“Ma was named associate artistic director in 2020, with the intention that he would learn the ropes and be given new responsibilities throughout the four-year period before succeeding Winslett. … The directorship change has been more of a mentorship process than a ‘taking over.’” - Pointe Magazine
After her zero-points performance in Paris went viral and spawned a thousand memes, a bunch of skeptics on social media — who ultimately submitted a rather ugly petition on Change.org — insisted that Rachael Gunn's presence as a competitor must have been the result of corruption. Well, it just isn't so, and here's why. - Vox
"William Henry Joseph Cutter Brown, better known as Doc Brown, was born into slavery in Arrow Rock, Missouri. After emancipation, he moved to Kansas City and gained wide renown as a performer. He took his cakewalk to Washington, and won the world championship at Madison Square Garden in 1893." - KCUR (Kansas City)
Everything in-person is paused for fundraising. “The Bessies will not hold its customary annual awards ceremony, party, or press conference, … the awards' selection and nomination process will continue. Artists nominated for 2024 Bessies will be announced publicly next year.” Uh, OK? - Playbill
"As a dancer and a comedian, Sarah McCreanor, known as Smac, likes to up the ante. Why mimic a dance or a person when you can turn yourself into an emoji? A head-bobbing chicken? An object being crushed by a hydraulic press?" - The New York Times
“What mattered most to him, Royal III said, was the idea of unity. ‘I kept coming back to that word,’ he said, ‘and asking myself, How can I show this concept of unity through dance?’” - The New York Times
Company management posted on Instagram on Monday that last Friday's abrupt mass sacking happened because "a video surfaced that violated their contractual terms and our standards of artistic excellence." The union, AGMA, is not at all convinced and has issued a rare "do not work" order for DBDT. - KERA (Dallas)
Dr. Rachael Gunn — whose nom de breaking is "Raygun" — knows that, at 36, she can't compete against the spins and strength moves of younger breakers. So the Australian university lecturer gets creative — and gets attention. "Sometimes it speaks to the judges," she says, "and sometimes it doesn’t." (In Paris it didn't.) - The Guardian
“Some observers view breaking’s evolution as most apparent in the development of its female athletes, a far cry from the early days when male gatekeepers sidelined women who wanted to throw down.” - The New York Times
The most recent post on DBDT’s Instagram is an audition call. “All of it comes after filed unfair labor practice charges last weekend against DBDT, Dallas’ oldest continuously operating professional dance company.” - Dallas Morning News (MSN)
"Hip-hop first landed in France in 1982, when an elite group of ambassadors from New York City, including ... popular breakers the Rock Steady Crew, toured the country. Crowds were often small, but by the time they had left, a contingent of French fans was hooked.” - The New York Times
"The judges will score on five criteria: vocabulary, technique, execution, originality and musicality. … Judges will use digital sliders ... to represent each scoring criterion, moving a slider toward the breaker they believe is ahead in, say, originality at that moment. There are penalties for crashes, wipeouts and falls." - The New York Times
She was one of the Bolshoi's biggest stars and in demand as a guest all over the world. Yet the president of Georgia himself called and asked her to come home to Tbilisi and revive the national ballet company, then in a desperate state after years of post-independence civil war and shortages. - Bachtrack
In this long-time coming collaboration, seven choreographers worked in pandemic-created “isolation to create choreography to tracks from Williams’s albums MartyrLoserKing and Encrypted & Vulnerable, … exploring themes of exploitation, mystical anarchy, and the intersection of technology and race.” - San Francisco Classical Voice
"Understanding the intricacies of the judging system — and how it’s been adjusted to work in the Olympics, while still honoring breaking’s history — offers a window into how an art form will be incorporated into one of the most-watched sporting events worldwide." - Dance Magazine
