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DANCE

How Merce Cunningham Upended Concert Dance’s Conventions: Technology, Philosophy And Randomness

"This video from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis explores six aspects to Cunningham's 70-year career, from dance maker, collaborator and chance taker, to innovator, film producer and teacher, to put his influence and legacy in context." - Aeon

Too Many Words! (The New York Times Dance Critic Has A Problem With Spielberg’s “West Side Story”)

Gia Kourlas: "With so much emphasis on dialogue and character development, the tension — the very glue of West Side Story — seeps away. Tony, we learn, is on parole for almost killing a kid. Who cares?" - The New York Times

A Choreographer Designs Movement For Robots So That Humans Will Trust Them (And Maybe Even Dance With Them)

Folks may love R2-D2 and WALL-E up on the screen, but they tend to be suspicious of robots in real life, especially when they don't look like people or movie characters. But even odd-looking machines can be given movement that lets humans relate to them. - Scientific American

A Small Ballet Company Bounces Back From Hurricane Ida

Flooding caused by the storm wrecked the studios of Roxey Ballet in Lambertville, NJ; said director Mark Roxey, "The building was submerged in water. It looked like everything had been flipped upside down and shaken in a snowglobe." Here's how the community came to the rescue. - Pointe Magazine

Brigitte Lefèvre Helped Transform France’s Entire Dance Scene Into What It Is Today

She led the way in introducing the country to contemporary dance, not least at the Paris Opera Ballet, which she ran for two decades, and she helped establish choreography centers with resident companies throughout France. Here she talks about her choices and her legacy. - The New York Times

For Her First Piece As Choreographer, Tamara Rojo Remakes Petipa’s “Raymonda”

Says the artistic director of English National Ballet, "I am by no means Petipa, but what I'm trying to do with Raymonda is what I've seen done in England with ... Shakespeare, which is to try and make the original work fit into a different context." - Bachtrack

Why London Dance Companies Can’t Do A Good “Nutcracker”

London’s big ballet companies are not where anyone should hope to find an even tolerable Nutcracker. - Alastair Macaulay

Dance Magazine’s 25 To Watch In 2022

Choreographers and performers from Africa and its diaspora have a notable presence on the coming year's list, as do dancers blurring gender boundaries and a sibling choreographer team from the Netherlands. - Dance Magazine

Building A Tutu That Can Stand Up To ‘Nutcracker’ Demands Takes A Long Time

Ask a wardrobe supervisor: "To build a singular tutu it’s 80-100 hours. ... There’s 15 yards of tulle, and 10-14 layers, depending on the tutu." Now imagine the number of tutus on stage for Nutcracker. - Cincinnati Enquirer

How David Hallberg’s Australian Ballet Put Together A Gala Program In Four Days

The return-from-lockdown galas the company did in Sydney and Melbourne were different: each city got to see pieces which were cancelled there before. But closing night in Sydney was less than a week before opening night in Melbourne, where the stage is 40% bigger. - The Age (Melbourne)

China Cracks Down On The Dancing Grannies

Under legislation to update China’s noise pollution ordinances, to be sent to lawmakers next week, dance enthusiasts will face limits on the volume of their music and times that they are allowed to occupy public spaces. - Washington Post

The Rocket Scientist Who’s Also A Principal Ballerina

Kelley Hashemi’s day job is as an aeronautical engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, where she leads a research team working to integrate automation into the national airspace. She's also a principal dancer with the Peninsula Ballet Theatre. - San Francisco Chronicle

Orlando Ballet Names New Artistic Director

Jorden Morris had been hired as this season's interim artistic director in August, just after Robert Hill resigned with immediate effect after 13 years. Morris now has the position full-time, with a contract running through the 2024-25 season. - Orlando Sentinel

Taking On, And Having At, The Ballerina Mystique

Rachel Kapelke-Dale: "In the end, Ballerinas turned out to be about the violence that emerges from the rage of being trapped in someone else's dream; the fury that emerges once you realize what produced that dream in the first place." - Literary Hub

Main Theatre At Jacob’s Pillow Will Be Reopened For Festival’s 90th Season

The renovated Ted Shawn Theatre will have a new ventilation system and stage housing. The festival's other indoor venue, the Doris Duke Theatre, burned down in November of 2020; this past summer's performances were outdoors and/or online. - The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Mass.)

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