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DANCE

As Tensions Between Russia And South Korea Rise, Ballets Featuring Bolshoi Stars Get Cancelled

Last month a production in Seoul starring Bolshoi prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova was called off following protests. This week, another show featuring 12 Bolshoi principals was cancelled a day before opening. One banner held by protesters read "Purchasing tickets for Russian performances = Purchasing missiles that will kill civilians." - AFP (Yahoo!)

A Philadelphia Ballerina Battles MS In Scotland

After six years dancing with the Philadelphia Ballet, Emily Davis moved to Glasgow in 2021 to do a PhD degree in dance health. Her focus is how dance classes can help patients with multiple sclerosis — of which Scotland has one of the world's highest incidence rates. - BBC

How Harlem Stage Has Helped Create Choreography Careers

The series E-Moves is 25 years old now, and one of its "intended effects has been to take choreographers who work mainly ‘downtown,’ in white-dominated dance institutions, and bring them ‘uptown’ to Harlem." - The New York Times

A Connecticut Civilian At A Pilobolus Workshop

"Emily told us to 'start walking' — all of us, in any direction, or all directions, as she and Matt called out instructions. … With everyone gradually picking up on the same gesture and then letting it transform, by the end of this ever-morphing exercise we were dancing en masse, already unified." - Literary Hub

AGMA Accuses Miami City Ballet Of Union-Busting Campaign

"Miami City Ballet management has begun an aggressive, coordinated union-busting campaign against their dancers, the majority of whom are fighting to unionize. … Furthermore, MCB management is trying to circumvent the legal process by denying their dancers the right to a union election." - American Guild of Musical Artists

This Guy Founded A Male Exotic Dance Troupe In (Of All Places) Singapore

"There were no success stories of male exotic dance troupes in Singapore, where the nightlife industry isn't as vibrant as in the US. But I wanted to introduce a new perspective on exotic dance that didn't quite exist (here), and at the same time reduce the stigma surrounding the genre." - Business Insider

Now That Breakdancing Is An Olympic Sport, Could Pole-Dancing Be Next?

"With breaking making its first Olympic appearance at the Paris Games later this year, pole dancers feel it could soon be their turn to be in the limelight, although it could come at the cost of losing the spirit of the discipline." - Reuters

The Unorthodox Collective Who Choreographs For Madonna’s Tour, The Cannes Film Festival, And Marseilles’s Ballet Company

"Don’t expect the august perch to change (La)Horde’s approach. The collective’s three millennial co-founders share a generational view forged by 1990s video stores and 2000s Queer nightlife, and fed by a plugged-diet supercharged by social media." - Variety

As Illinoise Opens On Broadway, Choreographer Justin Peck Plans To Conquer Hollywood As Well

"Peck, who has created almost 40 works for NYCB and other ballet companies around the world, is ambitious to bring modern dance to bigger, more diverse audiences on both stage and screen,” and the speedy opening of Illinoise on Broadway is just part of that. - The Daily Beast

How To Train Dancers In Acting Skills

There's a lot of overlap between acting and dance, and while it's standard for student actors to take dance classes, it's less common for those training in ballet or contemporary dance to get acting instruction. Juilliard dance students do, and here's one teacher there explaining what gets taught. - Dance Magazine

With A Permanent CEO, New Leadership At Cleveland Ballet Intends To Turn The Page

"(Larry Goodman), interim president and CEO, announced Tuesday he would permanently fill the position. Goodman was formerly on the company’s board of directors when it launched an investigation into its workplace culture and practices." - WEWS News 5 Cleveland

The Legal Issues Involved With A Ballet Company’s Rehearsals

"According to the dancers’ union contract, the temperature must be just so to reduce injuries. The floor must have the correct level of springiness. Breaks are mandatory; the length of rehearsals is carefully capped. Certain ballets are still under copyright protection, meaning that (various conditions must be met)." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As Ailey II Turns 50, There’s Plenty To Be Proud Of

The two years of apprenticeship is so tough that former dancers who went on to sitcom work, Broadway, and even the unionized top-level Ailey troupe feel like everything else is a breeze. - The New York Times

Lorraine Graves, Who Dazzled As A Groundbreaking Harlem Ballet Principal, Has Died At 66

"Graves broke barriers — not only as a celebrated dancer for a multiracial company that showcased African American excellence in a traditionally European art form, but also, at a towering 5-foot-10 ½, as an exceptionally tall one." - The New York Times

For Arts Ecosystems, Dance Is A Harbinger Of Health

The infrastructure necessary for dance to succeed requires development - and support. That’s why "the fall of the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis is worrying. Not just for dance but for the whole Minnesota arts scene.” - The Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)

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