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DANCE

Why The Can Can Dancers In The Olympics Opening Ceremonies Couldn’t Couldn’t

"We were so dissapointed. It started to Rain just before the Can Can began. 10 seconds before you saw us. We were trying to towel down and dry the stage off with rags." - Buzzfeed

Pole-Dancing’s Long, And Probably Futile, Struggle To Become An Olympic Sport

Despite the long and serious effort to codify it as an athletic discipline, complete with approved moves, scoring, and judging criteria, pole dancing has had trouble escaping the association with striptease and sex work. On the other hand, some practitioners object to the erasure of sex work from the sport. - Slate (Yahoo!)

A High-End Jeweler Has Become A Major Worldwide Supporter Of Contemporary Dance

Van Cleef & Arpels has sponsored a months-long festival called Dance Reflections in London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, New York, and, this year, Kyoto. And it supports residencies, revivals, new productions and touring through a network of partnerships with theaters, festivals and dance companies in 16 countries so far. - The New York Times

The Woman Who Invented The Apple Dance

The dance was dreamt up by Kelley Heyer, a New York-based actor and content creator who decided to film herself making it up “on a whim”. - The Guardian

Philip Glass Warned The Crimean Ballet Not To Use His Music

“In an open letter posted on his social media accounts, Glass says he has not given the ballet company permission to use his music, and he strongly urges them not to proceed with any such production.” - StereoGum

Granny-Dancing In Japan Is Done To Hip-Hop

"Senior breaking is one of a growing category of sports tailored to Japan’s large population of older people who, thanks to the country’s extraordinary longevity statistics, are determined to keep popping and locking for as long as their bodies will allow." Their inspiration: breaking as an Olympic sport. - The Guardian

Musing On Dance And Addiction

A dancer's day is all about discipline, be that in relation to movement or intake (even healthy, appropriate eating: food is fuel etc). So when it comes time to leave the constrained environment, is it any wonder if things go off the scale in the opposite direction? - Gramilano

David Dorfman And The Zen Of Dance

When you’re dancing with another person, or folk-dancing in a big group circle, or country line-dance, or disco dance—that’s how I started—you’re concentrating on being with other people, and realizing what your body is doing. You’re not scheming power trips. - Dance Magazine

Dancers In Olympics Opening Ceremony Call Off Strike Threat

"After negotiations between the SFA-CGT union representing performers, Paris 2024 organizers and Panam 24 (the producers of the opening ceremony) ended in a stalemate and a continued strike notice Tuesday, the union said Wednesday it accepted an offer involving increased pay for performers’ broadcasting rights." - USA Today

The Breakdancers Of Paris Are Skeptical About Their Discipline’s Inclusion In The Olympics

"(They) worry this is yet another attempt at gentrifying their art form and ways of life. (Breaker) Anne Nguyen … argues that the 'sportification' of breaking will push dancers to forego improvisation and individual spirit. 'Instead, they will be strategic, planning everything from A to Z, to get high scores.'" - Condé Nast Traveler

This Year’s Venice Dance Biennale Gets Scientific

"This year’s theme is 'We Humans,' a title that might conjure fleshy bodies and emotional connection, but the opening weekend’s performances focused as much on physics, formal systems, busy brains and interactions with technology, in keeping with (artistic director Wayne) McGregor’s own preoccupations." - The Guardian

20 Years Of Introducing New Choreography

“There is something so special about being the first to see something. These fresh new works are in progress, developing and that draws an audience into it." - CultureOC

On The Road With The State Ballet Of Georgia

Why is the State Ballet of Georgia travelling for a long residency in London? Well … “with the Bolhoi and Mariinsky - both of which used to visit London regularly - now persona non gratae in the West, there’s a void begging to be filled.” - The Telegraph UK (MSN)

What Sadler’s Wells Has Planned For Its New East London Outpost

"Sadler’s Wells East is due to open later this year in London’s Queen Elizabeth Park, site of the 2012 Olympic Games. The 550-seat auditorium, which sits opposite the Olympic Stadium (now home to West Ham United football club), will be the fourth stage programmed by Sadler’s Wells." - Dance Magazine

Silent Demonstration During Performance Calls For Getty Museum To Stop Underpaying Dancers

Last Sunday, as dancers carried heavy sheets of metal and glass in Joan Jonas’s Mirror Piece I & II, audience members from Los Angeles's performance community held signs saying "Fair Pay 4 Dancers" and "Getty We C U Paying Performers Poorly" (meaning about half what MOMA paid for the same piece). - Hyperallergic

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