Category: dance

Shamel Pitts, who grew up in Bed-Stuy and danced in The Ailey School and at Juilliard before leaving to dance with an Israeli group he saw at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, has moved back home – and is dancing his own creation in BAM, based on (but altered from) the Israeli dance called Gaga. – The Undefeated

“This Memorial Day weekend, Boston’s hometown ballet company is joining a lineup of major music stars for Boston Calling, a festival dubbed by some an ‘East Coast Coachella.’ It’s the first time in Boston Calling’s 10-year run that dance will be featured — and possibly the first time ballet has ever been given major stage time at such a high profile music festival.” – Dance Magazine

“More than any other composer, his music reflects his life, his situation, his country and his times. … I’ve always felt this very personal connection. It’s hard to explain but when it plays, my brain responds. I have steps in my head, I see images and drama. Even in Shostakovich’s symphonies, which some people consider heavy.” – The Guardian

Emily Carrico was diagnosed with slippage of the vertebrae when she was still a toddler; she had two lower vertebrae fused with the sacrum. Then she spent months in a cast, a year in rehab, and then, amazingly, started ballet classes. Here’s a look at how she keeps dancing and what her artistic director, Gennadi Nedvigin, has to say about her. – Dance Magazine

“Steven McMahon, 34, was named Artistic Director on Tuesday, taking over half the role occupied by company founder Dorothy Gunther Pugh since 1986. While Pugh will stay on as C.E.O., McMahon will take charge of the artistic and programming decisions and continue to choreograph new works.” He has been with the company as dancer and choreographer for 15 years. – KUAF (Memphis)

Amy Brandt, who danced in Farrell’s company in Washington, DC, talks with Farrell about her return to the troupe where she became a star, and watches her coach Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen in a piece that Balanchine choreographed on her: the “Diamonds” act of Jewels. – Pointe Magazine

“Despite running a ballet company — and his many commissions for ballet companies — Mr. Cherkaoui is still largely seen as a contemporary dance-maker … [and he] seem[s] half-amused, half-pained by the idea that he is seen as an outsider in the ballet world.” Reporter Roslyn Sulcas talks to the choreographer about his new work for London’s august ballet troupe, Medusa. – The New York Times

Jonah Bokaer says that working with Team USA ice dancers Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter has been one of the most rewarding projects of his life. – Dance Magazine

In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a black population in Spain, mostly brought over from the Latin American colonies, and they did take part in the development of flamenco. “[But] as the 19th century progressed, the black population in Spain diminished, and in turn so did any documentation of the influence they had.” – The Dance Journal (Philadelphia)

While other films about ballet have gone for big-name actors with body doubles for the dancing bits — think of “Red Sparrow” and “Black Swan” — Fiennes was committed to casting a dancer as Nureyev. Yet the dancing scenes, he says, “were a big, big, big challenge, because I don’t have a ballet background, and I needed the help of the ballet masters and choreographer to know if it was good, because not every time a dancer dances it’s as good as it could be. It was scary.”  – Washington Post