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APRIL 200O
Sunday April 30
RETURNING
HOME: Helgi Tomasson returns to New York City Ballet as a
choreographer. At 57, he "remains trim though his hair has gone from black to
white and thinned somewhat. He has now been running San Francisco Ballet for the
same number of years he danced with City Ballet. 'It was not a terribly smooth
transition,' he says, in his understated way, of his arrival there; his
restrained approach and attention to the refinements of classical technique
represented a big change from the flashy showmanship of the previous director,
Michael Smuin." New York Times
04/30/00 (one-time registration required for entry)
DANCE
ON: Trisha Brown's dance company celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
At the age of 63, Brown's still pushing. "I'm hell bent right now. The learning
curve is stretched so tight it's twanging. I'm discovering, questioning, looking
for solutions. I want to get out as much work as possible. It's not surprising,"
she says. "After all, I've been a wife, a mother, a dancer, a choreographer, a
citizen in a radically changing world. I'm in my seventh decade. Over time one
gets rewritten by experience - by loss, by death, by accidents. All these things
have made me think a lot about emotion, about the shape of emotion." New York Times 04/30/00
(one-time registration required
for entry)
Thursday April 27
- A HOME OF HIS
OWN: What does it say that even some of the most talented modern dance
companies lead itinerant existences, eking out rehearsal space wherever they
can. For years Mark Morris's main office has operated from the back seats of
taxis. But that's all about to change with a home of his own in
Brooklyn. Village Voice
04/27/00
- EAST BAY
EXPRESS: The rudderless Oakland Ballet is a long way from the
glittery world of the Dance Theater of Harlem. But newly-appointed artistic
director and former DTH star Karen Brown likes the challenge. Besides, her
appointment was announced by the mayor. "The purpose of a ballet company is to
affect the community it serves by sharing the art form. And part of my job is to
do my homework to see what is needed." San Francisco Examiner 04/27/00
Wednesday April 26
- DANCING ON HISTORY: The
Paris Opera Ballet was once one of the dullest dance companies on earth,
complacent to a fault. But "nobody dances like the French," and today the oldest
dance company in the world is also one of the most admired. The Telegraph (London) 04/26/00
- OAKLAND
BALLET gets new director - former Dance Theatre of Harlem star.
San Francisco Chronicle
04/26/00
Monday April 24
- WHO'S
THE BOSS? A Canadian judge's ruling requiring the National Ballet of Canada
to reinstate a dancer has Canadian artistic directors bewildered and outraged.
It's about control of art, and what does a judge know about running a dance
company? Can you imagine if pro sports coaches couldn't trade their players?
Toronto Globe and Mail
04/24/00
- BRANCH
OFFICE: The legendary Bolshoi Ballet has opened its first school
outside Russia - in Brazil. "The mayor's office paid for the ballet to set up
the school and also funds scholarships given to a majority of the school's 165
or so students, who range in age from 7 to 14. Most of the students' families
cannot afford the equivalent of $170 in monthly fees. But five days a week,
three hours a day, they glide and stretch and twirl in the sun-swept practice
rooms, take assiduous notes on the history of ballet and learn about the
233-year-old Bolshoi's legendary dancers, many of whose pictures decorate the
school's gleaming walls." Newsweek 04/24/00
Sunday April 23
- POST-MODERNIST
ABSTRACTION: Choreographer Mark Dendy is one of the dance world's most
idiosyncratic and experimental spirits. Yet being in the experimental lane
doesn't offer much security. Even his most successful projects take their toll.
"After, I was ready to quit because I had spent my life savings to stage it.
Once again it's the plight of the artist. It's hard to be almost 40 and not have
a little extra in the bank in case something happens." New York Times 04/23/00 (one-time
registration required for entry)
Friday April 21
- YOU'RE
NOT TAKING MY ROLE: Most of the dancers in the National Ballet of Canada
apparently disagree with a judge's ruling that the company must reinstate fired
dancer Kimberly Glasco to the company. "Sources say the dancers are distressed
that the most recent court ruling stated that Glasco must be assigned roles in
the upcoming season. The spring season has already been determined, and giving
roles to Glasco would mean one of them would have to step aside." The dancers
have hired a lawyer to represent them. CBC 04/21/00
Thursday April 20
- UNCERTAIN GRAHAM FUTURE:
The Martha Graham Company has been floundering in recent years. Earlier this
month the company's board asked for the resignation of Ronald Protas, the
group's artistic director. But "the major complication is that, after Graham's
death in 1991 at the age of 96, Protas became her sole artistic heir and
continues to control the rights to her dances through the Martha Graham Trust."
San Francisco Examiner
04/20/00
- HIGH STEPPERS:
What is it about certain Broadway dancers that when casting lists are announced,
their names always appear? Backstage
04/19/00
- WE'RE SORRY,
YOU'RE FIRED, NOW PLEASE GO AWAY: Alberta Ballet ended its season Friday in
controversy. The company fired Barbara Moore its "most senior" dancer. "In what
superficially looks like an uncanny replay of the now famous fight between the
National Ballet and the soi-disant prima who won't go away, Kimberly Glasco,
Moore, 31, has launched a wrongful dismissal suit against the company that has
been her dancing home for the past 15 years." National
Post 04/17/00
- Also: A
CHILLING EFFECT: Fifty prominent Canadian artists sign a letter protesting a
judge's ruling reinstating dancer Kimberly Glasco's job at the National Ballet
of Canada after she was fired. CBC 04/17/00
-
Previously: WHO'S
THE BOSS? A Canadian judge has ordered the National Ballet of Canada to
reinstate principal dancer Kimberly Glasco, who was dismissed by the company
earlier this season. James Kudelka, the ballet's
artistic director, said that Glasco wasn't dancing as well as she once did and
that she didn't fit with his artistic vision. Glasco sued
for wrongful dismissal, saying she'd been fired for criticizing Kudelka's plans
for a new "Swan Lake." CBC
04/10/00
-
DIRECTOR of Britain's acclaimed Northern Ballet
Theatre resigns after less than a year in the job. BBC 04/17/00
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RETURN
TO SENDER: A two-hour ballet - "The King" - portraying the life of Elvis
Presley, has been shut down before it even opens in Edinburgh by the late
singer's daughter.
The
Independent 04/17/00
-
HALF GONE:
Officials sheepishly admitted Wednesday that 17 of the 31 dancers and musicians
from the Ballet d'Afrique Noire, currently touring the United States, failed to
appear when due to leave Berkeley, California, after a performance at UCLA.
"They did a beautiful performance at Zellerbach on Sunday afternoon. They went
out to celebrate, and went hither and yon....the next day there was a bus call
at noon, and we discovered that 17 people were missing.''
Yahoo (Reuters) 04/13/00
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CULT OF MEDIOCRITY: The Royal Ballet has lost its special appeal and
cutting-edge choreography, according to former dancer Lynn Seymour who called
the company a “cult of mediocrity.” “Simply wallpapering over the cracks with
fashionable outside choreographers will not solve the malaise at the heart of
the company. Urgent reform is needed.”
The Daily Telegraph
04/07/00
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COMING SOON TO A BUS SHELTER NEAR YOU: "This year's knock-down-drag-out fight in the advertising world has
nothing to do with Nikes, Taco Bell, Viagra, Priceline.com, or minor feminine
itching. It's set in the ruthless realm of...ballet." Rivals American Ballet
Theater and New York City Ballet have devised very different marketing
strategies to promote their upcoming seasons: ABT's ads feature sexy, shirtless
close-ups of young stars like Angel Corella; NYCB's showcases their corps de
ballet in elegant, costumed poses. Of course, both companies hope their splashy
campaigns will go a long way toward "selling tutus to the masses."
Village Voice
04/10/00
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IF YOU KNEW
SERGE LIKE I KNOW SERGE: A new book about Diaghilev's Ballet Russes by a
widely published dance critic and historian, and supposedly one of the foremost
authorities on the period is cause for celebration. "Surprising then, that she
has left herself wide-open to criticism by sweeping generalizations and
inaccurate reporting in her personal contributions, a collection of essays which
confuse rather than clarify the impact of Diaghilev, the Russian genius who
changed the whole concept of ballet in the last century." Culturekiosque 04/02/00
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BETTER INMATES THROUGH
DANCE: Dancer takes on the guys in juvenile detention and they go for it.
"In here, we don't get to jump around. Because we've got to get along with other
people when we are dancing, it also helps us do that when we aren't dancing. In
class you see that not everyone can learn the same and so you get to know a
little about them if you help them with the steps." Dance Magazine 04/00
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THE
CHOREOGRAPHER CRITIC: Mark Morris goes to see the Kirov and writes what he
sees. Threepenny Review Spring
'00
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THAT SAN
FRANCISCO TREAT: San Francisco Ballet has come up in the world. Under the
direction of Helgi Tomasson for the past 15 years, the company has transcended
"regional" status. Boston
Globe 04/02/00
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BOSTON
BALLET searches for a new artistic director. The speculation
is... Boston Globe
04/02/00
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