Category: dance

“An iconic yet tortured female painter. A mistress wrapped up in a witch hunt in an early American colony. A talented cellist whose life ended prematurely after her battle with multiple sclerosis. … Today, there is a thrilling, 21st-century wave of story-driven ballets choreographed by women. What are their perspectives, and the stories they choose to tell, adding to ballet’s canon?” – Dance Magazine

Robert Garland, the company’s resident choreographer and director of its school, “for all of his talent, is still one of the most underused choreographers working today, which is odd in a time that diversity has come to matter so much to the ballet world,” writes Gia Kourlas. “Why isn’t [his] phone ringing off the hook?” – The New York Times

Even though it’s hard to teach hula online – first the hands, then the feet, then the body, on Zoom calls – one instructor says it’s “giving us an opportunity to see each other, ‘he alo he alo,’ face to face, at a time when we’re not supposed to be seeing each other.” And, bonus: Students from nowhere near Hawai’i are starting to learn. – Hawaii News Now

She had her retirement dress and her finale plan. She’d stretched and was ready for rehearsal for the performance on March 13. “Suddenly, the carefully choreographed end to Kuykendall’s 22-year career was swept up in the vortex of the coronavirus pandemic, adding a note of aching dissonance to her coda.” – Colorado Sun

Julie Kent, who played Kathleen: “I do remember talking to Nicholas [Hytner, the film’s director] at the audition about why he wanted to do this movie. . … He said he loved the art form, and the film company had done all this research, and they really felt that this movie was going to speak to an audience of teenage girls and their moms—this was going to be very impactful for a whole generation. Clearly, that was true!” – Dance Spirit

That’s right: Families that quarantine together are starting to dance together (and record the dancing as well). – CBC

No, it’s not a traditional practice, but there are pallbearers in Ghana who (at the bereaved’s request) will execute some slick moves while toting the coffin on their shoulders. The social mediaverse, as it’s wont to do, has turned images of these dancers into a meme — first to make fun of epic fails, now to express coronavirus dread and warn people to stay home and wear masks when out. Writer Dan Schindel makes the case that the choreographed casket carriers are just a 21st-century variant of a meme that goes back to medieval Europe. – Hyperallergic

Seriously? But Merce is hard. “And yet, this is what Patricia Lent, the director of licensing at the Cunningham Trust, is proposing. In a new online series, she has been systematically breaking down Cunningham’s solo 50 Looks into digestible slices.” Marina Harss explains. – The New York Times

ABT polled the dancers to find out how many would be interested. Then they placed a single order for 68 pieces, paid for it all and shipped them out to company members isolating everywhere from Australia to Hawaii. – Dance Magazine

“Less than a month after canceling its spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic, New York City Ballet is back with a six-week slate of online programming. The company announced on Monday that it would broadcast full ballets and excerpts twice a week, from Tuesday through May 29, for free on its YouTube channel, Facebook page and website.” – The New York Times