Category: dance

“The managing director of Festival Ballet Providence and seven board members resigned this week over a difference in ‘artistic vision’.” Meanwhile, “Carmen, which was supposed to be staged next month, has been moved to February, because the company is not in a financial position to mount it now.”

Downtown dance’s equivalent to Off-Broadway’s Obies “are in the midst of an overhaul that … includes broadening the field to consider more types of dance (like ballet, Indian classical dance and Broadway); a departure from general categories to specific ones; and a new structure for nominating and voting.”

“Dancers Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding have appeared with Riverdance and other Irish-style dance productions in venues around the world. For their latest project, however, … a video titled ‘We No Speak Americano,’ the dancers perform a comic number entirely with their hands and arms.”

The Belgian choreographer’s Sutra “fuses contemporary European dance, the martial arts feats of 17 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, an ingenious set of wooden boxes by the British sculptor Antony Gormley and an original score by the Polish composer Szymon Brzoska.”

“Dance has always held a central place in Arab society, even as the dancers themselves have been relegated to the margins. Wendy Buonaventura looks back at the roots of Arab dance, its impact on Western society and the place of dancers in the Middle East today.”

“Just two years ago, facing a financial crunch, Boston Ballet laid off staff and reduced the main company from 50 to 41. … This season, working on a budget of $24 million-$25 million, the main company roster is back up to 47, and further additions are planned over the next few years.”

This week, an ad “showing a fine-featured, blonde-haired woman outfitted in a nude bustier will be projected against buildings in neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side and SoHo. She’s captured in an embrace with a muscular young man, his arms encircling her waist. While they could be hawking lingerie, or perhaps perfume, what in fact they’re selling is ballet.”

“José Manuel Carreño, the veteran American Ballet Theater dancer, has announced he is retiring in August 2011.” The Cuban-American star, who has just announced plans to lead a new dance festival in Sarasota, will continue to perform as a guest artist.

“The Monte Carlo casino-resort has replaced longtime Las Vegas Strip headline magician Lance Burton with … Jabbawockeez, the first-season winner of MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew” competition.”