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 stores and live shows and used as emotes within participating video games and apps." And so it begins … - CoinDesk
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 auditioning looking like this year? We talked to several directors and auditioners to get the lay of the land." - Pointe Magazine
"Even by the standards of 2020, Jacob's Pillow had a tough year. Not only did the dance center in Becket, Mass., have to cancel its annual summer season for the first time in its history, but it also lost one of its theaters, the Doris Duke, to a fire. But 2021 has begun more brightly: it will hold an outdoor festival this year, June 30 to Aug. 29, and that it will soon begin renovations on its main performance space, the Ted Shawn Theater." - The New York Times
The brothers frequently refer to Irish dancing as a “sport”. “It’s not that we don’t consider Irish dancing an art form because obviously it is one,” says Michael. “We consider it a sport because it is extremely athletic but also because of the hours of training that you put in for a World Championship. You’re training every single day, you’re competing every weekend, you have to look after yourself mentally and physically… I guess we’ve always considered it a sport because, like soccer practice, it was just another training session.” - Irish Times
A formerly in-person series of dance workshops in Portland, whose profits go to aid women and marginalized gender people experiencing homelessness, actually expanded during the pandemic. "In some ways, the need to switch yielded some positive change for the workshops. The team ended up creating an Instagram account and getting a website running, ... two assets that they’d functioned without in the first two years." - Oregon ArtsWatch
At least a little bit: "'The expectation of an elite ballet company is that it's going to be really cutthroat and really scary and really intimidating,' Holloway said, but ABT is a big, supportive family who like to have fun" - and both the older Instagram and fairly new TikTok accounts emphasize that for their younger-skewing audiences. - PopSugar
"Sixteen b-boys and 16 b-girls will compete in Paris, chosen through qualifying events organized by WDSF on five continents. There will be no numbered scoring. Instead, the competition will be structured in battle format, true to b-boy/b-girl culture: tournament-style, one-versus-one. The winner of one battle moves on to face the next challenger, and the winner of that battle moves on to the next. The last dancers standing will be the Olympic champions." - Dance Magazine
Dancing on the tips of the toes has always been part of the ballerina mystique; traditionally, men have done it only for comedy. Now there's a crop of male ballet dancers who are taking pointe work seriously, and they want the rest of us to take it seriously, too. - The Guardian
"In ballet when you lose a year, you lose a lot. It takes years of sacrifice and training to become a professional, and the performing life of a dancer is short. For elite ballet dancers, a solid career lasts around 15 years — and that comes after roughly a decade of schooling. Could this pause alter the evolution of dance generations?" Gia Kourlas talks with New York City Ballet principal Ashley Bouder. City Ballet apprentice Savannah Durham, and ABT principal James Whiteside. - The New York Times
Eiko’s performative gestures are captured in opulent compositional detail as she defiantly inserts her body amidst crumbled buildings, vine-encrusted train tracks, large bags of radioactive trash, upended cars, tender memorial altars, washed-away fields, crushed fishing ports, and abandoned beaches. Over the course of the collaborator’s five trips, nature’s resiliency is revealed as Eiko inhabits regenerating (while still contaminated) gardens, fields and forests in her traditional kimonos, red silks, and futons now tattered and torn. - VTDigger
A recent leadership change at Danceworks has led to the longtime artistic director's resignation and a letter from a co-founder criticizing the board of directors for "disempowering" the dancers who make up much of the staff. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"The 25-year-old will eliminate its centerpiece: the professional performing arm of the company. The ballet schools and youth Folklórico programs in Santa Fe and Aspen, Colo., will continue to operate, but Aspen Santa Fe Ballet will shift its post-pandemic focus to creating and producing, as well as consulting other companies on their strategies for successful touring." - Santa Fe New Mexican
"I spent a lot of last year feeling like I didn't make a difference. were saying some sweet things to me about different ways that I impacted their lives and how I could never leave. I sat there and I felt so embraced and comforted by everything that I was hearing, and loved — really, genuinely loved. … I woke up the next day, and I sent my letter of resignation. That was it." - The New York Times
