Category: dance

The legendary Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo disbanded 42 years ago A new documentary about the company is “a saga of human indomitability and courage. ‘To see people that old who relied on their bodies for their whole careers, finding their bodies betraying them and still carrying on with optimism and exuberance, still working every day, is remarkable. These people are examples of lives well lived’.”

“From the start, Morris has gone in for nonconformity when it comes to the bodies he chooses to animate his work.  Instead of selecting for uniformity and conventional notions of a physical ideal, he has regularly assembled a miniature motley society of the small, the stocky, the lushly ample, the tall-and-skinny beanpole type, the delicate, the blunt, and, yes, a few whose ballet teachers may have had high hopes of placing in one of those finalists-only classical companies that go by their initials. The flat-footed and those whom the gods of turn-out have not favored have their place with Morris, as do the fresh and frank American girl and the sultry glamour girl (Betty and Veronica, if you will), the beach hero and the fellow into whose face the beach hero kicks the sand.”

Mikko Nissinen has spent his first three years at Boston Ballet completely remaking it. “He didn’t waste time making changes at the Ballet. Of its 47 current dancers, he’s hired 32. He’s made a fellow Finn, Jorma Elo, the company’s resident choreographer. Elo is a highly sought-after talent at the moment, ‘and when he goes around the world to work with other companies, he’ll go as resident choreographer of Boston Ballet’.”

A Danish newspaper reports that ballet is undergoing a worldwide surge in interest. “Denmark’s three accredited ballet schools are turning down applicants like never before, and the Peter Schaufuss Ballet in Holstebro is regularly performing to packed houses.”

Phillip Adams’ BalletLab has a short history – it was founded by Adams in 1998 – but the company has already made an impressive impact in Australia and abroad, having already toured to Beijing, Mongolia, Britain and Europe.”Product is what it is. But I’m not embarrassed about my art, and I’m an artist with a pretty clear vision of what I want to say to the world. I am a damn fine schmoozer and am one of those people that get out there and are not ashamed to say ‘this is my gear and I think you will like it’. I think there’s a place for it not just in the Australian scene, but in the international arena.”

After 20 years, last spring Rex Harrington closed out a stellar career as a principal dance with the National Ballet of Canada. But it was still a surprise this week when the company reported he wouldn’t be sticking around in some other capacity. “I just realized there are certain things I’d like to try if I’m not going to dance.”

Anthony Tudor died in 1987, yet “he is still regarded with a certain trepidation. He may be one of Britain’s finest choreographers, but his work rarely appears on the UK stage. Although four of his ballets are being performed at the Edinburgh festival this year – three by Ballet West USA, and Dark Elegies by the Rambert Dance Company – it owes more to coincidence than any official celebration of this unsung talent.”

After making no promotions in the past two years, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has just elevated a half-dozen dancers, a record for the company. Two are now principal dancers, and four are soloists.

Saratoga, New York is struggling to keep the New York City Ballet in summer residence. Ticket sales were up this summer, but not nearly enough. “What are we going to say when we kick them out of our town – ‘Come to Saratoga Springs, population 28,000, we used to be the summer home of City Ballet? We are concerned until we have in writing that City Ballet will be welcomed back at SPAC for many years to come. Anything less than a long-term residency here is unacceptable.”

The first-ever National Choreographers Institute was recently held in Southern California. It featured four choreographers – Peter Pucci, James Sewell, Ann Marie DeAngelo and Lynne Taylor-Corbett…