Dance anthropologist Judith Lynne Hanna, who (on top of her scholarly work) has served as an expert witness in legal proceedings against exotic dancers, “has spent her career getting us to think about dance’s relationship to society. … She hadn’t performed since college when she got a call from a music video producer, who caught a video of her dancing with her 13-year-old grandson. The rockers of Egg Drop Soup loved her energy and flew her out to Los Angeles for a day-long video shoot. We spoke to Hanna about the experience.”
Category: dance
Gotta Dance (Why?)
This Aeon Original video explores that unifying feeling of group ‘electricity’ that lifts us up when we’re enthralled by our favourite sports teams, participating in religious rituals, entranced by music – and, yes, dancing the night away.
Identical Triplet Ballet Dancers From Cuba Ready To Take On The World
Angel, César, and Marcos Ramírez, now 18, had secure jobs dancing with the National Ballet of Cuba. But they gave them up to study at the Rock School in Philadelphia. Ellen Dunkel meets them. (includes video)
St. Louis Ballet Dancer Found Dead In Rural Missouri Lake
“Raffaella Maria Stroik, 23, was reported missing Tuesday after a state park ranger found her unattended vehicle at Mark Twain State Park, about 100 miles northwest of St. Louis.” Her body was discovered floating in Mark Twain Lake Wednesday morning. She had joined St. Louis Ballet only last year.
Toning Down The Asian Stereotypes In ‘Nutcracker’
Marie’s tour with the Nutcracker Prince in Act II includes, of course, Spanish chocolate, Arabian coffee, and Chinese tea. New York City Ballet is one of several companies that has rethought how those dances — tea, in particular — play to American audiences in the 21st century. To wit: out go the Fu Manchu mustache and pointy fingers.
Acquitted On One Rape Charge, Ex-San Antonio Ballet Dancer Faces A Second
“A former dancer and once rising star of Ballet San Antonio remains in jail accused of sexual assault after he was found not guilty recently of a different sexual assault charge. In both cases, Hugo Ihosvany Rodriguez, 27, was accused by female dancers in the ballet company.”
A Ballerina Opens Up About Eating Disorders
A ballerina who contended with anorexia nervosa for years, Anais Garcia, who is just over five feet tall, has reached 105 pounds, a safer weight than the 79 pounds of a year ago. In her gray turtleneck sweater and casual black leggings, her extreme thinness remains apparent. “For the past five years, I’ve done nothing but hate and try to disown my body,” she says.
The Belly Dancer As Philosopher
“Westerners often imagine the [“Oriental”] dancer as the femme fatale. But the dancer is not a femme fatale. She is a mother.” In an interview that cites a Lacanian psychoanalyst and an anthropologist, the dancer known as Malak, born and raised in Spain and now an established instructor in Cairo, talks about the power of belly dance and the relations (of several sorts) between dancer and viewer.
Pre-Dawn Silent Dance Parties: A New Path To Community Or Even Bliss?
“An early-morning substance-free ‘party’ held about once a month in 25 cities across the United States …, Daybreaker events are like the compression shorts of Millennial experiences: Sort of uncomfortable, but also uplifting.”
A Bizarre Dance Craze Has Taken Over South Africa
Limpopo-born musician King Monada’s hit song Malwedhe, which means “illness” in the Bolobedu dialect of the Sepedi language, has inspired a dance unlike anything we’ve seen before. The dance sees fans falling to the ground at the chorus and words: ke na le bolwedhe bao idibala (I have an illness of fainting).