Category: dance

The National Ballet of Canada is suing NOW Magazine for $1 million over an ad the magazine published last month supporting fired dancer Kimberly Glasco. The ad compared the non-renewal of Glasco’s contract to the dismissal of Jewish artists in Nazi Germany. – CBC

Lavish sets and costumes are a hallmark of the historic Moscow-based company; more surprising was the clean luster of the dancing. Leading a thoroughly excellent cast, the Bolshoi’s prima ballerina, Nina Ananiashvili, used her dagger-sharp technique to emphasize the headlong passions that drive this story of unstoppable love. – Washington Post

The Bolshoi Ballet started their first U.S. tour since the collapse of the Soviet Union with a three-hour “Romeo and Juliet” at Washington’s Kennedy Center. The 224-year-old Bolshoi has recently been recovering from an ousted artistic director and serious financial woes – that a sell-out U.S. tour should help ease. – CNN

On the one hand, Ron Protas owns the rights to Martha Graham’s works. On the other hand, the dance company doesn’t want this non-dancer as its artistic director any more. Stalemate. – New York Post

For now, its much-talked-about merger with the Scottish Opera on hold, the Scottish Ballet looks for ways to reinvent. For one thing, it’s got some ground to go before truly laying claim to being a national company. And yet, how to get there with limited resources … – Glasgow Herald

The English National Ballet was Princess Diana’s favorite company. Since her death, the company has employed some “sometimes dubious tricks” to promote its Albert Hall productions. Its controversial director thinks “British ballerinas are pear-shaped and that ballet should be Albert Hall-shaped, with casts of hundreds and audiences of thousands.” – The Telegraph (London)

Australia Ballet gets $1 million extra from the government to hire ten new dancers and continue its national touring program. Without additional government money, the company had said it would “retreat” from its present program of touring and choreographic innovation, following last year’s $665,000 deficit. – The Age (Melbourne)

As the Martha Graham Company goes out of business, another company has come along to renew the legacy. “The young company Buglisi/Foreman Dance (this is its fifth season) renews the Graham technique in all its full-bodied glory. Everything is here: those potent torsos, contracting, releasing, spiraling; legs, arms and heads alert to every surge of emotion. – New York Times

The Bolshoi Ballet may not be all that it once was, but getting it to America for a tour is still an enormous undertaking. – Chicago Tribune