"The lawsuits, which seek a total of $23 million in damages, claim the institution’s environment led the former dancers to develop eating disorders and other health issues, including one who alleged they lost their menstrual cycle." - WRIC (Richmond)
The show is now officially known as a Living Historic Landmark by the state of Utah, the studio announced Monday. This designation is the first of its kind and was made possible by Utah Sen. Luz Escamilla's bill in the recent legislative session. - KSL
"The rally, led by the national labor union American Guild of Musical Artists, was in protest of auditions taking place at the dance company to replace main company dancers who were fired last week. … AGMA, which represents the fired dancers, says it’s a response to (their) union efforts." - The Dallas Morning News (MSN)
"In pursuit of ever larger audiences, Shen Yun has treated many of its performers as an expendable commodity. … It has routinely discouraged them from seeking medical care when their bodies have broken down, and commanded their obedience to grueling rehearsal and tour schedules through relentless emotional abuse and manipulation." - The New York Times
In the transformation of literature to performance, a story ceases to be something that I can control by holding it between my hands. But part of the pleasure of this season’s literary ballets was in the effort it takes to experience something fleeting—in the straining to see. - LitHub
“Ma was named associate artistic director in 2020, with the intention that he would learn the ropes and be given new responsibilities throughout the four-year period before succeeding Winslett. … The directorship change has been more of a mentorship process than a ‘taking over.’” - Pointe Magazine
After her zero-points performance in Paris went viral and spawned a thousand memes, a bunch of skeptics on social media — who ultimately submitted a rather ugly petition on Change.org — insisted that Rachael Gunn's presence as a competitor must have been the result of corruption. Well, it just isn't so, and here's why. - Vox
"William Henry Joseph Cutter Brown, better known as Doc Brown, was born into slavery in Arrow Rock, Missouri. After emancipation, he moved to Kansas City and gained wide renown as a performer. He took his cakewalk to Washington, and won the world championship at Madison Square Garden in 1893." - KCUR (Kansas City)
Everything in-person is paused for fundraising. “The Bessies will not hold its customary annual awards ceremony, party, or press conference, … the awards' selection and nomination process will continue. Artists nominated for 2024 Bessies will be announced publicly next year.” Uh, OK? - Playbill
"As a dancer and a comedian, Sarah McCreanor, known as Smac, likes to up the ante. Why mimic a dance or a person when you can turn yourself into an emoji? A head-bobbing chicken? An object being crushed by a hydraulic press?" - The New York Times
“What mattered most to him, Royal III said, was the idea of unity. ‘I kept coming back to that word,’ he said, ‘and asking myself, How can I show this concept of unity through dance?’” - The New York Times
Company management posted on Instagram on Monday that last Friday's abrupt mass sacking happened because "a video surfaced that violated their contractual terms and our standards of artistic excellence." The union, AGMA, is not at all convinced and has issued a rare "do not work" order for DBDT. - KERA (Dallas)
Dr. Rachael Gunn — whose nom de breaking is "Raygun" — knows that, at 36, she can't compete against the spins and strength moves of younger breakers. So the Australian university lecturer gets creative — and gets attention. "Sometimes it speaks to the judges," she says, "and sometimes it doesn’t." (In Paris it didn't.) - The Guardian
“Some observers view breaking’s evolution as most apparent in the development of its female athletes, a far cry from the early days when male gatekeepers sidelined women who wanted to throw down.” - The New York Times
