Category: dance

“But ballet dancers’ work is about creating a fantasy world, so it’s not so surprising Sergei and Jessica Rayevskiy harbor a dream of building a professional ballet troupe in our gritty, hard-times town.”

“Her mother, Alexandra Fedorova, was a prima ballerina at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, and danced in the first performance ever of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. … [Her] uncle, Michael Fokine, was a famous choreographer, sometimes called the father of modern ballet.”

When he brought his company to the Tate Modern for a residency, he “decided to get the public involved. … [W]ould-be dancers were invited to apply on a first-come-first-served basis. The only stipulation was that they should not have been trained, and be available for rehearsals.”

“Graham Lustig, former artistic director of American Repertory Ballet in New Brunswick, has been named artistic director of the Oakland Ballet in California. The troupe [is] known for its ground-breaking Diaghilev-era revivals.”

The NMDC, founded by the national Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, will be the first contemporary dance company in Korea to have the level of government support and infrastructure provided to the Korea National Ballet Company and the National Dance Company of Korea, the flagship troupe for traditional dance.

“[Their] work combines the lift and extensions of ballet with swaying hips and rubbery limbs.” A Guardian Step-by-Step Guide tells the story of the company, which started out in a converted single-family house during Brazil’s military dictatorship and now, 35 years later and world-famous, is still a family business.

“He says he’s not interested in the ‘weak, whining, complaining self’ but instead when people ‘forget about themselves, drop the ego and have a sense of expansion … I don’t want them to play Simon Says with me. I don’t want sycophants – I want to work with geniuses’.”

“Although Mr. Duato is a well-regarded choreographer, his lush movement style, which combines a balletic line with a more contemporary weightedness, is hardly on the cutting edge. Still, putting him in charge of a state ballet company is a bold move in a country where tradition holds a powerful allure and change, by all accounts, is exceptionally hard to implement.”

“With its fourth season set for Wednesday through Aug. 28, the festival now includes three free events at three different venues. Scan the many thousands who flock to Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion and pack the lawn beyond it and it is easy to see that a large, enthusiastic and sophisticated audience for top-notch classical ballet and contemporary dance exists in this city.”

“A project to bring ballet to Birmingham’s suburbs is getting scores of the city’s teenagers pointing their toes. Professional dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) are giving around 80 teenagers a crash course in dance, lighting, costume and set design.”