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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• THE CHOREOGRAPHER CRITIC: Mark Morris goes to see the Kirov and writes what he sees. Threepenny Review Spring '00

• 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

• BOSTON BALLET searches for a new artistic director. The speculation is... Boston Globe 04/02/00