Category: dance

Christopher Wheeldon is unquestionably a talented choreographer. But, wonders Robert Gottlieb, “why don’t his ballets—and we’ve seen a lot of them by now, a dozen or so for City Ballet alone—add up to a coherent artistic statement? Where is the major work that will identify his essential qualities and justify the hopes everyone has placed in him?”

A new production of Swan Lake that has been making serious waves since its premiere last year in Shanghai is preparing to take the “unconventional blend of classical ballet and traditional Chinese acrobatics” on a major world tour including Russia, Japan, Germany, and the U.S. The production, which includes acrobatic feats worthy of Cirque du Soleil, is a complete reimagining of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet, and even changes the storyline to make it more relevant to modern Chinese audiences.

The dance capital of the United States? How about San Francisco, which, Rachel Howard points out, has the highest concentration of dance activity in the countyr. Here it is, A to Z…

“The Oakland Ballet said Tuesday that it is closing after four decades because of an ongoing ticket slump and the loss of its venue.”

It’s nice to be appreciated at home, but Australian dance would like some attention in the US too. So at the recent Arts Presenters conference in New York, Australian dancers made their case. And it has paid off…

Rebecca Wright, director of the company’s school, has died. “Wright’s death falls especially hard on the institution because she had directed the school only since September 2004. Wright, 58, was the first successor to founder Mary Day, who had run the school for 60 years. Wright had been brought on to continue Day’s tradition of nationally recognized excellence, said Artistic Director Septime Webre, but she barely got a chance.”

The American Music Center has made grants to 24 New York and New Jersey dance companies to support live music accompaniment. The Live Music for Dance program has made more than 400 grants, totaling $4.75 million, over the last two decades.

“In early February, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will announce that it is giving its extensive archives to the Library of Congress… The collection of papers, films and audiotapes includes 8,500 black-and-white photographs of Ailey dances and 4,000 programs from 1958 to 2004.”

San Francisco Ballet’s new season opens this week. But many of the company’s season subscribers hadn’t received their tickets. “Subscribers ordinarily receive their tickets in December, well before the season opens during the last week of January. But as of Jan. 9, subscribers still had not received their tickets. The problem apparently lies with an Illinois company that was hired to provide the ticket services but ‘completely blew it’.” How? They sent tickets third-class mail rather than first-class.

The Royal Ballet cleans up at this year’s Critics Circle National Awards…