Category: dance

“An attorney for a small, independent union of ballet dancers and stagehands [at American Ballet Theatre] pleaded guilty Thursday to falsifying reports about more than $350,000 in checks he wrote to himself, his law firm and his ex-wife, from the union account.” Leonard Leibowitz, 72, faces up to one year in federal prison.

Native Australians who have spent their entire lives in cities often find it difficult to connect with indigenous culture. Bangarra Dance Theatre is helping provide a link – for its own dancers as well as for audiences.

Sylvie Guillem’s latest appearance on the London stage has been applauded by the critics, one of whom said the 46-year-old was “still one of the most astonishing dancers on stage today”.

“Anyone who has ever wondered if modern dance would be better off with supertitles will giggle over a dancer who backs up her every random and extravagant move with a whole paragraph of exposition. And anyone else–who knows how little dance and talk have in common–will appreciate the goofy aplomb with which the Dancer exposes the art form’s naïve hopes and pretensions.”

“American Ballet Theatre will travel to Oman this fall to perform in the inaugural season of the Royal Opera House Muscat, the company will announce Wednesday. ABT’s performances will be the first by an American arts organization at the new venue, the first of its kind in the Islamic nation.”

“At first glance, ballerinas and soldiers may not seem to have much in common. But an experimental program bringing together dancers and injured veterans of the war in Afghanistan is showing that, when it comes to determination and physical endurance, there are distinct similarities.”

“One might think that, having hashed out a legal document and established trustees, there would now be a clear course of action. The reality is considerably more fraught. … This predetermined finish line means that plans for the dancers are both straightforward and hugely complex, in ways practical and emotional.”

“In general, the bigger the shell, the longer it will take to burst and the higher it will go. By inserting the size, firing time, and type of each shell into a firing script, a choreographer can lay out a series of effects that unfold at different heights in time to the music. If he’s using a fireworks choreography software package, he doesn’t have to look up (or memorize) all of the height and timing information for each shell. Instead, he can drag items from a digital catalog directly into an online script.”

“This visit to Russia, with performances in St. Petersburg Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, was sponsored by the U.S. State Department and others as part of President Obama’s effort to engage Russia and warm up a relationship that had been cooling.”

“Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker will play at the O2 between Christmas and New Year, and is expected to feature more than 60 dancers, who will be accompanied by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.”