“In the dark, brick-walled basement of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a dance company has created a space protected from drones and bombs.” A performance of Chopiniania in April was the first complete classical ballet given in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. - Reuters
Toni Pimble “is that rare dancemaker whose visual sense and musical sense are equally acute; moreover, her interests are wide-ranging. Over the years she has made ballets of varying length inspired by literature, music, folk tales, Native American legends, visual arts, film, current events, and politics." - Oregon ArtsWatch
Jiří Kylián is "the Czech choreographer-cum-renaissance man, who in one pre-show discussion declares himself ‘the happiest boy in the world’: There has never been such a celebration of his work and, he suggests with wry self-effacement, there will probably never be another.” - The Guardian (UK)
“It’s never been about me. It should never have been about me. It should have been about a broader understanding that people from Black and brown communities are interested and want to be in these spaces. They just need to see themselves.” - The New York Times
For decades she has been Taylor's star dancer, muse, buddy, rehearsal director, and choreographic reconstructor. (He was never particularly interested in the details of reviving his older works.) Even now, she speaks lucidly and clearly, with her signature blunt forcefulness, about her work both over the decades and today. - The Brooklyn Rail
“Compounding recent major cuts to arts funding, the footwear the ballet world relies on could be just one more unanticipated casualty of the current president’s economic policy. Pointe shoes, it turns out, are political objects as much as they are aesthetic.” - Cascade PBS
Last month, Studio 303 publicly joined the BDS boycott, including “all cultural and academic products that normalize the State of Israel." That includes Gaga, developed by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin — who has said, “If the act of cancellation would have helped the Palestinians’ cause I would boycott my own show.” - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
She was a member of the innovative Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and was among the last group of dancers to be trained by the legendary choreographer. Toogood also began teaching at his invitation. - Sydney Morning Herald
“When Rauschenberg was breaking out as one of the most influential artists in the world, that influence extended into American dance” through his collaborations with Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown. “And it flowed in the opposite direction, too, as he folded his theatrical work back into his solo practice.” - The New York Times
A former director of the Vienna State Ballet and La Scala Ballet after his performing years, Legris was the supreme classicist of his era. Now he’s back home, making a new version of the Léo Delibes ballet Sylvia, using a classical movement style rarely seen in new ballet choreography today. - The New York Times
“When I’m dancing with her, I feel her feeding energy back to me. It’s not quite like being on stage with another human, but she’s not just an inert thing that I have to feed with my energy in order to bring it into the dance.” - ArtsATL
San Diego Ballet executive director Matt Carney: “We've been really tasked right now to solve problems we weren't anticipating. So the cut with the NEA: we had seven days to make an appeal; they sent that email out on Friday; you get it on Monday, and now we have four days.” - KPBS (San Diego)
Says executive director Pamela Tatge of the original: “It didn’t have a lot of modern amenities. It was not handicapped accessible, and it did not have a lobby or an exhibition space. It didn’t have adequate dressing rooms for artists to work, or even storage.” All that has now been addressed. - The Berkshire Eagle
“Even if you don’t think of yourself as a prominent entity, you never know what’s going to happen,” points out Hallie Chametzky, director of archiving and preservation at Dance/USA. “What if, one day, someone wants to write a book about you?” - Dance Magazine
In his first season as successor to founding artistic director Stoner Winslett, Cong has revitalized the company’s offerings with contemporary pieces by the likes of Christopher Wheeldon, Ben Stevenson, and Yuri Yanowsky as well as Cong’s own work — repertoire rarely if ever seen in Virginia’s capital before. - Virginia Living
