Category: dance

“How many classical ballet dancing jobs, full-time, are there in Great Britain? I make it just 289. That’s the Royal Ballet 94, English National Ballet 67, Birmingham Royal Ballet 57, Scottish Ballet 36, Northern Ballet 35. Rambert does sometimes take classically trained dancers: another 23. So, at a stretch, 312 full-time jobs for Britain’s classical ballet graduates to be searching for a vacancy in.”

What better time to get hot and sweaty with everyone from the office? It’s a new craze – and it’s sweeping Europe.

Harper Watters, who joined the Houston Ballet in 2009, recounts his journey – and how online videos made a big difference to his training.

“‘Star’ is a word that is frequently used to describe a principal dancer in many countries. But at the Paris Opera, it is an official title, resonant with prestige and conferred only at the mysterious discretion of the director. It is part of a promotional system that differs from most other ballet companies in its almost military formality.”

As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, “Australia’s national ballet company is profiling a year in the life of two of the company’s dancers, senior artist Amy Harris and Queensland corps de ballet dancer Jake Mangakahia.”

“The MCB board of directors is scheduled at a meeting Tuesday to select either Jennifer Kronenberg, a popular, longtime principal dancer who is Villella’s choice as the best person to carry on his legacy, or Lourdes Lopez, a Miami-raised, Cuban-American former principal dancer with New York City Ballet who is favored by some executive board members and advisors.”

“When the Birmingham Royal Ballet announced plans to perform Sir Peter Wright’s inspired version of The Nutcracker at the vast O2 arena in London, it was hailed as a brave attempt to bring ballet to the masses. … Victor Hochhauser, who agreed to promote the ballet, [says] that he is suing the owners of the O2 Arena for more than £338,000.”

“The Museum of Modern Art has commissioned the artist and choreographer Ralph Lemon to create a three-week program of dance performances entitled Some Sweet Day” to be performed in the museum’s atrium this fall.

“As the Charleston Ballet Theatre concludes its 2011-12 season, it is coping with the aftermath of a mass resignation of board members, dancers’ allegations of mistreatment and a tenuous financial predicament. This series of blows is threatening to undo the ballet organization, a cornerstone of the city’s cultural landscape for 25 years.”

“Ballet lovers may ‘truly feel that they are dancing’ when they watch a performance, researchers have found after measuring the brain activity of experienced spectators.” (Okay, that may be overstating the case a bit.)