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DANCE

Meet The Mother Of Contemporary African Dance

"Germaine Acogny studied dance at the École Simon-Siégel in Paris. She was the only black student (there) and a teacher criticised her 'big butt and flat feet' liberally. After graduating, Acogny returned to post-independence Senegal and developed a style that blended her classical training with traditional, African-inspired movement." - The Guardian

Cleveland Ballet’s New Artistic Director On Stabilizing The Company After A Wild Few Months

After this past fall's revelations of misconduct that led to the resignation of executive director Michael Krasnyansky and the firing of artistic director Gladisa Guadalupe (Krasnyansky's spouse), the company's director of repertoire, Timour Bourtasenkov, was appointed to succeed Guadalupe. In a Q&A, he talks about the work ahead. - Dance Magazine

Bharathanatyam: A Newcomer’s Guide

Writer and dancer Lakshmi Thiagarajan explains some of the origins and history of the South Asian classical dance form, the components of a traditional performance, and how a solo dancer can portray multiple characters with no change of costume or makeup. - Psyche

Why Won’t The ‘Toxic’ Ballet World Change?

“Who’s really motivated to change the system if it’s working for some people?” - MSN (The Telegraph UK)

The Lunar New Year’s Lion Dance Draws D.C.’s Chinese Residents Back To Chinatown

The dance unites a disparate group. "Unlike cities like New York and Toronto, D.C.’s Chinatown no longer feels particularly Chinese Chinese architectural motifs still decorate shops and an archway celebrating the relationship between D.C. and its sister city of Beijing looms over H Street.” - MSN (Washington Post)

The War-Haunted Choreographer Of City Ballet

Alexei Ratmansky, “vocal in his condemnation of Russian aggression, has seen his name removed from the works he created for Russian companies. He and his Ukrainian wife, Tatiana, spend their evenings watching Ukrainian news … while life in New York goes on around them as usual." - The New York Times

Syracuse City Ballet Accuses Dancers It Fired Of “Misinformation Campaign”

"SCB’s Board of Directors released a statement sharing the news that the allegations eight of its former dancers made against artistic director Caroline Sheridan were deemed unfounded by an independent HR company" (one presumably paid by SCB). Those dancers have since formed a new company. - CNY Central (Syracuse)

Considering, And Reconsidering, The Prevailing Ethics In The Dance World

"The strong tendency in Western dance …, especially since the dawn of the twentieth century, … is to present honorable-sounding statements as rationalizations (often poorly conceived) for how the field functions. Whether intentionally or not, moral-sounding (vs. morally sound) perspectives have come to mask a broad spectrum of questionable behaviors." - Dance Magazine

ABT’s Dancers Vote To Authorize A Strike

American Ballet Theatre's dancers and stage managers, members of AGMA, have been working without a contract since September as negotiations drag on. The vote to authorize a work stoppage, which could begin at any time, was over 95% in favor. - American Guild of Musical Artists

Could Contemporary Dance In The US Be Ready To Start Unionizing?

About two dozen ballet companies are unionized, but only three contemporary dance companies are: Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, and Ballet Hispánico. There are certainly barriers to unionizing (not least that almost all contemporary dancers in the US are freelancers), but some of those barriers may be falling. - Dance Magazine

The Dance Scene In Los Angeles Is Finally Flourishing

There's always been an audience for dance there, but for many years fans were content with visits from touring companies. Now, Los Angeles Ballet (founded in 2006), Benjamin Millepied's L.A. Dance Project, the new Hollywood Ballet and contemporary company Bodytraffic all thriving, homegrown dance has taken root. - The New York Times

The Bejart Ballet Lausanne Dumps Its Artistic Director For Cause

The artistic director at the prestigious ballet invited a former production director, who had been fired after a massive investigation into harassment, to a show in Paris, in front of all the dancers. - MSN (AFP)

Seattle Dance Company Whim W’Him Buys And Builds Itself A New HQ

Given the costs of new flooring, lighting, and sound systems, director Olivier Wevers says, "'investing in a space you don’t own seems perilous.' When the company began looking to buy, a church was an obvious choice. In addition to architectural benefits, 'many churches were on the market after the pandemic.'" - Dance Magazine

Is An Old Romantic Ballet Like “Giselle” Too Dated To Take Seriously Today?

Having seen audience members, viewing an admired staging considered as close as possible to the 19th-century original, laugh and applaud at inopportune times, Matthew Paluch considers whether the aesthetic and mentality of the ballet are too far from our own — or whether the problem is more basic. - Gramilano (Milan)

Dance On Our Screens Is Hugely Popular. How To Turn People On To Live Performance?

Dance sells everything from Nike to Pepto Bismol, and now we have TikTok. But concert dance as an art form is a hard sell. Yet when new audiences get the opportunity to experience dance, they often fall in love. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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