Category: dance

“Like other performing arts, dance is sharpening its marketing skills. In the meantime no dance seems to go unexplained. Are program notes or any other kind of education necessary?” The New York Times (one-time registration required for access)

What’s it take to run a successful ballet company? When Carole McPhee took over management of the English National Ballet, the company had a huge debt. She turned things around and turned the ENB into a successful touring company. After 11 years McPhee is leaving ENB and returning to Australia. The Age (Melbourne)

A year ago Ballet Arizona was on the brink of collapse, and only an emergency bailout allowed the company to meet its payroll. But things have turned around – “Ballet Arizona is emerging from that near-death experience with a clear artistic vision and a more stable public image. Most tellingly, the level of red ink that nearly drowned the troupe last year has receded.” Arizona Republic

Choreographer Jerome Robbins was much beloved for his work. But he was legendarily awful to work with, an unpleasant man who knew how to keep a grudge…The New Republic

Former ABT and Joffrey II dancer George Thompson has been named the next executive director of the Washington Ballet. Thompson is currently the VP/GM of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Florida. He will begin work in his new post in August. Washington Post

The 15-year-old Philippine Ballet Theatre is having a crisis of budget, artistic direction and dwindling audiences. Is the solution bringing in stars from outside the country? Philippine Daily Inquirer

“In the wake of executive director Gray Montague’s sudden departure from the Pittsburgh Dance Council, the board acted swiftly to hire Paul Organisak, a Pittsburgh native and former associate director of development at the contemporary dance presenting organization. As of yesterday [Organisak] was trying to get ‘a sense of where we are’ by looking over the finances and strategic plan before taking over the reins July 16.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Is it really possible to reconstruct, from incomplete fragments, what great choreography from the past looked like? Even the best guesses are inadequate and incomplete. The New Yorker

Michael Medcalf “had no experience as an artistic director, no money in the bank and no financial backers. Despite his lack of credentials and resources, he had plenty of other attributes: talent, enthusiasm, energy, a dynamic personality, a willingness to work hard and an eagerness to collaborate with other members of the dance community.” And Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatre was born. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

The Alvin Ailey company wants to build a new home for itself in New York and Mayor Rudy Giuliani wants to contribute to the cause. “The building would be the largest space in the United States devoted exclusively to dance, Ailey officials said.” International Herald Tribune