Category: dance

“”This is my second plague,” he said he told his company recently. ‘I know it’s kind of a coarse thing to say. They’re different, but they have things in common.’ Yes, the circumstances of the coronavirus are different, but there’s a sense that the dance world, which suffered tremendous losses during the AIDS crisis, has been through this all before. … [And Jones] is looking exactly like an artist with the experience and wisdom to help others navigate the present moment.” – The New York Times

The company, which performs in Fort Worth and Dallas, is reducing its total budget from $10.8 million to $8.5 million, reducing dancer and staff pay on a scale from 5% to 20%, changing dancer contracts from 40 to 38 weeks, and postponing the start of next season until the holiday run of The Nutcracker, thus cutting programming from five to four productions. – The Dallas Morning News

“Long ago, both jobs and respect were hard to come by for choreographers and dancers. This was especially true for women of color, as well as for modern dance. Respect went more easily towards ballet. I wanted to balance all my interests, to be in Denver and the world at the same time. When you find your true voice, the funding will follow.” – Dance Magazine

Ballet dancers don’t know when they’ll perform again, or even when they can dance with others again (aside from those in their own homes). One advantage to online classes: Dancers can join them from anywhere. Two Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers “have enjoyed taking classes taught by dancers they know in other companies. ‘It’s cool how we can connect with friends that we wouldn’t be able to see in our normal jobs,’ Ryan said, calling it a ‘silver lining.'” – Seattle Times

Kathleen McGuire: “The portrayals of distress can feel clichéd — Lady Capulet writhing on the floor, or, in Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre, the animalistic woman in the attic or the corps of men in Jane’s path to illustrate her mental demons. But as someone who has a lived experience of major depression, anxiety and grief, these representations do not offend me. … If we become too precious about these depictions in dance, it will work against a meaningful movement to destigmatize mental health issues.” – Dance Magazine

“This rural compound in India’s southern tip is one of the few places where professional dancers can still do what the rest of the performing arts world can only dream about. At Nrityagram, dancers experience neither loneliness nor confinement. They gather in the same dance hall for hours at a stretch, every day, to train, rehearse and perform — if only for one another.” – The Washington Post

“For the dance division, it really was the only significant gap left that we had in telling the story of early American modern dance. We’ve had material belonging to Martha Graham in the archive for a very long time, but Martha herself, throughout her lifetime, had always said that she didn’t want there to be an archive.” – The New York Times

The video, conceived of by Misty Copeland and another ABT dancer, stars 32 ballerinas from 14 different countries and is meant to raise money for dancers who depend on performance income to cover basic necessities like rent and food, and are now struggling financially as dance companies close their doors because of the pandemic.” – CNN

“[Worldwide Ballet Class] stands out for offering dancers of all levels the opportunity to take open company class alongside professional dancers, six days a week … taught by the likes of Julie Kent, Christopher Stowell, SFB ballet master Felipe Diaz and National Ballet of Canada principal Jurgita Dronina.” All for free, no less. Here’s a Q&A with co-founders Diego Cruz and Rubén Martín Cintas. – Pointe Magazine

Durante Verzola, isolating with his family in Kansas City, has set on four dancers in Miami City Ballet a new piece titled A Dance for Heroes, commissioned by MCB artistic director Lourdes Lopez (out of her own pocket) to honor the front-line workers in the corona-crisis. – The Palm Beach Post