When two of their colleagues were fired for complaining to management about unsafe working conditions, the dancers at Star Garden in North Hollywood voted to unionize with the independent labor organization Strippers United (and were promptly locked out). Antonia Crane, founder of that union, reports the story. - The Nation
A week after Michael Auer was reportedly terminated as ballet master over abusive conduct toward company members, two dancers who performed with RNZB in the 1980s have said publicly that Barker should resign as artistic director. The RNZB board says she has their full confidence. - Stuff (New Zealand)
She spent 22 years dancing with ABT (1980-2002), 19 of them as principal, and became one of ballet's top stars. She went on to serve as dean of dance at the UNC School of the Arts and, through the pandemic, artistic director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. - The New York Times
24th of February, this is, was the line, Because it's all changed. All changed. The reputation of Russia and Russian people, even if you are not a soldier, you're just Russian. It, it's all, it still make a shadow on you. - 60 Minutes
It's big for L.A.: "Five dance studios, a 200-seat performance area and classrooms for the Debbie Allen Middle School of the Performing Arts. The facility also has a studio theater and art gallery." Thank you, Grey's Anatomy and Fame. - Los Angeles Times
That might mean collaboration, that might mean mixing forms and traditions - and that might mean rehearsing in silence, with no music for the dancers to hear what their beats should be. - Irish Times
And she was revolutionary in more than one way. Not only did Bronislava Nijinska embrace choreographic aesthetics that were radical for her day, she understood — from watching Diaghilev and her brother trying to maintain dance companies in the West — how commercial pressures could be as oppressive as political ones. - The Nation
An abnormal announcement. "Dear guest, our event will be suspended in case of air raid alert. Dancers and spectators must go to the bomb shelter situated in the theater," it tells the crowd -- a poignant reminder that this is not a regular night at the theater. - CNN
Laurent Hilaire, who was an étoile in Paris since Nureyev's days, became director of dance at the Stanislavsky Theatre in 2017; he left Russia after the Ukraine invasion in February. He now succeeds Igor Zelensky (who has returned to Russia) at the helm of the Bavarian State Ballet. - Yahoo! (AFP)
Alejandro Cerrudo: "One of the most common thoughts I've heard from audiences is, 'Sometimes I feel like I don't understand it.' You don't have to. You just have to experience it. Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't, and sometimes you don't know why you like it, and that's OK." - Charlotte Magazine
The dispute provides a window into the complex, often fraught dynamics of City Ballet, a close-knit company in which relatives, spouses and romantic partners often share a workplace. - The New York Times
Michael Auer joined RNZB when Patricia Barker, his wife, took the helm of the Wellington-based company in 2017. His contract was terminated in April following repeated complaints of abusive remarks to female dancers about weight and the quality of their work, both in studio and on tour. - 1News (New Zealand)
Russell Janzen writes, "Not the mechanics of partnering: I relish the physical challenge of supporting and entangling with someone else. But rather the politics of two bodies dancing together." - The New York Times
The bronze sculpture of Marjorie Tallchief was part of a monument at the Tulsa Historical Society honoring the "Five Moons," American Indian women from Oklahoma who became renowned ballerinas during the mid-20th century. The thieves sold the cut-up bronze to a recycling center for $250. - MSN (The Washington Post)
One dancer who fled to Estonia and then to the United States says, "Russian ballet is definitely going to be totally isolated," and the editor of Pointe magazine says, "It feels like we’re going backward in time." - Yahoo (AP)
