the antique Samoan swords may have sparked off a fire that cause $150,000 in damages in Illinois.

“First of all, I was excited by Los Angeles on a personal level. I am also intrigued by the fact that (a serious dance company) never really took hold here. There’s no reason for it not to. I think there was just never the chance for the right project at the right moment to take place. … Also there is a sort of buoyant and free spirit here that has existed for a long time.”

“Nearly a dozen pairs of Louboutin shoes, which sell for up to £1,000, were found strewn across the stage at the new Crazy Horse venue chewed beyond repair. The foxes were said to have gnawed at the high heels … before biting off the straps.”

“Priscilla Crommelin-Ball has resigned as executive director of the Montgomery Ballet, effective immediately. … ‘After careful consideration, I feel compelled to separate from the Montgomery Ballet. … Frankly, balancing the demands of the ballet with my obligations to my family business has become unfair to both’.”

The veteran choreographer, directing her first festival, “decided to increase spending on new works and on education programs, and compensate by reducing the number of shows (35 compared with 40 in 2010). She has also extended the biennial beyond Lyon to neighboring towns, which, she said, cuts costs and reaches new audiences.”

“The Joyce Theater is buying its longtime home in Chelsea for $20 million and selling its SoHo location for about $27 million, according to theater officials. The transactions … will not affect the Joyce’s plans to be the anchor tenant at the performing arts center planned for ground zero.”

“American Ballet Theater has recruited Ivan Vasiliev as a principal dancer, … the company said on Monday. Mr. Vasiliev and the ballerina Natalia Osipova created a stir nearly a year ago when they announced they were leaving Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet for the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg.”

“Where other operas have a story, this one has stage images that move to music. Everything that happens in its scenes and between them is choreographed, fitted by [Robert] Wilson into his intricate visual and thematic design. Even the stagehands dance.”

“Not that others haven’t tried” – notably the Joffrey Ballet, which tried to make a go of it at the Music Center in the 1980s (and ended up in Chicago). “Many hope, and some actually believe, that Millepied has the right mix of pedigree, name recognition and fundraising savvy to build a company that can fill theater seats, generate sustained audience interest and, finally, put Los Angeles on the dance map.”