Category: dance

“The ephemeral nature of dance often leads to clichés about its being the art of the present. Would that it were. In some ways, the very fact that dance is fleeting makes it the least fully present of all the arts. Whether immediate or distant, the past intrudes, filtered through a most unreliable sieve: memory, which simultaneously augments and distorts every performance we see.”

“For the most part, his Kirov colleagues were unimpressed. They thought he was a showoff, and an untidy one. But it was that combination that won the hearts of his audience. He was a titan, but young and crazy–in other words, very appealing.”

“For reasons both artistic and economic, many contemporary choreographers have abandoned the idea of a hierarchical presentational model, one that begins in ’emerging choreographer’ samplers, extends through midsize theaters like the Joyce and then ascends to spaces like the Brooklyn Academy of Music.”

His new promotional video on MySpace promises that “Ballet = Sexy” and tries to upend popular perceptions of ballet as an uncool art form. “Most people’s idea of ballet is that it’s a big puffy pink glittery nightmare,” Mr. Wheeldon said. “It doesn’t always have to be that.”

“But for now he’s cagey about his plans. His early influence is likely to be on the dancers — their technique and artistic self-expression. Ashley Wheater, who does not choreograph, brings up studio work repeatedly in conversation.”

Is ballet irrelevant to a large chunk of the public because it consists of too many 100-year-old dances with no connection to modern life? George Steel, the composer-turned-chief of New York’s innovative Miller Theater, thinks so, and he’s using his venue to showcase new dance work in an effort to promote the idea that dance is better when its alive and new.

“Ballerinas with machine guns will grace the stage for the first performance at China National Grand Theatre, when the spectacular arts complex opens its doors on Tuesday. The Red Detachment of Women ballet is one of seven shows that will be put on during a trial of the silver, egg-shaped building designed by the French architect Paul Andreu.” Among the audience will be “people whose homes were demolished to make space for the theatre development.”

“Ashley Wheater — who trained at the Royal Ballet, worked with choreographer Frederick Ashton, was mentored by Rudolf Nureyev, danced with the Joffrey Ballet and has spent the past 18 years with the San Francisco Ballet as a dancer, ballet master and assistant to artistic director Helgi Tomasson — was formally named the new artistic director of the Joffrey Ballet. He is the immediate successor to the company’s two founders: Robert Joffrey, who died in 1988, and Gerald Arpino, now 84, who was named artistic director emeritus in July.”

“”We dance. You vote. That’s the essence of Ballet Nouveau Colorado’s 21st Century Choreography Competition, a YouTube-driven, ‘American Idol’-style contest that has the potential to make modern dance relevant to vast new audiences.”

“As an academic discipline, dance is relatively young, and it has had difficulty being recognized as a component of a liberal arts education, despite its many historical ties to higher education. Dance scholars consistently cite challenges in being taken seriously by colleagues and administrators.”