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DANCE

Wisconsin Nutcracker Stars In Challenge To Public Health Rules

The public health officer categorized the socially distanced ballet as a “high-risk sport” and counted each of the ballet’s eight segments as a separate event, and each student participating in the various segments as a separate violation—maximizing the amount of the fine. - Pacific Legal Foundation

In US Ballet Companies, Far More Men Than Women Are Artistic Directors, but More Women Are Executive Directors

In both positions, though, men are paid more than women in the same job — and for artistic directors at the 50 largest ballet companies, that pay gap has grown since 2019. - Dance Data Project

Competitive Ballroom Dance Has Some Weird Rules About Tanning, And TikTokers Are Calling Them Out

A user screennamed @sibusheva posted a images of her skin before and after tanning, wrote that "fair skin in (ballroom) competitions is bad form", and asked for people's thoughts.  That post has now been viewed more than 7 million times, and, well, thoughts have been offered. - The Daily Dot

The Non-Binary Couple Who’s Queering Salsa Dancing

"Part of a new generation of dancers embracing fluidity of gender roles in salsa dancing, (Audrey Guerrero and Angie Egea) perform and teach classes in Austin, Texas. They are known in the dance community as Angie & Audrey, a.k.a. 'The Kueen & Queen of Non-Binary Afro-Latin Dance.'" - KQED (San Francisco)

Salt Lake’s Odyssey Dance Theatre Is Closing Down After 28 Years

The company, founded by former Ballet West principal Derryl Yeager and his wife, Cheryl, was unusual in having as its annual cash cow not The Nutcracker but a Halloween production titled Thriller. Rather than undertaking a laborious search for a successor, the Yeagers are simply retiring. - KSL (Salt Lake City)

Carlos Acosta Says The Pandemic Caused A ‘Dip’ In Ballet Talent

The director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet says it's because dancers leaving the academy haven't spent as much time training with each other as they did before COVID - and he claims they're just not ready for complex ballets. - The Stage (UK)

Finally, An Adapted Ballroom Competition For Dancers Who Use Chairs

The ballroom competition was also for dancers with prosthetic limbs, and was the first adapted competition in the U.S. One dancer's parent: "It's nice to see the U.S. catching up to what the rest of the world is doing." - NPR

The Pandemic’s Limitations Freed This Dancer And Choreographer To Create Something New

Luke Murphy's Volcano is "performed for an audience of eight, with each audience member in an individual booth." Sure, "it looked like 'financial madness,' but with Covid restrictions it 'actually became feasible' (because of support from the Arts Council, the festival and others)." - Irish Times

Six Months After Firing Its Artistic Director, Toledo Ballet Hires A New One

Eric Otto, who has danced and choreographed at companies throughout the eastern and Midwestern US, begins his term this fall.  Much of the Toledo Ballet's activity is focused on teaching, and Otto literally grew up at a successful ballet school, one run by his mother. - The Blade (Toledo, OH)

Paul Taylor Dance Begins A New Era

The upshot of all this change is the emergence of a company that is more diverse, and more versatile, than ever before. Taylor dancers are ready to take on the movement style of any creator, and to tackle works from different eras and traditions. - Dance Magazine

Did This British Dance School Really Eliminate Ballet From Its Curriculum Because It’s “Elitist”?

Not exactly, no (certain headlines notwithstanding).  What the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds (Britain's only dance conservatory that's not in London) has done is to stop requiring prospective students to include ballet in their auditions. (It is, after all, a school of contemporary dance.) - Classic FM (UK)

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Founder of Dance Troupe Urban Bush Women, Wins $250,000 Gish Prize

"Revolutionary at the time – and still cutting edge — Zollar's choreography synthesizes movement from modern dance and traditional folk African dance styles with the kind of text and shouted language the company describes as 'the urgent dialogue of the 21st century.'" - NPR

Dancer Sheema Kermani Has Spent Decades Infusing Her Art With Activism

Kermani, 71, is a leading dancer and choreographer in Pakistan. "Over the decades, Kermani has defied rising Islamic conservatism in her country to perform publicly, earning criticism, threats and accolades" - and she's not slowing now. - Scroll

Breakdancing Is A Freeform Art.  How’s It Getting Organized As An Olympic Sport?

"While breakers around the world ramp up their training, the organization recognized by the IOC to conduct the program, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), faces the unprecedented challenge of bringing a dance form to the Olympic stage." - Dance Magazine

A Census Of Every Single Dance Worker In New York City

The project by the nonprofit Dance/NYC "seeks to understand who makes up the dance work force and the social and financial hardships that these workers face. The data will help identify economic gaps and opportunities for fair wage standards and other policies across the sector." - The New York Times

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