Mixing Rodin And Breakdancing Choreographer Russell Maliphant was moved to create his Rodin Project by his visits to the sculptor's museum in Paris. Yet he realized that his typical fluid style didn't capture the size and weight of Rodin's bronzes. He found a solution to this problem at, of all places, a London street dance festival.

The Guardian (UK) 02/01/12

email this story | Posted 02/03/12@12:03AM

Akram Khan Suffers At Home As His Company Roams America "This is torture," moaned the immobilized choreographer in his South London home, his bandaged leg recovering from the snapped Achilles tendon he suffered in January. Yet his company has gone ahead with its winter US tour, dancing Khan's acclaimed work around a country where it's little-known.

The New York Times 02/03/12

email this story | Posted 02/02/12@11:59PM

A Dance Critic Watches Josephine Baker Judith Mackrell looks at the few, short surviving video clips of Baker at work - and is thrilled at how Baker animates and subverts her often stereotyped material with wit, precision, keen timing, and her "rare freedom, vigour and joy."

The Guardian (UK) 02/01/12

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The Harder They Fall: When Dancers Get Injured Onstage Joan Acocella: "Sometimes, when it happens, you're not sure at first that it really did happen. Even if the dancer crawls offstage (I've seen it), it could be part of the choreography, no? ... For the audience, shamefully, an onstage injury is not just a misfortune. It's also an adventure, like something in a movie."

The New Yorker 02/01/12

email this story | Posted 02/02/12@12:09AM

Bolshoi Ballet Academy To See First U.S. Graduate This spring, Joy Womack, a 17-year-old from California and Texas, becomes the first American to complete the famously rigorous training program that produces the Bolshoi's Russian dancers. She says, "The technique and the artistry and the passion is something that is worth moving thousands of miles away."

Reuters 01/31/12 (includes slideshow)

email this story | Posted 02/02/12@12:00AM

Dancing About Israel's Perpetual Wagner Wars On The Dance Stage In The Misinterpretation of the Ring, or Hacking Wagner, choreographer Saar Magal (the grandchild of Holocaust survivors) "put[s] on stage the argument about hearing Wagner - and the whole issue of artistic-political censorship - as well as the issue of tendentious art, since the Nazis misused his music."

Ha'aretz (Israel) 02/01/12

email this story | Posted 02/01/12@11:55PM

Dancer Who Quit Royal Ballet Loses Right To Work In UK "Ukrainian-born Sergei Polunin, 22, has had his work permit revoked following his surprise walkout last week." The Royal Ballet "is legally required to alert the UK Border Agency as soon as any of its foreign dancers resign."

The Daily Mail (UK) 02/01/12

email this story | Posted 02/01/12@12:00AM

Promising BC Choreographer, Saying He Can't Get Funding, Quits Vancouver For New York Joshua Beamish, now 24, founded his own company at age 17; the troupe has since performed in Toronto, Montreal and New York and represented Canada at the Shanghai World Expo. Yet Beamish says he has received only minimal funding from the BC Arts Council because it doesn't see him as having a sufficient track record.

Vancouver Sun 01/31/12

email this story | Posted 01/31/12@11:59PM

Sergei Polunin Speaks For First Time Since Quitting Royal Ballet "It's a confusing time at the moment, I have made a big decision and the next one will be important so I don't want to rush it. ... I need a few days alone to think about what I'm doing as I haven't decided yet."

The Telegraph (UK) 01/28/12

email this story | Posted 01/31/12@12:02AM

NY City Ballet Dancer Tears Tendon Onstage "Jennie Somogyi, a principal dancer at New York City Ballet, tore the Achilles' tendon in her right foot during a performance Saturday night and will be out for the rest of the season, the company said on Monday."

The New York Times 01/30/12

email this story | Posted 01/31/12@12:01AM

Audience Member Could Face Jail Time For Booing 'Mammy' Dance When a children's dance company in northern Virginia did a skit called "Little Rabbit, Where's Your Mammy?," Jackie Carter, angered by the hoary old stereotype, began to boo. She returned the next evening, passed out fliers and made enough noise to disrupt the performance - whereupon she was arrested for disorderly conduct, a charge which carries up to one year in prison.

ARLnow.com (Arlington, VA) 01/30/12

email this story | Posted 01/30/12@11:49PM

Will 3-D Forever Change Dance Films? "Every classic dance film ever made would have infinitely more power with real dimensional space around, behind, above and in front of the dancers. Think about Fred Astaire gunning down the corps in 'Top Hat' or the fantastic colors and shapes in 'The Red Shoes' ballet or Baryshnikov defining male classicism for the whole century in 'The Turning Point.'"

Los Angeles Times 01/29/12

email this story | Posted 01/29/12@08:36PM

Dance Movies Before 'Pina' (Yes, They Do Exist) "I once asked Alvin Ailey about a particularly unfortunate video shoot and he shrugged, saying that directors who can get the financing for dance projects aren't always the ones who can do right by the artists involved."

Los Angeles Times 01/28/12

email this story | Posted 01/29/12@08:46AM

Why Did Sergei Polunin Walk Away From The Royal Ballet? In an interview she conducted last month, Judith Mackrell notes that Polunin "spoke almost angrily of the kid he might have been had he not been pressured into ballet by family duty - the kid who could have gone to football matches, knocked around the streets with his mates and got into trouble."

The Guardian (UK) 01/26/12

email this story | Posted 01/26/12@11:56PM

The Joffrey Ballet And The Revolution That Was Choreographed "New York 1967: The Joffrey Ballet does the unthinkable, turning rock music, war and revolt into a new template for ballet. Ballet! ... Robert Joffrey [was] making a work called Astarte, with a rock band in the orchestra pit and space-age goddesses grooving in psychedelic unitards."

The Washington Post 01/26/12

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Ailey Foundation Director To Step Down After 16 Years "Since taking the reins in 1995, Sharon Gersten Luckman racked up a list of accomplishments that have made the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater one of the city's most solid, well-managed modern dance companies."

The Wall Street Journal 01/25/12

email this story | Posted 01/25/12@11:56PM

Behind A Royal Ballet Star's Departure "Not many dancers in any era have possessed such a complete package of balletic refinement, glorious natural grace and potent dramatic talent that Polunin has become fêted for by Covent Garden balletomanes, for whom this is a huge and unwelcome shock."

The Arts Desk 01/25/12

email this story | Posted 01/25/12@06:37AM

Star Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Suddenly Quits Principal dancer Sergei Polunin has surprised bosses at the Royal Ballet by resigning from his post, less than two years after he was promoted.

BBC 01/25/12

email this story | Posted 01/25/12@05:18AM

Sergei Polunin Suddenly Quits Royal Ballet "The young Royal Ballet star Sergei Polunin, Covent Garden's most remarkable male discovery for years, has quit the company today in a stunning shock."

The Arts Desk (London) 01/24/12

email this story | Posted 01/24/12@11:57PM

Oakland Ballet Postpones Spring 2012 Season "The Oakland Ballet Company has postponed the launch of its spring season, citing a budget deficit."

The Mercury-News (San Jose) 01/23/12

email this story | Posted 01/23/12@11:52PM

Ethan Stiefel To Retire From Dancing A principal with American Ballet Theater since 1997, and one of the company's stars, Stiefel will give his last performance this July during the company's New York summer season. Last year Stiefel began work as artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Ballet News (UK) 01/23/12

email this story | Posted 01/23/12@11:47PM

Illuminating Dance: A Lighting Designer Speaks "Michael Hulls, the man who paints the dancing of Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and a small elite handful of others," talks about the history of stage lighting, his preference for chiaroscuro, and a peculiar run-in with the Royal Ballet's lighting technicians.

The Arts Desk (London) 01/21/12

email this story | Posted 01/23/12@11:44PM

Wendy Whelan Ties New York City Ballet To Balanchine, But Dances For The Present And Future The 44-year-old dancer, now rehearsing for shows choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, came to City Ballet in the early 1980s. Now, "she is one of a dwindling few active company dancers to have worked with Jerome Robbins and the only link to the great personalities handpicked by Balanchine."

The New York Times 01/22/12

email this story | Posted 01/22/12@10:31PM

Points For Pliés: Turning Dance Into A Game "Holding your balance 3 seconds longer awards you a level 2 'Master of Balance' achievement trophy. Getting this virtual trophy unlocks a side quest that challenges you to do three double pirouettes in a row, which, if successful, gets you a clothing upgrade for your avatar."

Dance/USA 01/18/12

email this story | Posted 01/22/12@09:51AM

Leaving Dance, And Making New Ways In The World "You go into this profession understanding you're going to be looking at a second or third career. You actually train to be a dancer for a longer period than for becoming a doctor or lawyer, and you're going into an occupation for a shorter period of time."

Pittsburgh Tribune Review 01/20/12

email this story | Posted 01/22/12@09:40AM

Bill T. Jones Dances John Cage His latest work, Story/Time, is based on Cage's 1958 piece Indeterminacies, "a series of one-minute spoken-word stories that was different each time it was performed and was eventually recorded as an album. Mr. Jones's version puts him at a desk onstage, reading his own series of mostly autobiographical stories, as his troupe's nine members surround him."

The New York Times 01/19/12

email this story | Posted 01/19/12@11:54PM

Capturing Dancers In Flight: The 360 Degree Project Ryan Enn Hughes places his subjects - members of the street dance crew Northbuck Krump and students at the National Ballet school of Canada - "inside a circle of 48 cameras, which are networked up to take a simultaneous image of what he calls a 'peak' moment of action - a jump, an arabesque, a slide."

The Guardian (UK) 01/19/12 (includes videos)

email this story | Posted 01/19/12@11:53PM

Megan Fairchild Loosens Up She joined New York City Ballet at age 17, was a soloist by 19 and a principal at 20. At that point, she felt terrified, unworthy to hold the same rank as the likes of Darci Kistler. Unsurprisingly, her dancing seemed to many to be studied and tense. Seven years on, she's changed.

The Wall Street Journal 01/17/12

email this story | Posted 01/18/12@11:56PM

Nikolai Tsiskaridze Gets To Keep Bolshoi Teaching Gig "In what is the latest move in the ongoing turf war at the Bolshoi Theater, ballet star Nikolai Tsiskaridze got to keep his teacher job at the theater despite his strained relations with the Bolshoi management."

RIA Novosti 01/17/12

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US State Department Spreads American Dance From Kyrgyzstan To Mozambique DanceMotion USA, a cultural diplomacy initiative, is sending the likes of the Trey McIntire Project, Rennia Harris Puremovement and the Seán Curran Company to far-flung corners of the globe.

The Washington Post 01/13/12

email this story | Posted 01/17/12@11:52PM

English National Ballet Expands Program For Parkinson's Patients Results of the company's pilot scheme of ballet classes as physical therapy for people suffering from the neurological disorder are proving so promising that the program is being extended to four new cities.

BBC 01/16/12 (video)

email this story | Posted 01/17/12@11:49PM

Fear, And Then Success, For New York City Ballet Principal "If this were the Hollywood version of ballet, her colossal transformation from nervous bunhead to confident star would have been sparked by overcoming a long addiction or a grueling injury. But there's no tawdry sex scene to cue up here. The reality is that the passage of years--and the benefits of increased stage time--have allowed her to release her crushing anxiety."

The Wall Street Journal 01/17/12

email this story | Posted 01/17/12@07:17AM

Wim Wenders On When He First Saw Pina Bausch "Dance - include me out. It was not for me ... my girlfriend really, literally dragged me. And then I found myself on the edge of my seat, crying like a baby after five minutes, and crying through the entire thing. I was hopelessly, helplessly crying, and didn't know what was happening. It was like lightning struck me."

NPR 01/14/12

email this story | Posted 01/16/12@11:58PM

Ballet San Jose Officially Fires Artistic Director Dennis Nahat The company's founder "confirmed this week that he has received a letter from Executive Director Stephanie Ziesel removing him as artistic director. 'I am flabbergasted at how this has happened, Nahat said ... 'I don't understand the rationale behind it, and I guess one cannot rationalize it at this point'."

San Francisco Chronicle 01/14/12

email this story | Posted 01/16/12@11:50PM

Bolshoi's Director General Says He Didn't Fire Nikolai Tsiskaridze Anatoly Iksanov: "No one is going to fire Nikolai Tsiskaridze, who was, and is, to remain Bolshoi Theatre's soloist." Iksanov argues that Tsiskaridze's contract as a part-time dance instructor was terminated in order to engage a full-time teacher.

The Moscow News 01/13/12

email this story | Posted 01/16/12@11:49PM

Making A Living As A Dancer In L.A.? Sure, With Multiple Jobs 'You are part of such a small group, you wonder if anybody notices that you exist," says one dancer. "The movie and film industry does overpower the art and culture, and that can be frustrating."

Los Angeles Times 01/15/12

email this story | Posted 01/15/12@11:05AM

On Architecture, Time And Choreography: An Interview With Sasha Waltz "The body is our cathedral, a bundle or a cocoon, drum or ringing bell. The title noBody means both 'no body' and 'nobody'. And nobody is completely alone in this dance work where the dancers move in magically, smoothly flowing formations and complex patterns."

The Göteborg Opera 01/12

email this story | Posted 01/13/12@08:04AM

Coming Soon: A History Of Social Dancing In Britain "Royal Opera House creative director Deborah Bull is to front a five-part BBC series looking at the role dance has played socially in Britain's history. Deborah Bull's Dance Nation will be broadcast on Radio 4, and is being made by independent company Just Radio."

The Stage (UK) 01/12/12

email this story | Posted 01/12/12@11:48PM

Ballet San Jose Finally Announces A 2012 Season After a tumultuous fall and winter - a cancelled production, the stealth dismissal of the founding artistic director, a suddenly announced "partnership" with American Ballet Theater, and the abrupt departure of the board chairman - the company has planned three productions, each to run over a weekend in March, April and May.

Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal 01/11/12

email this story | Posted 01/11/12@11:55PM

Bill T. Jones On The Religious Roots Of His Choreography "Coming from the background I came from and witnessing my mother's tearful prayers - talk about 'aesthetic arrest' - watching her put herself through this and go into a trance ... Well, I thought that art wanted to do the same thing."

The Huffington Post 01/11/12 (video)

email this story | Posted 01/11/12@11:54PM