During the past three years, we’ve caught glimpses of healthier ways to conduct business, produce more inclusive events and better support artists. Right now the dance community is teetering at a crucial edge. In an urgency to return to business as usual, there is a danger that we’ll do just that. - Dance Magazine
As of 2023, the tally, which includes some contemporary as well as ballet-based companies, is 36% women and 64% men. (Among US companies, the breakdown appears to be 50-50.) - Dance Data Project
Roslyn Sulcas: "As with the funeral rites for Queen Elizabeth II in September, the choreography of ritual surrounding the coronation was extraordinarily powerful. Almost no gesture was spontaneous; … the intent and meaning of each moment was as deliberate as an intricate dance." - The New York Times
Dancers and choreographers often become unintentional collectors, accumulating valuable records of an art form with few tangible traces. And once artists are gone, families are left to be caretakers of dance history. - The New York Times
"What’s amazing is how young looking and exuberant this ballet is. ... Mr. Balanchine did all these dark, morbid ballets toward the end of his life. Jerry was going on like he was going to live forever." - The New York Times
The Angkor Dance Troupe in Lowell was founded by refugees from the Khmer Rouge who were determined to keep Cambodian classical dance from being snuffed out. They've always had small budgets, but, thanks to COVID relief funding, they've emerged with both stronger purpose and more resources. - WBUR (Boston)
"Returning to New York City Ballet now, after working on Broadway and on Like Water for Chocolate for the more theatrically oriented Royal Ballet (a coproduction with ABT), made him wonder: Did he still want to make that kind of pure-dance piece?" - The New York Times
After they left MCB, Iliana Lopez and Franklin Gamero launched a school in Fort Myers, training dancers and then watching them leave for elsewhere to find work. So they've launched Florida Gulfshore Ballet, with 16 fully professional dancers and three trainees from their academy. - Gulfshore Life (Bonita Springs, Florida)
Two weeks ago, Danielle St.Germain stepped down from the dance troupe without explanation. Now the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco have announced that she will be their chief philanthropic officer. (The bulk of her career has been as a fundraising executive outside the dance world.) - San Francisco Chronicle
"It's possible to see Balanchine as both a god and a bogeyman, responsible for everything that's wonderful or wrong about ballet. Of course, that's far too simplistic. … No one's calling for Balanchine to be cancelled, but we should carefully consider what has been passed on." - The Guardian
Harrison Ball was promoted to principal dancer at City Ballet last year, after years of being wild, getting sober, and living through the pandemic. But, at 30, he says his foot injuries have gotten too bad to continue. - The New York Times
"Black Sabbath: the Ballet, due to open in September in the band's home city, … is the vision of Birmingham Royal Ballet's artistic director, Carlos Acosta, who wanted to celebrate what he described as 'the most famous, and infamous, cultural entity to ever emerge from the city'." - The Guardian
Choreographer Liv Lorent settled in Newcastle 30 years ago; Esther Huss moved to a nearby former mining village more recently. Both see real advantages to being out of the London bubble, and not just the affordable housing: these no-nonsense Geordies are surprisingly open to both watching and performing. - The Guardian
He's found clips of the works in recent social media posts by the two companies — with his name removed. And, no surprise, they aren't paying him any royalties. The Mariinsky even had the chutzpah to ask him to reimburse the living expenses they paid for him. - The New York Times
"Neither Danielle St.Germain nor the Ballet gave any reason for the move. … If there's a sense of déjà vu about this, that's because the company went through a similar situation just two years ago. In June 2021, Executive Director Kelly Tweeddale resigned her position abruptly and without explanation." - San Francisco Chronicle
