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AUGUST 2000
AUSTRALIAN
BALLET PICKS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Six months after Australian Ballet artistic
director Ross Stretton announced his departure, the company fills his position:
36 year-old David McAllister, a principal dancer in the company for 11 years.
While lacking the managerial experience and international contacts of his
predecessor, McAllister is said to be well-liked by the dancers and intends to
focus his energies on re-connecting with contacts abroad. The Age 08/31/00
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SOMETHING
OF A SURPRISE: "Some expressed concern about his lack of management
experience and that he had not danced for any length of time with any other
company." The Australian's Melbourne dance critic said he was "absolutely
gobsmacked by the appointment, having rated McAllister as an outside
chance". The Australian
08/31/00
WHY BOLSHOI
LEADER HAD TO GO: While some were surprised by Russian president Vladimir
Putin's dismissal of Bolshoi director Vladimir Vasilyev this week, others were
not. "While critics could forgive Mr. Vasilyev his shortcomings as an
administrator, they were angry about his failure to revive the Bolshoi
artistically. His staging of 'Swan Lake' was deemed a flop, but what critics
found even more dismaying was his inability to introduce the new ideas he had
promised when appointed." New
York Times 08/31/00
Wednesday August 30
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BOLSHOI
SHAKEUP: Fed up with perceived mismanagement and stalled rebuilding plans
for the critically dilapidated theater, Russian president Vladimir Putin on
Monday summarily fired the Bolshoi Ballet’s top management staff, including its
controversial general director Vladimir Vasilyev. The Guardian (London) 08/29/00
Monday August 28
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MYSTERIOUS
MASTER: "Nijinsky left a rich yet enigmatic legacy that still eludes full
understanding.” Yet, more than a half-century after his death, the dance world
is still endlessly fascinated with the dancer and choreographer’s work and
bizarre life. New York Times
08/27/00 (one-time registration required
for entry)
Friday August 25
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ATLANTA
BALLET TO REPLACE MUSICIANS: Musicians of the Atlanta Ballet orchestra have
been on strike for 11 months. This week, six weeks before its season opens, the
Atlanta Ballet says it will hire musicians from the Czech Republic for an
October premiere and the annual holiday "Nutcracker." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 08/24/00
Thursday August 24
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TOP
DOWN: Choreographer Jiri Kylian is in Australia to stage his work "Bela
Figura" with the Australian Ballet. But he's surprised that some dancers and the
media are fretting over the fact that the female dancers are topless. "I know it
is just that they are not used to it. But in Europe it is so natural that
dancers don't think anything of it." The Age
08/24/00
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NO DANCING IN NY:
New York's cabaret law bans dancing in nightclubs that lack a cabaret license.
"The law was originally designed to crack down on Prohibition-era speakeasies
and Harlem jazz clubs, but had lain dormant for over 70 years. That was until
Giuliani's administration dusted it off about four years ago and began enforcing
it against legal nightclubs."
Village Voice 08/23/00
Sunday August 20
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DANCE AFTER 40: Used to
be that age 40 was considered the outer limit for dancers. Now several companies
have begun giving older dancers a chance to continue their careers. New York Times 08/20/00 (one-time registration required for entry)
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OH
OH OHIO: Ohio Ballet is on the ropes - artistically and financially. "This
is a shocking predicament for a 32-year-old dance troupe that has long
maintained a reputation for no-frills productions and fiscal responsibility.
Over the years, many subscribers said they preferred the Akron company’s
bare-bones style to the extravagance of Cleveland San Jose Ballet, and they also
appreciated the skillful management and strong board commitment that kept Ohio
Ballet from having to beg for bailouts." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 08/20/00
Tuesday August 15
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DANCE ON: "Three of America’s
most distinguished choreographers have survived the rigors of a concert dance
career and they remain active, putting a shine on their golden years. Katherine
Dunham, 91, Merce Cunningham, 81, and Paul Taylor, 70, are all going
strong."
MSNBC 08/15/00
Sunday August 13
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LIVING
HISTORY: "Alicia Markova, a living legend not only of British ballet, but of
20th-century civilisation. This is the body that Matisse drew black squiggles
down for his costume for her in Rouge et Noir. This skin was rubbed down by the
immortal Pavlova with her personal eau de cologne. This musical mind was guided
as a child by Stravinsky and Balanchine."
The Telegraph (London) 08/13/00
Friday August 11
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DEMONSTRATION DANCE:
Protestors will undoubtedly line the streets outside the Democratic National
Convention in Los Angeles next week. Surprisingly, a sizable number of them will
be dancers - many of whom performed thematic “protest dances” in Seattle last
December. “They just didn’t know what to think of us. I guess it’s pretty hard
to arrest a dance company.” LA Weekly 08/17/00
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WEIGHING
IN: So why is the mother of a Boston Ballet dancer suing the company over
her daughter's death? "The only numbers in the nine-page document refer to
Guenther's age (22), height (5 feet 3 inches) and weight (less than 100 pounds)
at the time of her death. Seeing these numbers in the same file that lists the
damages the plaintiff is seeking - loss of society, companionship, comfort,
guidance, counsel and advice - is heartbreaking."
Boston Herald 08/11/00
Monday August 8
Sunday August 6
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THE NEW
DANCE: The line between performance and entertainment has blurred
considerably in the last few years. Riverdance, Matthew Bourne's 'Swan Lake' and
most notably the teaming of the experimentalist Julie Taymor with Disney to
produce Broadway's 'Lion King' have forged significant links between art and
commerce. Choreographer Elizabeth Streb, herself a hybrid of working class roots
and MacArthur Foundation 'genius grant' credentials, cites Ringling Brothers and
Barnum & Bailey, Cirque du Soleil, Stomp, 'Bring In da Noise, Bring In da
Funk' and Zingaro as precedents. New York Times 08/06/00 (one-time registration required for entry)
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HOME
FOR THE UNTALENTED: Two of Russia's best dancers - Altynai Asylmuratova and
Irek Mukhamedov - come to London and talk about British dance: "Here you can
teach anybody - even when there's no talent. Even if they're like this [his
hands mime pigeon toes] or like this [he conjures a fat little troll] if their
parents pay. And what happens to this person-who-is-not-quite-talented? They go
to school; they dance; they become a teacher." The Telegraph (London) 08/06/00
Thursday August 3
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THE
SLEEPING BEAUTY BALLET: A former ballerina - now 82 - who grew up training
with the Tsar's mistress in the 1930's played an instrumental role in bringing
about the Kirov Ballet's recent production of "The Sleeping Beauty." Through a
complicated trail of purchased dance companies, post-Tsar revolutionary
politics, and deep friendships based on trust and a passion for dance, she
helped smuggle the precious original ballet texts out of Soviet Russia. The Telegraph 08/03/00
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WASHINGTON
TO CUBA: Following in the footsteps of the Baltimore Orioles and the
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, which both visited Cuba last year in an effort to
increase contact between the two countries, the Washington Ballet will go to
Cuba this fall to perform in an international festival in Havana. Washington Post 08/03/00
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QUEEN OF THE
EMPIRE: It's been noted recently that the art of belly dancing is dying in
Egypt, that the profession is being taken over by a torrent of foreign dancers.
But watch out for Fifi Abdo, one of Egypt's top three belly dancers and perhaps
the most "violent." Abdo, who commands a fierce band of bodyguards, recently
stormed the office of the censor after one of her performances had been censored
for being too provocative, and is on the warpath against the "Russians" - the
foreign belly dancers that she says are "giving a bad name to our traditional
profession." Ha'aretz 08/02/00
Wednesday August 2
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IT'S
MINE TO RESTAGE: Vancouver's Ballet BC wants to stage a work by its former
artistic director, but the choreographer has refused, saying the company must
hire her to restage it. CBC
08/02/00
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DISAPPEARING
TUMMIES: The art of belly dancing is dying in Egypt, where it was born
"Fewer hotels, clubs and Nile River boats are offering the live performances,
and more and more Egyptian women are shunning the dance because of Islamic
disapproval. As a consequence, more of the dancers performing professionally in
Cairo are outsiders - from Japan, South America and the countries of the former
Soviet Union. They are from almost everywhere, in fact, except
Egypt." Los
Angeles Times 08/02/00
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