Everybody Dance LA! is "an almost-too-good-to-be-true program founded more than 20 years ago by a grieving mother who believed that things should not remain unequal — and that you can’t be scared when you’re dancing." - Los Angeles Times
"Even at the height of the Cold War, ballet tours were seen as a bridge between the USSR and the West. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its foreign tours were cancelled, its stars are no longer invited abroad and choreographers ... have disavowed the company." - Euronews (AFP)
The crusading lefty investigative magazine profiles Royal, a principal dancer at ABT and one of the still-all-too-few Black stars of classical ballet. The marquee pull quote: "We have to break ballet out of the 18th century." - Mother Jones
Igor Zelensky, 52, former principal of the Mariinsky and New York City Ballets, resigned last month as artistic director of the Bavarian State Ballet after refusing to denounce the invasion of Ukraine. He's reportedly the partner of Putin's second daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, and they have a five-year-old daughter. - The Moscow Times
With rumors flying of Vladimir Putin's deteriorating health, it could happen: going back to the earliest days of Soviet television, the unscheduled appearance of the Tchaikovsky ballet on the airwaves meant something extremely serious, like the death of the leader (or, in 1991, an attempted coup). - Newsweek
That summer, dozens of Strasbourgeois found themselves dancing and hopping uncontrollably for days on end, and more than a few died of exhaustion and hunger. And that wasn't the only instance of such a phenomenon in medieval Europe, a mystery still unsolved. - BBC
The recent appointments of the women and the recent commissions of choreography by women too numerous to mention, are good news for feminism. But only relatively speaking. - Alastair Macaulay
Star David Motta, 25, "had called Russia home for 13 years. The Bolshoi Academy had taken him in as a boy and turned him into an international star." But he knew he had to leave when Russia invaded Ukraine. - France 24 (AFP)
The Twitterverse had a high old time when news and photos hit of the final session of the Conference on the Future of Europe at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, wherein members were treated, apparently without warning, to Angelin Preljocaj's Danse l'Europe. - The Independent (UK)
Some have taken up arms in their country’s defense or have been working to get medical supplies to the frontline. (One died after being injured when Russian shells hit Kyiv.) And many have fled the country, fanning out across Europe — both for safety and to keep dancing. - The New York Times
The lack of support manifests in a dearth of affordable studio space, limited funding and fewer platforms for emerging artists to perform. It’s an about-face for a city that has nurtured Western dance traditions for more than 100 years. - Crosscut
When two of their colleagues were fired for complaining to management about unsafe working conditions, the dancers at Star Garden in North Hollywood voted to unionize with the independent labor organization Strippers United (and were promptly locked out). Antonia Crane, founder of that union, reports the story. - The Nation
A week after Michael Auer was reportedly terminated as ballet master over abusive conduct toward company members, two dancers who performed with RNZB in the 1980s have said publicly that Barker should resign as artistic director. The RNZB board says she has their full confidence. - Stuff (New Zealand)
She spent 22 years dancing with ABT (1980-2002), 19 of them as principal, and became one of ballet's top stars. She went on to serve as dean of dance at the UNC School of the Arts and, through the pandemic, artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. - The New York Times
24th of February, this is, was the line, Because it's all changed. All changed. The reputation of Russia and Russian people, even if you are not a soldier, you're just Russian. It, it's all, it still make a shadow on you. - 60 Minutes
