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DANCE

A Recreated Pina Bausch Classic With Original Dancers Playing In Front Of Film Of The Original

The performers, ages 69 to 80, will dance the roles they created while footage from that first production, filmed by Rolf Borzik, plays alongside them onstage. - The New York Times

Jacob’s Pillow Is Ready To Open Its Rebuilt Doris Duke Theater

The original building, the smallest of the dance festival's three venues, was destroyed by fire four years ago. The rebuilt Duke, opening July 9, is three times the size of the old one, has flexible configurations for both stage and audience, and is equipped to livestream performances. - The Berkshire Eagle

How A Refugee From The Kennedy Center Built A Center For Dance In Southern California

Judy Morr "decided to do something nobody else was doing in Southern California, which was to bring major international dance companies to Orange County. That’s how it all started. Dance became the way to establish the Center’s reputation nationally and internationally.” - CultureOC

After 46 Years, Re-Creating One Of Pina Bausch’s Seminal Dance Works — With Original Cast Members

Meryl Tankard was one of the dancers in the 1978 premiere of Bausch's Kontakthof, and she has now restaged the piece with herself and eight other performers from the first run dancing alongside film footage of the original production. - The New York Times

Shen Yun Under Investigation By New York State For Labor Practices

The company is alleged to use underage student performers to work on and off stage for workweeks of well over 40 hours, with extremely busy touring schedules, for only nominal pay. - The New York Times

James Sewell Ballet Will Close After 35 Years

The Minneapolis-based company will shut down next March. "It’s the latest blow to the Twin Cities dance community, less than a year after ... Minnesota Dance Theatre announced in February it would pause its performing company, and the Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts went dark." - The Minnesota Star-Tribune

Russian Dancer Vladimir Shklyarov Has Died At 39

Shklyarov, a principal with the Mariinsky Theatre, fell from the fifth floor of a St. Petersburg building, “while on painkillers.” Federal authorities in Russia are investigating the death. - BBC

How UArts’ Dance Program Was Saved After The School’s Abrupt Collapse

Late last spring, Donna Fay Burchfield, dean of the University of the Arts School of Dance, was as shocked as everyone else when she saw media reports that the Philadelphia school was closing. Here's how she found a new home for the UArts dance program in, of all places, rural Vermont. - Dance Magazine

Paris Opera Ballet Suspends Its Competition For Promotions

"Union representatives of the Paris Opera Ballet are calling for the abolition of the internal promotion competition for dancers. For the first time, the annual examination, which allows dancers to reach the next rank in the hierarchy of the corps de ballet, has been partially postponed." - Gramilano

A Revered Master Of Hula Wins $450K Gish Prize

Vicky Holt Takamine, who has spent decades mastering and teaching hula and working to preserve native Hawaiian culture, has been awarded the 31st annual Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, given each year to a 'highly accomplished figure' who has 'pushed the boundaries of an art form." - The New York Times

Dance Is Increasingly Finding A Home In Museums

Though museums have long featured dance performances, today choreographers and companies are being given long-term residencies, exhibitions of their own with performance elements baked in, and site-specific installation pieces. - Dance Magazine

Rough Times For Dance In Chicago As A 52-Year-Old Company Shuts Down And A Venue Fights To Stay Open

The troupe Chicago Moving Company has announced its closing, nine years after the death of founder Nana Shineflug. Meanwhile, Links Hall, a 46-year-old venue and a crucial performing space for emerging companies and artists, has launched a $350,000 "Lifeline for Links" crowdfunding campaign. - Chicago Tribune

Julio Bocca To Take Charge At South America’s Leading Ballet Company

A major ballet star in the 1980s and '90s, Bocca is probably Argentina's most famous living dancer. As of February, he becomes artistic director of the ballet at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. This was the third time he was offered the position. - The New York Times

Remembering Judith Jamison

Jamison was Ailey’s muse, as complicated as that word is, and she was able to bring his feelings, his ideas to life because of who she was. - The New York Times

Philadelphia’s BalletX Is Bigger, Busier, And More Stable Than Ever

Thanks to a major bequest from this past summer, the company — founded 18 years ago as a shoestring summer operation — has moved into a (slightly) larger venue, has a balanced $5.2 million budget, and gives its dancers an all-too-rare 52-week contract with livable pay and four weeks' vacation. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

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