Category: dance

Joan Acocella looks at two modern masters. Paul Taylor is seventy-two, “and he has made more than a hundred dances, but one dance keeps reappearing. It goes like this: The dancers are a kind of community (we’re not sure what kind), and they perform maneuvers that they are very earnest about, and which look like rituals. This is somewhat comic—they think they’ve found an explanation of life. It is somewhat tragic, too, for the same reason. Mark Morris, on the other hand, is more abstract. “It has always been something of a mystery how Morris, who is a very sophisticated artist, and largely an abstractionist, became such a favorite with the public. One reason is that he’s often funny. Another is that he’s clear.”

India has an enviable tradition of government support for the arts, a system which requires a large bureaucracy and intricate rules to administer. A recent Delhi High Court ruling, however, threatens to establish a maximum age for performing dancers, a move which, according to Lewis Segal, would be devastating to the counry’s dance community. The court “ruled that dancers over 45 cannot be said to give performances, merely lecture-demonstrations. The ruling came in response to a petition filed in the court by Komala Varadan, a 62-year-old classical dancer insisting that she be listed as a performing artist in the files of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.”

“When Christopher Stowell first showed an interest in becoming a dancer, his parents ? Pacific Northwest Ballet co-artistic directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell ? were ‘concerned’.” But he persisted and went on to a career with San Francisco Ballet. “Now, two years after retiring from the stage, Stowell, 36, is poised to assume leadership of Portland’s Oregon Ballet Theatre in July.”

DanceCleveland, Cleveland’s leading modern dance company, has cancelled the final show of its season, laid off its staff, and cut next season’s plans to the bone, in a move which shocked even close observers of the city’s arts scene. The company is looking into the possibility of partnering with other local arts groups in an effort to stay afloat, but at this point, everything seems to be up in the air.

Royal Ballet star Sylvie Guillem had a special connection to Rudoph Nureyev. “Guillem was one of the dancers who benefited most dramatically from Nureyev’s mission to galvanise the Paris Opera. Her talent was let off the leash by the radical new repertory he commissioned and her ambition could barely keep pace with the speed at which he promoted her. Sometimes, however, she found Nureyev’s style disorienting. She thought he was pushing her too fast into some roles while withholding others from her.”

Prince Charles has become president of the Royal Ballet in London. “The prince is taking on the role previously held by his late aunt, Princess Margaret, the ballet announced on Thursday. The prince is well-known for his broad love of the arts, enjoying contemporary movies, rock concerts and stage shows as much as classical entertainment.”

Twyla Tharp is busy these days with several projects at once. But, she tells Frank Rizzo, “Multi-tasking is not healthy. Nor is it ultimately productive. I don’t look at [what I do] as multi-tasking. I look at it as quick shifts of gear.” Does she miss having a home base to work out of? “What is this word `home’ you keep using?” It would be a lovely thing, but I never had a home. I’m basically still moving from studio to studio…”

A series of Mark Morris performances leaves Robert Gottlieb wondering which direction the choreographer is headed. Morris “seems to have reached a difficult moment in his creative life. It’s clear now that he hopes to absorb everything in the universe, but his response to his latest interests is less full and resonating than his response in his early years to the work of Handel, Bach, Vivaldi, Purcell, Monteverdi. Their music, you feel, is where he really lives. Morris is now at the age Balanchine was when New York City Ballet came into existence, with Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C behind him and 35 years of masterpieces to go.” Morris “throws himself at new enthusiasms, digests them, and moves on. This season suggests, at least to me, that he doesn’t yet know what he’s moving on to. He’s as fecund as ever, and as fluent, but not as focused.”

The British government has decided to inject new funding for dance education. “The £3 million package for music and dance announced by the education secretary, Charles Clarke, will make sure that hip-hop and street dance are promoted alongside jazz, tap and ballet. Although dancing is a compulsory part of the primary school curriculum it is rarely taught by specialists and lags far behind music in popularity.”

San Francisco Ballet has reversed a decision not to offer a contract to one of its dancers. On March 1, Joan Boada, received a notice that he would not be re-engaged along with three other dancers. “At the time, Tomasson said he took into account economic and artistic considerations. The ballet is projecting a $1 million deficit for next season.” Though the other three contracts were not renewed, Boada’s has been.