Category: dance

Much has been written and said about Merce Cunningham’s unique style of choreography, and his willingness to let different aspects of a performance progress on their own. “According to [Cunningham’s] rules the choreography, design and music are created separately and may be brought together as late as opening night, with the artists knowing little if anything about one another’s plans save the dimensions of the stage, the number and physical details of the dancers, and the work’s duration in time.”

Diana Vishneva, 30, is a principal dancer with the Kirov Ballet and American Ballet Theater, widely acknowledged as one of the world’s great ballerinas.

“There are nearly 5 million people participating in community dance each year in England, hardly a ‘hole’. Moreover, a recent survey of over 50,000 14-year-olds showed dance was the second most popular physical activity after football. Whether this will result in more Fonteyns and Darceys is a moot point: the important element is that dance as a general activity has a strong presence throughout the country.”

“The widely-held notion that dance is ephemeral is a major roadblock on the path to freeing dance from the proscenium stage. While live performances are wonderful and in some ways unique, they also can be replicated – with important changes and accommodations for each medium. But if most people in the dance community never question whether dance has to be a fleeting experience, there will be very little incentive to explore and invest in new approaches to preserving these performances for future generations.”

“Wearing blood-colored costumes and devilish papier-mâché masks that would make a gargoyle grimace, hundreds of worshipers disguised as demons danced through the streets here Thursday in one of Venezuela’s most exalted religious rituals. An Afro-Venezuelan tradition in parishes near the country’s Caribbean coast since the late 18th century, the ‘Dancing Devils’ have received support from President Hugo Chávez’s government as they seek to raise awareness about Venezuelan folklore and promote new forms of tourism.”

in pictures…

“In the all too real world of dance, and especially ballet, weight is no laughing matter. The scale, if not always a full-blown obsession, has been a critical career determinant for dancers for decades. There are, in fact, few other professions — only fashion, entertainment and some sports come readily to mind — where pounds, or a lack thereof, can be determinants of success. And though there appears to be an emerging plus-size culture elsewhere in the new millennium, the pressure is still on for dancers, whose bodies, after all, are their instruments.”

“Every weeknight, Alvin Ailey holds classes for the general public in ballet, hip-hop, Middle Eastern dance and other dance forms, including, on Friday, Afro-Cuban, the swaying dance and ecstatic music of the plantation workers of Cuba. It is an eye-catching performance at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 55th Street, and passers-by — sometimes one, sometimes 30 — take in the free show.”

“Twelve years after its Dublin premiere, its continued popularity proves that it was, and remains, a phenomenon of historic proportions. As evidence of ‘Riverdance’s’ enduring status, consider this: There are two full-fledged companies touring North America and the United Kingdom. The production has grossed at least $1 billion so far.”

“Coincidence has ordained that this month brings the formal farewell performances of four international ballerinas… The emotion generated by such farewells goes deep. A ballerina represents beauty; is an exalted ideal; exerts authority over the world onstage and her audience; holds the key to the meaning of each ballet. That’s quite a list of virtues. And yet it doesn’t fully explain why the departure of a beloved ballerina affects her audience with a pang beyond the one felt at the departure of one of her male counterparts.”