Category: dance

“The Louisville Ballet’s executive director Dwight Hutton is resigning from the position effective Dec. 31 … [He] declined to comment on his decision to leave the position and return to Seattle, where his wife and two daughters live.”

“Even as the headquarters and factories of more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies here closed, taking their arts donations with them, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, founded by Jeraldyne Blunden in 1968, has managed to hold on.”

“His comment was just below the belt. It’s well established that dancers are at a tremendous risk for eating disorders. Ballet companies are just now dealing with it. So this is really bad.”

“In eight hours, [three members of the Joffrey Ballet’s wardrobe team] must stitch the bodice, make the sleeves and create the 12-layer tutu – the last task alone normally is given 40 hours of labor.”

The New York City Ballet dancer whom NY Times critic Alastair Macaulay described as looking “as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many” appeared on NBC’sToday Show to talk about Macaulay’s comment and the backlash it provoked. “As a dancer, I do put myself out there to be criticized, and my body is part of my art form.”

“In 2003, while performing with a group of fellow choreographers in Nebraska, she met her future mentor Mikhail Baryshnikov, another convert [from ballet] to modern dance. ‘He said, ‘I heard you’re good. I want to see your work.’ I thought, Yeah, right, I’ll never hear from him again.’ Instead, two years later, Barton became the first choreographer in the [Baryshnikov Arts Center].”

“Riding a wave of popularity that has transformed a striptease genre into a cleaned-up and clothed version for fitness clubs around the world, … dozens of the world’s top pole dancers – male and female – gathered in Tokyo [last] week for the International Pole Dancing Championships, a premier event in the budding sport.”

“Natalie Portman’s ballet drama “Black Swan” led contenders Monday for the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards with a record 12 nominations, among them best picture and actress.”

“Fox Searchlight expanded the psychological ballet drama starring Natalie Portman to 90 theaters from 18 and saw phenomenal results on the movie’s second weekend. It took in $3.3 million and, despite playing in so few theaters, was the No. 6 picture for the weekend.”