Category: dance

Former Atlanta Ballet dancer Kiara Felder: “The ballet’s audience, typically, are overwhelmingly white. “It’s important to engage with the community, and it’s tough when the community looks one way and your company looks another,” Felder said. “That may be one reason the audience was what it was. It would be amazing to see the demographics of the company reflect the demographics of the city. I wish those correlated more in the arts. It’s not that way in most companies.” – ArtsATL

“As an artist, I try to portray strength, grace and power in everything I dance. Offstage my experiences with police have left me feeling diminished. I share these stories not for pity, but to create awareness.” – Pointe Magazine

“There is a pervasive idea that if you are a great dancer, you are automatically qualified to teach, whether you have training or experience in education practices or not. There is also an assumption that training to be a dance educator is only valuable if you’re working with children — that you don’t need it when teaching anyone over the age of 16.” Alexandra Cook, community programs director with Mark Morris Dance Group, learned the hard way that these assumptions are not true. – Dance Magazine

“With more crossover than ever, the line between the two once-distinct career paths feels increasingly blurred. Broadway shows now feature every style from hip hop to ballet to the work of contemporary choreographers like Sonya Tayeh and Camille A. Brown. In Los Angeles, still considered the hub of the commercial world, concert dancers seem in higher demand. … But why is this happening now, and what does it mean for the dance world as a whole?” – Dance Magazine

Since the very first Butoh performance, in 1959, “queer themes and imagery have been reoccurring, if not instrumental, in Butoh. The concepts of otherness and ambiguity, particularly with respect to gender identity and sexuality, permeate its narratives. Drag, androgyny and fluidity are staple elements.” – The New York Times

Dancer Sara Komatsu says it’s time for massive change in ballet. “If we believe in this art and want it to succeed, we must be willing to open our minds, have honest conversations, and put in the work to topple racist and elitist practices to usher in a new age of ballet that is diverse, exciting, and more beautiful than ever before.” – The Harvard Crimson

In New York, the epicenter of Black drag ball culture, dance and performance has always been a protest and a claim, say founders and members. Jack Mizrahi Gucci of the House of Gucci: “Doing it on the street, doing it in front of a cop car – it’s letting you know, ‘I’m here. I matter.'” – The New York Times

The company announced plans for a season with the overall title “Leap of Faith,” acknowledging that everything depends on the state of the COVID epidemic and what San Francisco authorities will permit. As for this year’s Nutcracker, “We’ve done this production now for something like 15 years, so we will be ready to get back onstage if the city allows it.” – San Francisco Chronicle

It’s a difficult decision to make: as Joffrey CEO Greg Cameron said, “The loss of The Nutcracker alone — more than half of the Joffrey’s annual earned revenue — compounds a financial crisis for the company that began this past spring.” Yet, as NYCB artistic director Jonathan Stafford put it, “It became apparent that there would be no way to pull this production together safely.” – The New York Times