“Dance Magazine spoke to 33 people from all corners of the industry” — among them Paloma Herrera, Judith Jamison, Liz Lerman, David Dorfman, Meredith Monk, Donald Byrd, and Trey McIntyre — “to get their advice on the lessons that could help us all, no matter where we are in our careers.” – Dance Magazine
Category: dance
Choreographing A Dance About How Awful It Is To Be A Dancer
“With her latest work, Fame Notions, [choreographer Gillian Walsh] seeks to understand what she calls the ‘fundamentally pessimistic or alienating pursuit’ of being a dancer.” Walsh explains to journalist Siobhan Burke in this Q&A. – Dance Magazine
A ‘Movement Installation’ For Dancers With And Without Disabilities
“For an artwork that’s making strides around the world, On Display places remarkable value on motionlessness. ‘It’s a lot of stillness,’ creator-choreographer Heidi Latsky says of the piece, a movement installation — or human sculpture court — that incorporates performers with and without disabilities. Designed to demonstrate inclusiveness and ponder society’s fixation with body image, On Display has been mounted internationally, in different versions, more than 200 times.” – The Washington Post
A Ballet Dramaturg Explains How (And Why) She Works
Uzma Hameed, who developed Woolf Works and Obsidian Tear with Wayne McGregor and Victoria with Cathy Marston, “defines her role as dramaturg – the definition of which is often a vexed question – as essentially creative, a ‘critical friend’ to the choreographer rather than an omniscient authority. ‘There are probably as many definitions as there are dramaturgs – kind of like versions of religion.'” – The Stage
Columbus Dance Theatre Has Funding Taken Away By Local Council
“Amid a year of turmoil, the Columbus Dance Theatre will enter its 2019-20 season without support from the Greater Columbus Arts Council. … Spokeswoman Jami Goldstein said of Columbus Dance Theatre that ‘the concerns included missed deadlines, a balance of payroll taxes owed dating back to 2012, increased debt, negative net assets, leadership misconduct and lack of board recruitment and oversight.'” – The Columbus Dispatch
A NY City Ballet Star Returns – Unannounced And Under A Cloud
Brian Siebert: “In short, this rushed, business-as-usual reintroduction of Amar Ramasar won’t do, though I understand the company’s desire to downplay it.” – The New York Times
Transcending The Biological: Consider The Pointe Shoe
“Pointe shoes are a strangely enduring anachronism that epitomises the enduring desire for ballerinas to embody the unnatural, to portray an illusion. And their intention as a tool to evoke ethereal beings is in direct contrast with their actual biological impact on very real humans.” – Aeon
The Fruits Of Alexei Ratmansky’s 10-Year Partnership With American Ballet Theater
Ratmansky has been with ABT longer than anywhere else – and it shows. “By now, some Ballet Theater dancers have spent their entire careers performing his dances; the famously difficult choreography has shaped their technique and stage personas.” – The New York Times
Ruth Beckford, Often The Only Black Dancer In Modern Dance Companies, Has Died At 93
Beckford danced with the companies of Florelle Batsford, Anna Halprin, and Welland Lathrop – and “when Beckford came onstage, the audience would gasp in surprise.” In 1947, for the Oakland Department of Parks and Rec, she created the first modern recreational dance department in the country. – San Francisco Chronicle
Cincinnati Ballet Runs Classes For Children With Range Of (Dis)Abilities
“Ballet Moves began in 2014 when the father of a young girl with Down syndrome asked if any of the classes suited her needs. The answer was no. But Julie Sunderland, who trained with Boston Ballet’s adaptive dance program before coming to the Cincinnati Ballet 11 years ago, said she would start one. … Two years later, the class expanded to children with other disabilities after Sunderland saw a Facebook post about a man with cerebral palsy who used dance to create new neurological pathways and help him walk. And now there are a few classes, for boys and girls, ages 4 to 14.” – Cincinnati Enquirer