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DANCE

How Judith Jamison Shaped The Alvin Ailey Dance Company

Under Jamison’s direction, the Ailey dancers grew more and more godlike in technique without losing earthly looseness and soul. - The New Yorker

This Completely Legal Musical Is Totally Not About Raygun The Olympic Breakdancer

Two weeks ago, comedian Steph Broadbridge cancelled Raygun: The Musical just before its Sydney premiere after notorious-Olympic-breaker-and-viral-sensation Dr. Rachael Gunn's lawyers sent a cease-and-desist notice. Then the producer got a demand for $10,000 for Gunn's legal fees, and Broadbridge had another idea. - The Sydney Morning Herald (MSN)

Cincinnati Ballet Chooses Longtime Principal As Artistic Director

"Cervilio Miguel Amador has served as interim artistic director since Jodie Gates’s abrupt departure in September 2023 – just 14 months after she took the job." - The Cincinnati Enquirer (Yahoo!)

The Mathematics Behind The Rockettes’ High-Precision Dance Routines

"During the dance company’s roughly 200 shows over eight weeks, a dancer can do up to 650 kicks in a single day. ... While this signature kick is a festive feat of physics in its own right, the math on stage also makes the magic." - Popular Science

Dallas Black Dance Theatre Officially Loses Funding From City

The decision by the city council — to redistribute the $248,000 previously allocated for DBDT to other organizations — comes just a few days after DBDT settled, by paying $560,000, a complaint brought to the National Labor Relations Board by the dancers DBDT fired last summer." - Dallas Observer

How Pointe Shoes Became Such A Big Business

Dancers at City Ballet go through about 7,000 pairs of pointe shoes every year. - Business Insider

The Trocks — Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo — At 50

"The troupe never strayed from its comedic roots but has evolved in other ways. … The quality of dancing is much higher than it used to be. … (And) because the new generation of dancers has been exposed to drag all their lives, they gravitate more toward ... the elegance of the art form." - Pointe Magazine

Reimagining The Songs That Alvin Ailey Cut From “Revelations”

The version we see today is about half the length of Ailey's 1960 original; nine songs were removed for an overseas tour in 1962, and the cuts have stuck. But interim artistic director Matthew Rushing and composer Du’Bois A’Keen have reimagined those missing scenes for a piece titled Sacred Songs. - Dance Magazine

Does This Skating Company Do Contemporary Dance On Ice? Well, No … But Also Yes?

The artistic director of the Montreal-based troupe Le Patin Libre ("free skate") stresses that audiences shouldn't expect anything like Merce Cunningham or Pina Bausch or Alvin Ailey but in an ice rink. Yet their work is to conventional figure skating something like what contemporary dance is to ballet. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Paris Opera Dancers On Strike

The strike, following unsuccessful negotiations, concerns the remuneration of preparation time before performances. According to the union, only six hours of monthly preparation are paid, compared to a real average of 30 hours. - Gramilano

Raygun, The Australian Olympic Breakdancer, Had Lawyers Shut Down A Musical About Her. Is That Really Legal?

Attorneys for Rachael Gunn, who gained global notoriety with her last-place performance at the Paris Olympics, put the kibosh on Raygun: The Musical, arguing that the show would damage her reputation and that she owns the IP of her moves. Does she have a leg to stand on? Here's an explainer. - Crikey (Australia)

Dallas Black Dance Theatre Must Pay Over Half A Million To Dancers It Fired

Under a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board, "10 fired dancers, and three whose offers of employment were rescinded, will receive over $560,000 from the dance company in back pay, front pay and compensation for damages incurred through the loss of their employment." - KERA (Dallas)

Dick Van Dyke Is Singing And Dancing In A New Coldplay Video, At 98

If there were ever an argument for dance (and a sense of humor) as a way to extend one’s life, well: Dick Van Dyke in a suit and tie, barefoot, dancing in his California backyard as he nears his 99th birthday, is it. - Vulture

“The Nutcracker” Is Saved! San Francisco Ballet Dancers’ Union And Management Agree On Contract

"San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker season will kick off as planned, despite concerns that opening night would be canceled due to a stall in contract negotiations. Ballet management … reached a tentative two-year agreement with its union members on Thursday." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

A Way To Teach Pointe Work That Won’t Wreck Dancers’ Feet

Lynne Charles, artistic director of English National Ballet School, has developed a method she calls 4Pointe. "There are all these methods ... but there’s no pre-pointe teaching ... the balance as you go through your foot. I’ve developed exercises for specific parts of the foot and put them in a specific order." - Bachtrack

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