Category: dance

“[The] monthly, location-specific Instameet … brings together top dancers, interesting architecture and elite movement photographers — the intersection of which results in truly exquisite dance photography.” Choreographer Jacob Jonas, the creator of #CamerasandDancers, tells reporter Haley Hilton how it all works. – Dance Magazine

“San Jose Dance Theatre [has] announced that it [is] launching a professional ballet company, as well as a trainee program and a new pre-professional training division. This is good news for San Jose, which saw Silicon Valley Ballet shut down in 2016.” – Pointe Magazine

Jennifer Stahl, who juried this year’s Boston semi-finals of Youth America Grand Prix: “Putting exact numbers to qualities like ‘musicality’ and ‘épaulement’ is just as tricky as it sounds. But I learned a few surprising takeaways that could make a big difference in a dancer’s final score. Whether you’re competing virtually right now or just starting to plan your solo for next year, keep these six things in mind.” – Dance Magazine

Elizabeth Kendall remembers: “SoHo was dance spilling out into life. It was a grimy laboratory of the future. … In SoHo you could get a turnip soup with an asymmetrical bread chunk at an exotically rustic cafeteria named Food. You could climb leaning stairways to see free-form jazz men riffing in lofts. And you could meet other dancers on street corners and converse with them in the deadpan physical vernacular of [Yvonne] Rainer’s Trio A. Somebody would start those opening arm swings of the sloppy-tidy, faux-plebeian dance, and somebody else would cross the street and join in with the next move.” – The New York Times

Sarah Kaufman: “Artistically, The Nutcracker is a big playing field where dancers can achieve breakthroughs, because over the unusually long run of performances, they are typically cast in many different roles … [and get] chances to experiment and become comfortable in a range of characters and styles. It’s a prized platform for showing off strengths and catching the director’s eye. So while missing a cherished holiday ritual is surely a letdown for audiences …, it’s an incomparable hardship for the dancers.” – The Washington Post

Natalia Boesch: “Living-room ballet has always been a big part of my life, whether I was working out choreographic ideas or just giving myself barre. But, as I write this, living-room ballet is all we’ve had for weeks. That changes everything. I know that, for my students and other young dancers, fears about what they might lose due to the COVID-19 shutdown may be overwhelming. Below are some big-picture thoughts addressing those concerns, and a few suggestions for making the best of a frustrating situation.” – Pointe Magazine

“[Terrence] Orr’s vision included growth for the entire organization. Ticket sales, PBT School enrollment and the organization’s physical footprint in the Strip District all increased while he was artistic director.” So did the size and range of the company’s repertoire (previously heavy on Balanchine), and Orr encouraged a number of company dancers to choreograph as well. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“The coronavirus had barely arrived in Germany just before Sofiane Sylve was hired Feb. 1 as the new artistic advisor for Ballet San Antonio. Her experiences there in May with strict coronavirus protocols at the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, where she is principal dancer and ballet master, gave her insight into how BSA will adapt its teaching and performances to keep dancers and audiences safe.” – Rivard Report (San Antonio)

Why would Silas Farley leave the stage at New York City Ballet when he was absolutely at the top of his game? “My hope is to become a leader in a really substantive way in the art form. … And I know that there are so many other facets of leadership experience and education that I don’t have.” – The New York Times

Curtis Foley, who danced with the Royal Winnipeg ballet and Les Ballets Grandiva, was, until this year, a ballet master at the Polish National Ballet He had just arrived to coach the ballet company at the opera house in the Czech city of Ostrava when the COVID lockdown struck — and he’s ended up spending four months, much of that time alone, living inside the theater. – Dance Magazine