Category: dance

“The flexibility allowed to Artistic Director Septime Webre had been a key issue. Disagreements over such issues as how and when he could dismiss dancers, how he could expand his roster with the use of students from the Washington Ballet’s school, and how many dancers he would be required to employ — which the ballet viewed as stepping into areas of artistic control — were the chief reasons the contract process took so long.”

Washington Ballet and its dancers have reached an agreement on a new contarct…

The Mark Morris Dance Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary. But Morris himslef is dancing less and less. “I’m barely dancing at all these days. And I don’t think I’m going to perform on tour much anymore. But I’m not retired from the stage. I’m sure of that. I’ll still be dancing in shows I plan to give in my own building. I like the scale there.”

The uproar that greeted the first performance of Rite of Spring in Paris almost 100 years ago kicked off the avant garde of a new century. But was the extreme reaction of the crowds staged?

“How much should a critic know about a choreographer’s intentions and talk about them? There often seems to be a disconnect between what choreographers say they’re doing and what actually occurs onstage.” Tere O’Connor takes issue with how critics write about dance.

Washington Ballet “has been on hiatus since mid-December, when negotiations on a first-time union contract for the dancers turned sour. Among the issues still unresolved: how the school’s students will be used in professional productions, how many dancers will be in the company, and terms of employment. By all accounts, these are standard fare for the negotiating table. In other dance companies, somehow a balance of interests is achieved and shows go on. So what’s holding up the Washington Ballet? A year after its dancers joined a union to correct what they say were poor working conditions, and after months of negotiating an employment contract, why is there no deal? And no dancing?”

What’s happening to flamenco? “Alongside the remnants of flamenco puro, or at least flamenco interesante, that’s what we’re getting: a marriage of flamenco with MTV. What will come of this? Last year, Robert Browning said, of the flamenco innovators, ‘There is always the danger of ending up in a Las Vegas show. On the other hand, you have to be open to new ideas.’ Nice sentiment, but how come the resulting product so often tips toward Vegas?”

“What would raise the vitality quotient of ballet in San Diego? The knee-jerk response: Have one ballet company instead of three. Certainly there’d be some benefits if a single company had a budget the size of all three combined. The deeper question, however, involves not money but vision.”

Dance shows are big in the TV ratings. So You Think You Can Dance is a competition that “puts dancers through a 12-week competition/boot camp to master everything from ballroom to hip hop. The winner gets a New York apartment and enough cash to live their dream.”

Researchers say some people are genetically engineered to dance. “People are born to dance. They have (other) genes that partially contribute to musical talent, such as coordination, sense of rhythm. However, the genes we studied are more related to the emotional side of dancing — the need and ability to communicate with other people and a spiritual side to their natures that not only enable them to feel the music, but to communicate that feeling to others via dance.”