Category: dance

Sofia Castán Vargas, a 16-year-old San Diegan/Tijuana now enrolled at the Alonso Cuban National Ballet School, and Catherine Conley, a 20-year-old alumna who stayed on to become a corps member in the Cuban National Ballet, talk about the challenges a student from the U.S. wull face and the particular qualities of Cuban training that drew them there. — Pointe Magazine

Ryan P. Casey: “I know I’m not the only company director to have funded gigs with my personal savings, spent thousands of dollars on largely unsuccessful APAP showings, received rejections for grant applications that took hours to complete, or lost money on events I produced. But watching ensembles such as Trey McIntyre Project, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and now Jessica Lang Dance announce their final bows in recent years has made it clear that we’re all waging similar battles, and they’re not going to be won alone.” — Dance Magazine

Dancers who are Asian and Asian American have had it with stereotypes in ballet, including (perhaps especially in) The Nutcracker. But they’re doing more than bringing their concerns to companies – they’re creating resources: “Final Bow For Yellowface is an online platform dedicated to educating companies and schools on how to veer away from offensive Asian stereotypes (yellowface).”

“‘Night of 100 Solos: A Centennial Event’ will take place on what would have been Cunningham’s 100th birthday, 16 April 2019. The three productions, each lasting 75 minutes, will be live-streamed, which means audiences around the world can see the Barbican performance [in London], followed by one a few hours later at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, and finally one at UCLA’s Centre for the Art of Performance in Los Angeles.”

Gia Kourlas talks to the choreographer about Lazarus, a two-act work (the company’s first) he’s creating for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 60th anniversary. Harris says he’s basing his movement on GQ, a street-dance style which he says developed in Philadelphia at the time break-dancing evolved in New York.

The Times Square Alliance and Danspace Project collaborated “to create a program of original works in Times Square this fall that reference the history and experience of the place. An estimated 33,000 people passed through the area each day during the four-hour program — most just happening upon it. What they saw was unique even for Times Square.”

Earlier this month, a jury found Hugo Ihosvany Rodriguez not guilty of the alleged rape of a fellow Ballet San Antonio dancer in March of 2017. He was still being held for trial on a separate charge involving another woman later the following July. Last week, that case was quietly dismissed due to a missing witness.

Blankenbuehler, who won a Tony and an Olivier Award for his work on Hamilton, steps in for contemporary ballet choreographer McGregor, who withdrew because of scheduling conflicts with a work he’s creating for the Royal Ballet in London.

‘When I accepted this high position in 2011’, Lightfoot explains, ‘I decided to do this for ten years. That seemed to me enough for the company – the group is built on change and adventure. So there will be nine. Longer becomes unhealthy for me. Choreographing and managing are two full-time jobs that can counteract each other. ‘