Pina Bausch's Successor Named At Tanztheater Wuppertal This summer, four years after Bausch's sudden death, dance educator and former company member Lutz Förster will take over as artistic director of the provincial German company that Bausch made world-famous. He is not a choreographer, and he says that "there will be no new productions until 2015."

Haberler (Istanbul) 04/24/13 (in English)

email this story | Posted 05/24/13@12:57AM

Was This Modern Dance Pioneer Forgotten Because She Got Too Cozy With The Nazis? "Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham and Bronislava Nijinska are regularly invoked to recall a golden age of female creativity and power. These women ... had a transforming influence on the language and practice of dance. And there is one more name that should also be added to the list: the German choreographer Mary Wigman."

The Guardian (UK) 05/22/13 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 05/24/13@12:56AM

Images From The Birth Of British Modern Dance "In the process of a move from [Rambert Dance Company's] old London base in Chiswick to their new South Bank headquarters, photographs of their history have been catalogued for the first time, providing a fascinating record of how an artform was created - and an audience for it."

The Guardian (UK) 05/23/13 (slide show)

email this story | Posted 05/24/13@12:55AM

Brazilian Dance Sweeps The Internet "The Passinho dance style adapts elements of North American breakdancing and R&B with indigenous styles like Capoeria, Samba no Pé ("Foot Samba") and Forró. The result is a sleek dance style that has quickly spread through the urban slums where it originated and, with the help of social media, is cracking into the mainstream, both in Brazil and abroad."

CBC 05/22/13

email this story | Posted 05/23/13@09:25AM

Torvill And Dean's Ice-Dancing TV Competition To End "Dancing on Ice mentors Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have revealed that the ITV series would end in early 2014" as the Olympic champions prepare to retire.

The Telegraph (UK) 05/21/13

email this story | Posted 05/23/13@12:56AM

Can A Dance Summit Help Fix LA's Dance Scene? "We're really trying to aim this not as a way to bemoan issues that the dance community might be encountering, but really to look at what opportunities there are, to haul out the good things that might be under-recognized, as well as to provide ways we can respectively climb out of our foxholes."

Los Angeles Times 05/21/13

email this story | Posted 05/21/13@09:21AM

Metropolitan Opera Folds Its Ballet Troupe "The Metropolitan Opera has decided to disband its resident ballet company, whose roots date back to the opera's founding in 1883. The 8 remaining dancers of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, down from 16 in 2011, have accepted buyout packages and left the company."

The New York Times 05/21/13

email this story | Posted 05/21/13@01:02AM

To What Extent Can Merce Cunningham's Dances Be Preserved? John Cage once described his partner's art as "less like an object and more like the weather" - which doesn't stick around over time. Lizzie Feidelson, the granddaughter of Merce's first student, writes about the "dance capsules" assembled by the Merce Cunningham Trust to preserve and license his works - and considers what such documentation can, and cannot, record.

n + 1 05/20/13

email this story | Posted 05/21/13@01:01AM

The Dance Company Reality TV Built "Los Angeles-based contemporary dance company Shaping Sound ... [was born] from the Oxygen Network's All the Right Moves" a docuseries that followed [the four founders] as they endeavored to form their own company."

The Salt Lake Tribune 05/18/13

email this story | Posted 05/21/13@12:57AM

This Dance Philanthropist Takes Her Coffee Seriously Dance philanthropist/publisher Patsy Tarr: "We own two espresso machines, and we use them both. We must drink four lattes apiece each morning. I wake up dead, and that's how I get going."

The New York Times 05/18/13

email this story | Posted 05/19/13@09:34PM

Why Is Ballet Leadership Still Dominated By Men? "Of the girls who grow up to become top dancers, few have actually graduated into the upper levels of leadership. Right now, the biggest U.S. ballet companies are run by men -- with one exception."

Miami Herald 05/19/13

email this story | Posted 05/19/13@10:06AM

Theatre Industry Views Choreographers As 'Intellectually Inferior', Complains Choreographer Javier de Frutos: "The enjoyment in finding a partner with whom we [choreographers] can have a dialogue ends very much the minute you cross the door to the outside world because in this hierarchy you [choreographers] are not equals. Theatres do not consider you equals and the payment is not equal."

The Stage (UK) 05/15/13

email this story | Posted 05/17/13@12:48AM

I'm Sorry For The Dance World "So on behalf of the dance world, permit me to apologize for the mess you're entering into. It's insane. But it's *incredibly* exciting. The world you thought you were entering into is long dead, and none of the old (anti-intellectual, super-sexist, super-classist and SUPER-racist) rules of dance history need hold true for you."

DanceUSA 05/16/13

email this story | Posted 05/16/13@08:35AM

How British Does The Royal Ballet Need To Be? Judith Mackrell: "Critics argue that the cosmopolitan make-up of the company threatens a dilution of the British 'style'. But even that issue is moot. Dance in this country has always been a mongrel product."

The Guardian (UK) 05/15/13

email this story | Posted 05/16/13@12:56AM

National Dance Company Wales Co-Founder Resigns Following Suspension "A co-founder of National Dance Company Wales has stepped down from his post as artistic associate. Roy Campbell-Moore's decision comes after he was suspended following a complaint about his behaviour by members of staff."

BBC 05/15/13

email this story | Posted 05/16/13@12:55AM

Pilobolus Dances With Drones Company executive director Itamar Kubovy: "The prevalence of drones made it more important to understand what the kinds of interactions between man and machine is like. We wanted to explore having a space that is occupied by both machines and people - this idea that a machine is watching and surveilling and a human is responding to that."

U.S. News & World Report 05/15/13 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 05/16/13@12:47AM

Chicago's Luna Negra Dance Theater, Out Of Money, Shuts Down "The company's second artistic director, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, abruptly departed the dance company several weeks ago and returned to Spain - a development that raised red flags in the eyes of many observers.

Chicago Business Journal 05/14/13

email this story | Posted 05/15/13@01:00AM

Florence's Opera House To Shut Down Ballet Company "Addio to MaggioDanza, the ballet company formed in 1967 under the auspices of Florence's Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. A financial crisis has resulted in the decision to axe the ballet company ... [which] had already been streamlined to 16 elements over the last few years, and after Vladimir Derevianko left the direction of the company in 2010 it has been on shaky ground."

Gramilano (Milan) 05/14/13

email this story | Posted 05/15/13@12:59AM

Aging English Ex-Ballerina Grouses About Royal Ballet 'Infiltrated' By Foreigners Bryony Brind, 52 and a principal dancer at Covent Garden for 14 years: "The Royal Ballet was founded in this country and has been going for years and should have a few more English dancers in order to carry on its tradition. It is more difficult for foreign dancers to grasp the quintessentially British style."

The Telegraph (UK) 05/14/13

email this story | Posted 05/15/13@12:59AM

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Names New Artistic Director "Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company announced Daniel Charon as its new artistic director Thursday, May 9 -- the eve of its 50th anniversary. Charon becomes the first male and the second full-time artistic director to be hired by the company ... The company's founding directors, Shirley Ririe and Joan Woodbury, stepped down in 2008."

Deseret News (Salt Lake City) 05/10/13

email this story | Posted 05/14/13@12:55AM

Measuring Success: Data-Driven Dance "Judgment [in the dance field] is often based on aesthetic or taste, usually informed by exposure, and it tends to limit the conversation to 'like' or 'dislike'. ... Our goal, instead, should be to guide and instruct performers and audiences in how to evaluate the quality of a product beyond an actual performance - including how to lead to performance and advance beyond it. But how do we best determine what those include?"

Dance Advantage 05/09/13

email this story | Posted 05/14/13@12:52AM

Diaghilev, The Ballets Russes, And The Guys Onstage "Into this pastel-tinted world marched the Ballets Russes, with its hot colors, new music -- and men. Electrifying, beautiful, sexy men."

Washington Post 05/09/13

email this story | Posted 05/12/13@06:27PM

NPR Goes Crowdsource For 'Rite of Spring' Anniversary "We're inviting professionals and the public alike to take the last minute of Stravinsky's inimitable score," says the venerable public radio institution, "and create a new video to go along with this music."

NPR 05/10/13

email this story | Posted 05/12/13@09:16AM

Jonah Bokaer Dances With His Father "In February 2011 the choreographer and dancer Jonah Bokaer was to perform a duet, Replica, in Carthage, Tunisia. The performance, significantly, would have been Mr. Bokaer's first visit to his father's native land. But things didn't go quite according to plan."

The New York Times 05/09/13

email this story | Posted 05/10/13@12:54AM

Flash Mobs Go Corporate (At Least It's More Paid Work For Dancers) "The original flash mobs often had little obvious purpose and were decidedly noncommercial gatherings by amateurs, says Bill Wasik, who is widely credited with creating the first flash mob, in 2003." No more. "Dance Mob Nation, based in Los Angeles, says it charges an average of $2,000 to $4,000 per event and as much as $10,000, depending on the presentation."

The Wall Street Journal 05/09/13 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 05/10/13@12:48AM

Berlin State Ballet Gets Kinky In Nightclub "Berlin's state ballet has teamed up with a leading techno night club to produce a dark, avant-garde show with bondage masks and a bus wreck set in a former power plant that showcases the city's vibrant alternative cultural scene."

Reuters 05/07/13

email this story | Posted 05/09/13@12:50AM

NY City Ballet's Return To Saratoga Next Summer Still Not Settled "Saratoga Performing Arts Center does not yet have an agreement with New York City Ballet for the company to return next summer. ... Because the company still is negotiating union contracts, it cannot estimate costs for 2014 or commit to two weeks ."

Albany Times-Union 05/09/13

email this story | Posted 05/09/13@12:50AM

Royal Ballet Runaway Sergei Polunin Complains Of 'British Mafia' "The British paid for their houses with Nureyev and made their careers out of him. But, when he was past his best, they simply threw him out. ... They get rid of everyone: It's a kind of British mafia. So I thought that, in a few years' time, someone young would come along - someone who was easier to manage and who didn't need to be paid as much."

Russia Beyond the Headlines (Izvestia) 05/03/13

email this story | Posted 05/08/13@12:49AM

Original Oklahoma! Cast Member, 70 Years On, Is Now Choreographing The Piece "Gemze de Lappe first danced in Oklahoma! in 1943 as a member of the Broadway hit's first national touring company. Seventy years later, at age 91, she's still with it - choreographing a production of the musical at the Lyric Opera of Chicago."

Yahoo! (AP) 05/02/13

email this story | Posted 05/07/13@12:46AM

Watching Gemze De Lappe Choreograph Oklahoma! At Age 91 Hedy Weiss finds that de Lappe is "still fleet, disciplined, razor-sharp and funny."

Chicago Sun-Times 05/03/13 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 05/07/13@12:45AM

Ballet Students On Two Continents Collaborate Through Technology "Dancers in Toronto will sometimes be in front of the screen, sometimes behind it for a translucent effect, with the performers in Amsterdam posing a "question" physically and the students in Toronto creating an answer. Then, the piece finishes with all the dancers on stage, moving in unison with those on screen."

CBC 05/05/13

email this story | Posted 05/06/13@04:07AM

Frederic Franklin, 98, Ballet Star Whose Theatricality Never Flagged Franklin was "a charismatic British-born dancer and ballet master who was known for his stylistic versatility and his inexhaustible energy -- he performed into his 90s."

The New York Times 05/05/13

email this story | Posted 05/05/13@09:36PM

Reviving Old Musicals By Putting (Newly Choreographed) Dance Front And Center "'It's like walking in someone else's footprints, in a way,' Kathleen Marshall, who has choreographed 12 Encores! shows, said of creating new steps to the pre-existing musical arrangements. 'You have to find a way in there for yourself.'"

The New York Times 05/04/13

email this story | Posted 05/05/13@08:01AM

How The Merce Cunningham Dance Company Phased Itself Out Of Existence An extensive new report, including much information never before made public, details how the decision to close the company and create a Merce Cunningham Trust to preserve the choreographer's works was made - and how it was implemented.

Dance/USA 04/25/13

email this story | Posted 05/03/13@12:42AM

British Dancers Launch Campaign To Improve Working Conditions "Dancers United UK, a campaigning body that has been founded by working artists in the industry, wants to put a stop to unpaid work, which is often advertised as 'good exposure', and to establish guidelines for minimum rates of pay. The founding members also want to tackle issues such as guaranteed lunch breaks, the availability of drinking water on sets and payment for overtime."

The Stage (UK) 05/01/13

email this story | Posted 05/03/13@12:39AM

ILL-Abilities: Disabled B-Boys Got The Right Moves "They have overcome deafness, joint disorders, amputation and cancer to compete against the best b-boy dancers on the planet."

The Guardian (UK) 05/02/13 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 05/03/13@12:36AM

When Flappers Led The Way To Feminism "From the barefoot ecstasies of Isadora Duncan, whose free, expressive dancing struck a blow against the corseted rigours of classical ballet, to the collective 'jazzing' of the 1920s, dance came to play a surprisingly emblematic role in the story of women's liberation."

The Guardian (UK) 04/29/13

email this story | Posted 05/02/13@12:51AM

More Bolshoi Ballet Drama As Former Star's House Gets Burgled "Robbers stole two safes and attacked the domestic help at the home of former Bolshoi ballerina Anastasia Volochkova in northern Moscow." .

The Moscow Times 04/30/13

email this story | Posted 05/01/13@12:56AM

Martha Graham Dance Co. Makes Do After Loss Of Sets And Costumes The flooding of the troupe's storage space during Hurricane Sandy "gave us an opportunity actually to try a new version of one of Martha Graham's classic dances, Errand into the Maze. And we decided to feature the choreography itself without the classic set and without the traditional costumes to give audiences a fresh look at it," says artistic director Janet Eilber.

NY1 04/29/13 (video)

email this story | Posted 05/01/13@12:54AM

Chicago's Luna Negra Dance Theater's Future In Doubt As Artistic Director Quits "Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, the audacious and imaginative artistic director who has led the Latino-rooted Luna Negra Dance Theater here since 2010 - and transformed it into a company of great sophistication and experimentation - has stepped down from his post, effective immediately. ... [The company] has been suffering from previously undisclosed financial and administrative problems for many months."

Chicago Sun-Times 04/29/13

email this story | Posted 04/30/13@01:01AM