"Copeland says she believes it’s her responsibility to tell the untold stories of trailblazing Black ballerinas who came before her. ... She wants aspiring young Black ballerinas and parents wanting to put their kids into dance classes to know that they do belong." - WBUR (Boston)
"The short video of Aya Youssef, a 30-year-old primary school teacher, shot on a mobile phone shows her wearing a headscarf, trousers and a long-sleeved top as she dances alongside colleagues, smiling as she enjoys a river cruise on the Nile." - Al Jazeera (AFP)
There are now 56 plaintiffs, male and female former students, and 30 defendants, including some female as well as male former faculty and administrators. Most of the alleged abuse dates from the 1970s through 1990s, though one claim dates as late as 2008. - Dance Magazine
To put it succinctly, she's responsible for "turning ENB from a respected but unexciting touring company into a news-making organisation." - The Guardian
Tamara Rojo will be the first woman and only the fifth director to lead the troupe, the oldest professional ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933. Her appointment comes after a yearlong search for a successor to Tomasson, who has led San Francisco Ballet for 37 years. - The New York Times
In the state of Kerala, the actual ceremony may be brief and subdued, but the celebrations often include professional choreographers directing a mix of relatives and professional dancers in routines that range from traditional local forms to Bollywood, Sufi, and even Mexican styles. - The New York Times
From a very early age, dancers are taught that pain comes with the territory. “Dance is not natural. We’re stretching our bodies to extremes.” Think of a young, impressionable dancer developing their splits or breaking in pointe shoes for the first time—basically everything hurts. - Dance Magazine
What's the issue with the classic ballet costume? Well, they're just a costume, says one former prima ballerina - and a restrictive one, at that. Leanne Benjamin: "I think we all expect and enjoy evolution and so will welcome what comes next." - The Observer (UK)
Thanks a lot, omicron. Not only is the season delayed, but "the canceled performances will not be made up; the season will still end as originally planned." - The New York Times
The year is 1995. And, well. "Every part of that song is a hook. That song broke every conceivable barrier in pop music. You can’t deny that." Then there was the dance. - Slate
The company has agreed to pay C$10 million in compensation to former students who say that longtime instructor Bruce Monk manipulated them into posing for nude and/or sexualized photographs, which he then distributed. (The RWB fired Monk in 2015.) - CBC
The decision to end the contracts of Artistic Director Lisa Mayer-Lang and her husband, resident choreographer Michael Lang, was reportedly made without consulting the full Board, dancers, or other stakeholders. One trustee says most dancers have left the company, as have two designers. - WTOL (Toledo, OH)
Well, most of the steps: she's not asking her lead to do 32 one-legged hops on pointe, and she's giving the men more to do. But for English National Ballet's Raymonda, she's ditched the sexism and Arab stereotypes and moved the setting to the Crimean War. - The Guardian
What if dance-floor catharsis could be good not only for the soul but also for the planet? This month, SWG3 and the geothermal energy consultancy TownRock Energy will begin installing a new renewable heating and cooling system that harnesses the body heat of dancing clubbers. - The New York Times
The roots of raqs sharqi go back centuries, but its practitioners are treated more like sex workers than artists. (Parents will happily hire a belly dancer for their son's wedding, but they won't let their daughter become one.) Amie Sultan is trying to change that. - The Guardian
