This fall, in partnership with the company DanceOne, they’re launching a dance tour called Ovation by DanceOne, which merges ballroom and commercial competition traditions into one event. - Dance Magazine
Links Hall, long the hub of contemporary dance in Chicago, closed permanently in June. This raises two questions: Is there a crisis coming for small, independent arts venues? Where in the city can cutting-edge dance be presented now? Journalist Courtney Kueppers spoke with three Chicago dancemakers about what comes next. - WBEZ (Chicago)
At Repertory Dance Theatre, Linda C. Smith is retiring after 42 years as artistic director, 39 of them as executive director as well; two company executives will jointly fill those roles. At Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, artistic director Daniel Charon is stepping down after 13 years, replaced by Leslie Kraus. - The Salt Lake Tribune
“In Kakuma in northern Kenya, where more than 300,000 refugees’ livelihoods have been affected by funding cuts that have halved monthly food rations, the children use the Acholi traditional dance as a distraction from hunger and have perfected a survival skill to skip lunches as they stretch their monthly food rations.” - AP
“Artists were reaching out to us asking us if they would have one last chance to perform,” said executive director SK Kerastas. “We wanted to create a situation where we could say yes to all of those asks, and so we came upon this idea of doing a marathonic performance.” - WBEZ (Chicago)
“For those communities willing to share this with visitors (through ceremony or education at cultural centers), don’t neglect the opportunity. And if you’re asked to join — the only answer is yes. … So, to travelers, take note: every culture has its own form of traditional movement, a few of which are highlighted below.” - Vogue
Dutch National Baller director Ted Brandsen: “Just as you don’t (simply) replace a Rembrandt with a new painting, you don’t let such wonderful ballet heritage go to waste. The only way to preserve it is to keep performing it ... in a different context, away from the orientalist gaze of the nineteenth century.” - Gramilano (Milan)
“In the dark, brick-walled basement of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, a dance company has created a space protected from drones and bombs where audiences can lose themselves in performances of classic ballets.” - Globe and Mail
The pointe shoe manufacturer Virtisse, based near Philadelphia, saw its entire inventory — 25,000 pairs, worth over $3 million — literally go up in smoke. Now, as it tries to get back on its feet, it faces costs 50% higher than before because of the Trump administration’s tariff policy. - Marketplace
“The al-Kharrats say they are the only family in Syria who have continuously performed the Sema, as the dance is known, ... through years of war, repression and threats from extremist groups like ISIS. … Now, they say they are hopeful about new opportunities under the new Syrian government.” - The World
In glass-sided vertical wind tunnels, powerful fans shoot air upward at approximately the speed a human body would fall from an airplane. …But over the last 20 years, … because the tunnels can be viewed from the ground, indoor skydiving has become a spectator sport. - The New York Times
“They will also be paid more for their appearances outside of cheering for the Dallas Cowboys. It’s a happy ending to a grueling season and a key milestone in the dancers' long fight for fair pay.” - Time
Following the early departure of Lourdes Lopez at the end of this past season, the company has appointed 45-yeard-old Gonzalo Garcia, a former principal at San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet who is currently repertory director for the latter. Garcia succeeds Lopez and MCB founder Edward Villella. - Miami Herald (MSN)
Nearly half the company’s dancers — including its top two female principals — are leaving after a season marked by strained relationships with leadership, internal strife and what the dancers describe as a toxic work culture. - SunCoast Searchlight
Going right back to the original, Agnes DeMille’s “Laurey Makes Up Her Mind” in Oklahoma!, the power of the dream ballet lies in ‘being able to express something that words aren’t able to. … It liberated our form of storytelling and offered something really human and deeply revealing about the characters.” - The Guardian
