Category: dance

“A new technology developed by the environmental innovation lab Enviu takes advantage of the vast amount of energy expended by revellers as they throw themselves around the dance floor. When you dance, you generate energy by the shaking of the ground. What we do, very simply, is to capture the movement of dancing people and transform it into energy.”

“I’ll be doing eight shows a week. I’m going to take it one show at a time and try to keep it a little bit different each time. At the ballet we had so many casts for each show, you’d maybe get to do three shows maximum. Here you really get to build your character, once you’ve worked past the nerves and stress.”

“The Texas Ballet Theater’s former chief fundraiser expressed skepticism Saturday about whether the company will be able to raise the $1 million to $1.5 million it said it needs over the next two months to avoid possibly closing its doors after 47 years of operation.”

“Take your pick — there’s no shortage of dance on TV. Inspired viewers maybe even try out a move or two on the living room floor, or sign up for classes, secretly hoping that they, too, could hack it as a professional. Dancing days are here again, and the ratings are soaring.”

“The canceled trip is a symptom of ongoing financial and managerial problems that have resulted in an operating budget deficit estimated at $400,000. Ballet officials confirmed the deficit figure Wednesday. The China trip was canceled when the ballet was not able to raise the remaining $70,000 to underwrite artistic director Ben Stevenson’s presentation of Cleopatra, which was to be performed by the troupe in Shanghai and other Chinese cities.”

“Maina Gielgud danced in her first pair of pointe shoes at the age of six. That is at least five years before the bones are fully formed but, remarkably, the glued and stiffened shoes did no harm to Gielgud’s slender feet. Half a century later she was still teaching ballet class in pointe shoes. She reluctantly discarded them three or four years ago. It was, she says, “a huge, major decision.”

“Why do some Morris works thrill while others irritate? The dichotomy has grown only more marked. I find it striking that no overemphasis on choreography has ever bothered me when Mr. Morris himself is dancing.”

Along with the considerable hype, Christopher Wheeldon’s much anticipated new company generated came some pointed criticism as well last summer in New York and London. “Sounding a bit chastened, artistic director , one of the most sought-after choreographers in the world, did not hesitate to acknowledge the lumps the company took.”

“Before the revolution, Farzaneh Kaboli was Iran’s most famous dancer, the glittering star of the internationally renown Mahalli Dancers. Today, at the age of 59, she is a teacher-choreographer without an audience. Only on special occasions can her dances be performed in public and, even then, at the risk of being jailed or fined. Kaboli has been imprisoned twice, and on several other occasions has had to pay heavy fines owing to public-decency complaints that came after the fact.”

“Owning a building that consolidates operations is typical for major American ballet companies. The companies with the largest budgets either have them or are well on the way.”