ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

DANCE

The Latest Korean Pop Culture Phenomenon? Swing Dancing

“For a vintage American cultural practice to spread overseas and thrive there more robustly than at home is a story at least as old as jazz. Not in every case, though, does the transplanted form evolve into a local variant. That’s what has happened in Korea.” - The New York Times

Milwaukee Ballet Will Use Live Orchestra For “Nutcracker” After All

Less than two weeks after the company announced that, due to financial troubles, it would use a recording of Tchaikovsky’s music for the next three seasons, an anonymous contribution by a first-time donor will fund the use of live musicians this year. The following two seasons, however, are not (yet) covered. - Urban Milwaukee

The New Zealand Men’s Rugby Team Had A Problem With Their Toes – Until They Studied Ballet

The issue with “turf toe” (a ligament stress, or tear) was ending careers - until a coach visited the New Zealand Ballet and asked pointed questions. - New Zealand Herald (Internet Archive)

The Struggle For Pregnancy Protections And Parental Leave In The Ballet World

“Because the policies that do exist vary so widely, dancers can be impacted in different ways depending on which company they’re a part of; whether they’re freelancers or full-time; and, in some cases, what their role is within the company.” - Elle

Japan Has A Big Ballet-Fan Community. Now It’s Working On Homegrown Ballet.

“Until recently, that audience lavished attention mostly on prestigious foreign companies that tour Japan regularly, such as the Paris Opera Ballet and the Royal Ballet. The country has struggled to build world-class companies and hold on to the top talent it trains. The National Ballet of Japan wants to change that.” - Financial Times

Training A New Generation Of Dancers For A Different Kind Of Career

"Today’s young adults have also been through the Covid shutdown, and they’re starting their careers at a time of huge financial uncertainty." - ArtsATL

Doris Duke Theater At Jacob’s Pillow, Literally Risen From Ashes, Is Now One Of World’s Highest-Tech Dance Venues

With an advanced acoustical system, plenty of fiber-optic cable, responsive lighting, spatialized audio capabilities, virtual/augmented reality infrastructure, and a trippy immersive exhibition called “Dancing the Algorithm” in its gallery, the theater should be thrilling visitors at its opening this week. - The New York Times

India’s Most Progressive State Is Arguing Over Zumba Classes

“Some 14,000 state-run schools in Kerala have been asked to organise daily Zumba sessions as part of an anti-drug campaign launched by the government last month. The decision has been bitterly opposed by some Hindu and Muslim organisations in the state, who say the dance is a form of ‘cultural invasion’.” - BBC

Can Japan Build A National Fandom Around Home-Grown Ballet?

Fans are actually pretty dialed in, but to international touring companies. "The country has struggled to build world-class companies and hold on to the top talent it trains. The National Ballet of Japan wants to change that.” - Financial Times

The Revived London City Ballet: Director Christopher Marney Talks About Its Second Season

“It was fascinating to get to the end of year one and evaluate our successes and pitfalls. … We had a week of sold-out shows at the Joyce Theater in New York and then half-full houses at the Theatre Royal Windsor. It’s important to work out why that happened.” - Gramilano

Milwaukee Ballet Drops Live Orchestra For Two Of Next Season’s Productions, Including “Nutcracker”

Citing “operating costs (which) continue to rise while revenue earnings have not kept pace,” company management announced that it would use recorded music for The Nutcracker and ALICE (in wonderland) but that the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra will play for season opener Giselle. - Milwaukee Magazine

Why Alicia Graf Mack Left Juilliard To Run The Ailey Company

“I’ve always been aligned with the mission and values of Ailey. So when I heard they were searching for a new artistic director, given all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained, it almost felt like I would be doing myself and the organization a disservice not to try.” - Dance Magazine

A New Ballet Company For Venice, A City With A Glittering Dance History

A successful Irish barrister with a long dedication to the arts, she and co-founder and artistic director Alessio Carbone are on an ambitious mission to revitalise dance in Venice. “It was once the ballet capital of the world, and in the 18th century there were more ballet theatres than in any other city. - Irish Times

Julianne And Derek Hough’s New Kind Of Dance Competition

This fall, in partnership with the company DanceOne, they’re launching a dance tour called Ovation by DanceOne, which merges ballroom and commercial competition traditions into one event. - Dance Magazine

With Their Primary Venue Closed, Where Will Chicago’s Experimental Dance Companies Perform Now?

Links Hall, long the hub of contemporary dance in Chicago, closed permanently in June. This raises two questions: Is there a crisis coming for small, independent arts venues? Where in the city can cutting-edge dance be presented now? Journalist Courtney Kueppers spoke with three Chicago dancemakers about what comes next. - WBEZ (Chicago)

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