Category: dance

Kathryn Bennetts called the Flanders government’s money-saving plan to merge the ballet with the Flemish Opera “ignorant and arrogant … I do the programming.” Of the minister responsible for the decision, she said, “She shouldn’t pretend to know anything about the arts. She should listen to experts like me.”

“The audience here is extremely well versed in ballet, people are knowledgeable, and they know the individual dancers, and they have their favorites, and you walk into the theater and there’s already a hum, people know ballets. It’s really wonderful because you have this engagement you don’t get in the United States.”

“What is it about the Cuban training that makes its take on ballet, and especially Giselle, so distinctive? There are many ways of approaching the question, and here are just a few.” Alicia Alonso, José Manuel Carreño, Xiomara Reyes and two colleagues weigh in.

“One easy answer is that Fancy Free doesn’t boast the pyrotechnics and bravura that go a long way here, no matter the dance genre. … [And for] American audiences, Fancy Free can call to mind the history of World War II and an era of vigor. It is a healthy dose of New York nostalgia,” which Cubans wouldn’t share.

“At the school, the visiting dancers said they were awed and humbled by the beautiful but dilapidated conditions in which Cuba’s most talented young performers study. ‘It’s stunning, but at the same time it makes you feel horrible about how much money we throw around in New York’,” said one corps member.

When asked why he chose ballet over other sorts of dance, Siphe’s answer sounds mature beyond his years: “You have to work hard. That’s kind of special. And ballet’s, like, the hardest dance. You can go somewhere with ballet. Doing hip hop … Everyone can do hip hop.”

“Up here, in Chicago, more and more each year, the excitement of our dance scene sparkles with an unspoken Spanish accent. The backgrounds constitute a virtual United Nations of the Hispanic diaspora: Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala and Mexico, along with Spain itself.”

“The U.S. dance troupe is in Cuba for the 22nd International Ballet Festival of Havana, convened this year in honor of Alicia Alonso, who continues to lead Cuban ballet despite being nearly blind for decades. Alonso will turn 90 on Dec. 21. She remains an extremely demanding teacher known for her fiery temper, but also for a preternatural understanding of dance and an unparalleled sense of talent.”

Artistic director Ashley Page “is credited with transforming Scottish Ballet into one of the country’s most dynamic dance companies after he was hired from the Royal Ballet in 2002.” But Page has decided to depart when his contract expires in August 2012; he is said to regard the offer of a one-year extension as an insult.

Ushio Amagatsu: “If European/American dance is based on the concept of ‘being free from gravity,’ maybe we can say that in contrast, my dance is based on that of ‘sympathizing or synchronizing’ with gravity’.”