For the most part, dance criticism as we have traditionally defined it is vanishing, probably forever. And no amount of verbiage on how pointe shoes are made or what a dancer eats for breakfast is going to help audience members — not to mention future historians — understand what is happening onstage in today’s dance. “This means that dance is becoming another item in the experiential supermarket, a thoughtless art without a memory,” Mainwaring writes. “As emerging choreographers come onto the scene — and there’s some very substantive work being made today — it remains unclear as to who will have either the expertise or the outlet needed to discuss the importance of these developing artistic voices.”
Category: dance
Longtime Principal Dancer At Milwaukee Ballet Charged With Domestic Abuse
The complaint says Davit Hovhannisyan, who is 37 and has been with the company since 2004, “began to whip [his ex-wife]’s face with a bath rug and then slapped her with an open fist, saying, ‘Don’t make me do this.'”
A Choreographer Says Even – Or Maybe Especially – Holiday Ballets Can Lead To A Love For Dance
Grady McLeod Bowman, who choreographed Fort Worth’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas: A Holiday Musical and Parody Spectacular, says of the show, “The goal is for the love of dance to spread throughout the entire theater.”
A First? Digital Avatar Stars In Ballet
Miami-based production company Magical Reality Group believes is the first time the live technology has been applied to a dance performance. This technology is used a lot in film and video games but not live dance.
Dance Magazine Editor Gets To Choreograph On ABT Dancers
“‘Is everyone okay?’ was my most used sentence during my time [there]. I knew that it was unlike anything they’d ever experienced, but I think half of the time I was asking that question, it was really directed to myself.” elsey Grills writes about her experience in the new ABT Incubator programfounded by David Hallberg.
American Ballet Theatre’s New Skunkworks
“In the studio we’re so often created on,” David Hallberg, the American Ballet Theater principal who dreamed up the workshop, said recently. “I really wanted to give the dancers a chance to have a more inclusive part in the creative process.” Mr. Hallberg first introduced the idea of a choreographic workshop in 2010, but after a few tries it didn’t stick and he was too busy with his international career (and a major injury) to help keep it going. Now, he’s determined to make the Incubator a yearly fixture at Ballet Theater.
After Seven Seasons, Jessica Lang Dance To Shut Down
While Lang’s career as a choreographer has been going well, things (mostly money) for her company have been as difficult as for any small, independent dance troupe. “You have to raise so much money, the smaller companies don’t have enough staff, and Jessica was running the company for the last seven years without a day off,” said Lang’s manager. The group will disband in April, after completing a final tour.
When A Curtain Breaks, The Ballet Cannot Go On
Australian Ballet audiences at the Sydney Opera House waited for half an hour to find out what was happening. Then the news came: “”We’ve tried everything to get it going, they’ve restarted the whole … system. They have rung Europe to see if there’s something they can do. Unfortunately nothing is working.”
The English National Ballet’s Artistic Director Says Ballet Is Changing With The MeToo Times
Tamara Rojo: “In the past, the ballet master was an almost godlike figure. You did what he said and there was no room for conversation. Certainly at the ENB, that’s not the case. We encourage dancers to have opinions, ask questions and contribute to the process. The work is good because it’s the work of everyone in the company.”
Opera Often Needs Choreographers, Not Just For Opera Ballets But For The Principals And Chorus
That’s not without its challenges: “Directing singers is a very particular art: Try to make them move too precisely to the music, and some of them look like unmotivated marionettes, the more so if they have to share the stage with dancers.”