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DANCE

Pittsburgh Ballet Set Attendance Records For 2023’s “Nutcracker.” Maybe It’s Time To Bring Back A Live Orchestra?

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre once had a live orchestra for all of its “Nutcracker” performances, but in an ugly move that still rankles local musicians, the company locked out the orchestra in 2005 due to financial difficulties and debt. The company has used recorded music ever since. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Reworking Balanchine’s “Apollo” From The Muses’ Perspective

In Brett Fukuda's Muse Paradox, there is no Apollo. "I have three men, but their role is abstract. I wanted to analyze my experience as a woman in ballet through the lens of the muse. On one hand you’re glorified, and on the other, there are all these constraints." - Pointe Magazine

He Went Into The Competitive World Of Student Dance Conventions And Created A Big, Supportive Family

"Rather than emphasizing trophies and celebrity faculty," Joe Lanteri and his New York City Dance Alliance have "prioritized longer-term investments in young dancers, preparing them for and often connecting them to professional opportunities." Some participants remain with him and his organization for years afterward. - The New York Times

Cleveland Ballet Fires Artistic Director Gladisa Guadalupe Following Investigation

"The Cleveland Ballet has fired its remaining co-founder after an independent investigation revealed the full depths of the 'toxic' environment dancers and employees have been dealing with, … uncovering a 'pattern of intimidation and retaliation against dancers and staff, egregious misconduct, financial irregularities, and self-dealing.'" - WKYC (Cleveland)

How Dance Is Taking Up The Cause Of Black Justice

In 2016, David Roussève’s “Enough?” — with an accelerating choreographic phrase danced to a soundtrack of Aretha Franklin — asked whether dance can be a sufficient medium for considering the brutality often inflicted on Black people. Now, eight years later, that question is being answered in the affirmative on major dance stages around the United States. - Hyperallergic

Dance Data Project Reports On Leadership Transitions In 2023

From 2022 to 2023, artistic director transitions increased from 53 to 66 across companies, schools, and venues. Male artistic director appointments increased by 46%, female by 10%, while male executive director appointments were up by 157%, female by 83%. - Dance Data Project

Is Teresa de Keersmaeker The World’s Best Dancer?

Arguably the world’s most celebrated dancer and choreographer, De Keersmaeker has produced a vast body of work over four decades, from major theatre productions to site-specific performances in museums, forests or cloisters. - Brussels Times

Behind The Scenes With An NBA Team’s Dance Squad

A reporter visits the dancers for the Utah Jazz to see the elements that go into their work, from selecting members to costumes and makeup to rehearsal and deciding what movement will, and won't, be worked out ahead of time. - The Salt Lake Tribune

Paul Taylor Dance Company Announces Major Expansion

"(The company will) more than triple its footprint, moving its headquarters to a Midtown Manhattan office tower next year from its current home on the Lower East Side. The company will use the space to build more dance studios and expand its education programs." - The New York Times

Just How Classical Are India’s Classical Dance Traditions?

Although Indian classical dance is commonly assumed to be ancient and reverential—and there is a documented history of devotional dancing extending back more than two millennia—all eight of these designated classical styles are modern, post-colonial inventions. - The New Yorker

In Rehearsal With The N.Y.P.D. Dance Team

"The seven-officer team has mastered hip-hop and salsa and is playing around with bachata and bhangra. … But what they really need is recruits to fill out a robust, diverse roster of at least two dozen dancers who can travel and compete against other groups, ideally other officers." - The New York Times

The Australian Physios Who Helped A ‘Broken’ Ballet Star Have Big Plans

At the Australian Ballet’s artistic health centre in Melbourne, ballet star David Hallberg - who went to them, "broken," he says, in 2015 - physiotherapists and researchers use new, constantly refined methods to heal dancers and other athletes, or help them never get hurt in the first place. - The Age (Australia)

Misty Copeland Hasn’t Danced In Three Years. Is She Done With It?

"I have so many things in my life that kind of fulfil what ballet has been, and ballet is still in that: it's the work I'm doing through my foundation, it's these incredible projects I'm creating with my production company, it's having a son." - BBC

More Upheaval At Cleveland Ballet As It Severs Ties With Its Own Dance School

"The Cleveland Ballet has severed all ties with the School of Cleveland Ballet, which was co-founded by its currently suspended Artistic Director Gladisa Guadalupe, and will now be launching its own dance academy in mid-January amid an investigation into 'serious and disturbing workplace allegations.'" - WKYC (Cleveland)

Dance As A Construct Of Time

For Rachel Bespaloff, philosophy was a sensual activity shaped by the rhythm of history, embodied in an instant of freedom. - Aeon

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