DANCE

San Francisco Ballet Is Releasing A Virtual-Reality “Nutcracker”

In a partnership with Google, immersive media company YB and augmented reality company XREAL, SFB is presenting Nutcracker: The Immersive Experience, a specially recorded performance of the company’s production (choreography by Helgi Tomasson) for home viewing on VR platforms. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company To Close At End Of Next Year

“The Company's final year will feature Memory Palace, a retrospective project (beginning) with a two-week festival at New York Live Arts in March 2027, followed by a final tour through December 2027. Beyond the Company's conclusion, Memory Palace will continue to evolve through exhibitions and the creation of a legacy film.” - BroadwayWorld

Britain’s BalletBoyz At 25

“Let’s dispel the myth about BalletBoyz — it’s not an all-male company and never has been. There were women in their first shows 25 years ago, in this show and others in between, while the ensemble’s lineup can change every year.” Founders William Trevitt and Michael Nunn never liked the name, anyway. - The Times (UK)

These Ballet Dancers Fell In Love And Then, As Is The Way With Ballet, Founded A Company

"They realized that they wanted to create their own model, in which artists — who often cobble together a living over multiple part-time jobs and punishing rehearsal schedules — could earn a salary that reflected the labor they were putting in. ... East Coast Contemporary Ballet was born." - Hartford Courant

Balanchine’s “Nutcracker” Presented In Quasi-VR Projection Onto Domed Screen

The immersive video company Cosm filmed multiple New York City Ballet performances, using 13 cameras shooting from 84 positions. The footage was edited to produce what Cosm calls shared reality (“virtual reality without the clunky glasses”). The result will be shown this year in Detroit, Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. - The New York Times

The Former Director Of The Paris Opera Ballet Is Now Choreographing For The Folies Bergère

Said ex-director is Benjamin Millepied, also known as a former New York City Ballet star, founder-director of L.A. Dance Project, choreographer for the movie Black Swan, and Natalie Portman’s ex-husband. He’s staging three shows, each built on the music of great singer-songwriters, at the Folies this month. - The Times (UK)

How One Dancer Brought Ballet To A Post-Industrial English Town

In the early years, Darius James said he would cover the word "ballet" on the van they took to do community workshops because he feared it would put people off before trying. - BBC

How An Indian Classical Dancer Embodies An Ancient Nonbinary Character

Hindu mythology includes several figures described as third-gender, mixed-gender or genderless. Bijayini Satpathy, one of the great living practitioners of Odissi dance, had never played any of those characters before creating her new solo piece, and she wasn’t sure she would even know how. - The New York Times

The Latest Social Media Dance Craze Is Doing Traditional Ethnic Dance To A Hip-Hop Hit

Videographer James Fenwick runs the Born from Culture series, posting videos focusing on the world’s folk-dance traditions. In June, he released a video of Georgian dancers with music from the other Georgia, the Atlanta trap number “Mask Off.” When that went viral, traditional dance groups all over the world started following suit. - Dazed

The Pied Piper Of Male Dance

When Adrian Mitchell returned to the school in 2022, this time to teach, there were four boys. But in a few short years Mitchell expanded those numbers tenfold, to 40. All four in the original group went on to top ballet schools, professional ballet companies — or both. - The New York Times

The Site Where Modern British Ballet Was Born

The Georgian style Festival Theatre - now the Cambridge Buddhist Centre - had recently undergone some intense architectural changes when its owner invited future Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois to choreograph there. - BBC (Yahoo)

Orlando Ballet Artistic Directors Jorden And Lisa Morris Announce Retirement

Jorden Morris, a choreographer and former principal dancer at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, joined Orlando Ballet as in 2020 Artist-in-Residence and was named Artistic Director at the end of 2021. Lisa Thorn Morris, currently associate artistic director, joined the company in 2015 and served in several leadership roles. - WESH (Orlando)

Public Spaces In Transit Hubs Are Being Used As Dance Studios

“Around the world, transit hubs and other public spaces are becoming makeshift dance venues, used for rehearsals, battles, and filming content for social media. But these de facto studios offer more than just free rehearsal space. They’re also becoming centers of gravity for the dance community.” - Dance Magazine

Now That Choreographers Can Be Members Of SAG-AFTRA, What’s Changing For Them?

Well, for a start, they have negotiable rates, along with the pension and health contributions and the protected working conditions (such as guaranteed breaks) that dancers working in film and TV have had since 1992. - Dance Magazine

Meet ABT’s Youngest-Ever Choreographer

Brady Farrar, now 21, is still recognized by some fans from his six-week appearance on Dance Moms when he was 14. He entered ABT as an apprentice in 2024 and joined the corps last year but began choreographing at age 15. His Trio Élégiaque, commissioned by ABT, debuts this week. - The New York Times

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