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DANCE

European Club Music Has Gotten Too Fast For Human Feet To Follow

The speed of music is being shaped by Gen Zers who are bursting with years of lockdown energy - and the fear it may happen again. - The New York Times

When Dancers Imitate Video Game Characters

This is 2023: On TikTok, "dancers are particularly adept at moving like a machine’s version of a human. That helps creators ... capture more of what makes video games distinctive, weird and funny." - The New York Times

How Ratmansky Became Ratmansky

Prolific and astonishingly versatile, he has absorbed a wide range of Western styles, from the fleet-footedness of Balanchine to the physicality and casualness of contemporary dance. He has also revitalized some of the great 19th-century story ballets. - The Wall Street Journal

The Gay Neo-Hula Master Of San Francisco Who Just Won A MacArthur “Genius Grant”

The MacArthur Foundation's citation for Patrick Makuakāne called him a "cultural preservationist," but it's not that simple. "I don’t take traditional dance elements and turn them on their head. But there’s no law against creating a hula to Roberta Flack’s 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.'" - Slate

New York City Ballet Has Paid Peter Martins Over $2.8 Million Since He Was Forced To Resign

"Martins, who resigned as the organization’s ballet master in chief in January 2018 in the wake of sexual harassment and physical and verbal abuse allegations, … earned more than anyone else employed by NYCB since resigning, according to the tax documents." - New York Post

Why Ruth Essel Founded The Pointe Black Ballet School Of London

She said she was motivated to create what she calls a "safe space" for young Black dancers because "when she was a child, teachers and assistants all but punished her for not fitting the traditional ballerina mould, as if she was using her race as some kind of rebellion." - Reuters

What Do You Get When You Cross African Dance With Arab Dabke?

Palestinian choreographer Sharaf DarZaid decided to find out after befriending a Cameroonian dancer while studying in Paris. Now he performs and teaches Afro-Dabke in Ramallah. - Al Jazeera

The South Dakota Dance Academy With Ties To The Hungarian Resistance

The couple running that dance academy? That's classified. - Yahoo News (Argus Leader)

Rudy Perez, Who Has Died At 93, Was A Groundbreaking Choreographer

Perez's "minimalist but wildly experimental work, marked by spare, precise movements, helped ignite a budding Los Angeles dance scene after he moved west from New York." - Los Angeles Times

UK’s Northern Ballet Drops Its Orchestra To Cut Costs

The Musicians’ Union (MU) said it is “deeply concerned” about “this cultural vandalism” as there will be less work for orchestral musicians. - Yorkshire Post

NYCity Ballet Cancels Performances After Orchestra Members Insist On Wearing Contract Shirts

The musicians’ contract with the ballet has expired. Sticking points include management’s failure to agree to a wage adjustment that would compensate for the musicians working without pay for 15 months, taking a 15% pay cut in 2021, and currently working for 9% below their 2019 compensation. - Broadway World

Having Just Lost Its Artistic Director, Cincinnati Ballet Loses Its Executive Director

Scott Altman, president and CEO of Cincinnati Ballet, announced Thursday that he is leaving the company to take on those same positions with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The news comes just six days after artistic director Jodie Gates stepped down from her position following just 14 months on the job. - Cincinnati Enquirer

Life As A Dancer At The Moulin Rouge

"There aren’t many jobs in which a cartwheel can make or break your dreams." - The Independent (UK)

Now That Breakdancing Is A Competitive Sport, Team USA Has Fallen Behind

"As ambassadors of the country where breakdancing originated 50 years ago, members of Team USA have something to prove — and potentially to lose — when the hip-hop dance form makes its official debut at the Paris Games in 2024." - AP

At 88, Yvonne Rainer Is Touring Her Final Choreographic Work

"'I just don’t have any more choreographic ideas,' she said. She went on to describe dancing Trio A in her 80s, when getting up off the ground had become more difficult, and wondering to herself, 'Why isn’t this way of getting up just as good as the original?'" - Art in America

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