“And you thought a new dance began with steps? [Jane] Weiner and other veteran choreographers in Houston say steps are the least of it. … Rarely is there some message they want viewers to ‘get,’ at least in the beginning.”
Category: dance
At The Ailey Dance Camp In Berkeley
“Some [students] are shy, some are less coordinated, but all of them seem galvanized by Mama Naomi’s driving patter. A warm, maternal presence, she nevertheless is a taskmaster and has the whole group down on the floor executing relentless patterns of crunches.”
Tougher Customers At The Ailey Dance Camp In Newark
“When [teacher] Nehprii Amenii of Brooklyn walked into Newark Arts High School for the first time this summer, she was prepared to be hit with what she called ‘full cannons of attitude’.”
Meet The Australian Ballet’s Roadie
Andrew “Woody” Wood spends weeks at a time driving the company’s regional touring arm to small cities and towns. “I really look forward to doing it every year. I’m there most nights – I normally stand backstage. I never really saw much ballet before this – maybe a couple of shows as a kid – but I love it now.”
Would You Like A Little Haggis Before That Plié?
The National Ballet of China has been busy catching up since the end of the Cultural Revolution – and now it’s marking new traditions by heading to Scotland.
Merce Cunningham’s Dances Live On, For A While
“Merce Cunningham is now seen as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists, on a par with Picasso and Stravinsky.” When Cunningham died, he wanted his dances to live on. But how can dancers, and administrators, meet that challenge?
Ballet Dancers In The Judging Box — Can They Hack It?
“The tap dancer and ‘Stomp’ cast member Michelle Dorrance turned to Ms. Peck: ‘Can you imagine if you went on there and did some Balanchine, and they were like, “Your tendu has so much swag!”‘”
Ballet San Jose May Drop Fall Performances
“For the first time in decades, Ballet San Jose, a company known as much for its perseverance as for its innovative performances, is unlikely to stage a ballet this fall, and will probably begin its season with December’s traditional performances of The Nutcracker.”
How Balanchine Liberated Men In Ballet
Mr. B. may or may not have actually said, “Ballet is woman,” but he thought that way. (Sometimes, teaching class, he’d forget the men were there.) “But when Balanchine made dances for men, the picture changed. … And many of those Balanchine roles for men were without precedent or equal.”
In Scotland, Dance Is More Popular Than Soccer (Says Report)
“Dance is more popular as a participatory activity than football in Scotland, according to a new report published by the Federation of Scottish Theatre.”