Monica Thomas: "I spent time watching the robots move to get a sense of joint flexibility, etc. I then made a dance on my body to act out each part. I hired dancers to learn this choreography, which allowed it to be put together in one sequence for filming. I gave a video of the whole dance to Boston...
"The company announced on Thursday that McKenzie, 68, will continue to oversee programming and performances through 2022 while a search for a successor begins this summer. … A former principal dancer with the company, McKenzie is a direct link to the founders of Ballet Theater, which was formed in 1939 by Richard Pleasant, and partially financed by a dancer,...
Devynn Emory, 40, sees nursing as “not so far away from dancing,” they said in a video interview. “It’s really just another understanding of how the body works.” - The New York Times
Susan Jaffe was announced as the new artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre last April, near COVID's first peak in the U.S., and she started July 1. Since then, she's gotten her dancers back into the studio with safety protocols, presented live-streamed productions, and had the company purchase a mobile stage for outdoor performances. Here's a Q&A on how...
From parking garages to lakes and rooftops, outdoor performances can be exhilarating for artists and audiences alike. Vistas that would be impossible to re-create onstage are now more available. - Dance Magazine
In the earliest period of Christianity, dance was frowned upon as pagan. (St. Augustine, in his typical way, was particularly scornful.) But when folks want to dance, it's hard to keep them from it, and by the 9th century the church was permitting and even encouraging dance; by the 13th, it was being formally incorporated into liturgy. (Then came...
Telling us how the team came up with the idea of dance marketing, Lekhinee shared, “We were going to launch our Saris. We were known for our Kurtas and our fabrics before then. We wondered, how can we really break the clutter…My friends would come for the photoshoot because we always believed in showcasing real women (not models). So...
The St. Paul-based Ballet Co.Laboratory has " dual-contract structure provides its dancers with administrative employment, whether in management, communications, development or teaching — a framework that became especially useful in keeping the dancers employed during the pandemic." - Pointe Magazine
The choreographer’s eclectic inspirations wind like a scenic highway through American culture, from ballet to figure skating, from Frank Sinatra to Philip Glass. - Washington Post
The plan: Audacious, but careful. The space: The Park Avenue Armory, with an extremely limited audience. The issue: "The eagerly anticipated performances, which were set to begin on Wednesday for a sold-out seven-day run, had to be postponed after several members of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company tested positive for the virus." - The New York Times
Hugo Marchand's new memoir speaks of feelings that seem to beset nearly every dancer - of not belonging, of self-doubt, and of stage fright. And his newest pandemic project brought him into close contact with artist Anselm Kiefer. "I like the way loops and matches Kiefer’s work which uses recycled and repeating materials. We were lucky to meet...
With Non-Fungible Tokens taking the visual art world hostage by storm, it was only a matter of time before other art forms turned to them. The NFTs made by blockchain platform Enjin and street dance group Beauty in the Streets "represent signature moves and mannerisms of various performers which, in turn, can then be sold to fans via online...
The show had been a strong performer for NBC over its first three seasons, but the fourth season ebbed and flowed in the numbers. The format, which is owned by Universal Television Alternative Studio, also has been remade in a number of territories globally including Thailand, Philippines and Poland. - Deadline
The sport is called canine musical freestyle. "At a typical competition, you might see dogs weaving through their handlers' legs, rolling over, spinning on their hind legs or leaping triumphantly into the arms of their humans, tails wagging all the way through. Some routines are more skit-like and tell a story, while others are more abstract." - Dance Magazine
"'What would you do if you had no idea when a season would begin, what venue capacity you could perform in and what the cast size can be for repertory?' says Larissa Saveliev, founder and artistic director of Youth America Grand Prix of roster building. 'The old rules don't apply anymore.' With all the uncertainty, what is hiring and...
