Category: dance

“Wallace McCain, billionaire frozen-food tycoon from New Brunswick, could join an exclusive club this morning when the National Ballet School announces major funding for its $90 million new home… The most intriguing question: Will McCain add his name to the very short list of philanthropists who have given $10 million or more to one of Toronto’s cultural projects?” The National Ballet School has long been one of Canada’s most important (and underfunded) dance institutions, and it is struggling to raise $50 million in private money to go with $40 million of government financing for its new facility.

“The Lincoln Center Festival’s Ashton Celebration has reintroduced the British choreographer to the American audience for dance, an audience for whom Balanchine has long reigned supreme. This renewed interest in Ashton may spark a fruitful exploration of what the 20th century’s two foremost geniuses of classical dance choreography have in common—and what makes each distinctive.”

Dance Connecticut, the producing and teaching organization that rose from the ashes of Hartford Ballet, has has gone out business because of its money problems.

Russell Halley and Jorge Guzman are “pushing against limits set by the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association, which requires that a competing couple consist of a man and a woman. The two dancers say that the rules are archaic and that they have proved that two men can dance powerfully and still be artistic. Moreover, they ask, if questions of gay identity and inclusion are being engaged in the workplace and in the bonds of marriage, then why not in professional and amateur sport?”

The graduation performances of the Royal Ballet School and the English National Ballet School show evidence of solid training. “The so-called Billy Elliott effect seems to be working; at both performances, there was a strong presence of boys, with four going into the Royal and Birmingham companies, and one into English National Ballet next season.” But where’s the star power?

Betty Oliphant, founder of Canada’s National Ballet School, has died at the age of 85. Emigrating from England in 1947, she became an icon of the Canadian dance scene. Some of the most celebrated dancers in the company’s history – including dancers Frank Augustyn, Veronica Tennant, Karen Kain and Rex Harrington, and artistic director James Kudelka – are graduates of the institution.”

The Joffrey Ballet returned to New York last week to participate in the Ashton celebration. “In the old days,” writes Tobi Tobias, “even when you weren’t feeling much admiration for it, you often still felt affection for the engaging personalities of its dancers and the troupe’s overall feisty spirit. My own happy acquaintance with several Ashton ballets comes solely from their Joffrey Ballet productions.  Looking at Les Patineurs, A Wedding Bouquet, and Monotones I and II this past week I could only wonder, What happened?  Not one of the stagings was as good as it should be—and had been.”

New York City Ballet used to draw 80,000-90,000 people in its Saratoga summer residencies. Now it’s more like 55,000. Both City Ballet and Saratoga want to keep the company performing in the upstate New York town, but they differ how to boost attendance…

“For most of its 33 years, Pilobolus Dance Theater has styled itself as a radical democracy, with four artistic directors making decisions in concert. But like so many utopian societies, this experimental collective based here in the bucolic hills of Litchfield County has struggled to live up to its ideals. Friction between the directors — Robby Barnett, Alison Chase, Michael Tracy and Jonathan Wolken — has pushed the troupe to the verge of disbanding in recent years… Enter Itamar Kubovy, an energetic theater director with a knack for tempering backstage rivalries.”

A surprise great ending to New York City Ballet’s Balanchine celebration, when the Georgian State Ballet performs. “Yes, Balanchine was crazy about the Georgian dancers; but the real relevance of their appearance at the State Theatre, the real Balanchine connection, lay in the dancers’ fierce attack, their discipline, their obvious love of what they were doing—these guys and dolls were out there giving their all. After the anemic and despondent work that characterized so many of the season’s earlier performances, it was more than exhilarating, it was thrilling to see this much energy, this absolute command of technique, this uncynical, unironic dedication.”