ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

DANCE

What Dancers Do In The Off Season

They go to La Jolla, of course. The new company PointeWorks "is intended to 'create a space and platform for artists to perform and for choreographers to show their work' when they are not committed to other projects" - that is, during the summer. - La Jolla Light

Trisha Brown Dance Gets A New Director

Most recently, Kristin Kapustik served as the Executive Director for six years at The House Foundation for the Arts, Inc, a nonprofit that produces the work of multi-disciplinary artist Meredith Monk. - Broadway World

Virginia Johnson Joined Dance Theatre Of Harlem In 1969 As A Dancer. Now She’s Retiring As Artistic Director

"Those early years of Dance Theatre of Harlem were extremely — it was a lean time for us. It was a small company. We did a lot of bus and truck tours. We were going into small cities. People were thinking they were going to see the Harlem Globetrotters." - NPR

In US Contemporary Dance Companies, The Leadership Is Largely Female: Dance Data Project

"Clearly, the contemporary and modern dance world offer far more leadership opportunities for women than classical dance. However, as noted in the first report, the budget size is orders of magnitude smaller." - Dance Data Project

Going Virtual During COVID Turned Into A Major Success For Dallas Black Dance Theatre

"(Executive director Zenetta) Drew said the theatre's (online) programming has continued to net six figures each year and has also brought in new audiences from across the world. Since 2020, DBDT has reached 38 states and 35 countries outside the U.S. with paid virtual content." - KERA (Dallas)

Why Ayodele Casel Did An Autobiographical Tap-Dance Show With Voiceover

"When I got to do While I Have the Floor, that was me really saying, okay, I can be in control of the narrative. If there's not work out there that can honor the depth of my expression ... in both acting and dancing, then I can write it myself." - Slate

A Bronislava Nijinska Bio-Ballet

The Ballet de Santiago in Chile commissioned Spanish choreographer Avatâra Ayuso to create Nijinska, Secreto de la Vanguardia for this year, the centenary of Nijinska's most famous work, Les Noces (set to Stravinsky's score). Ayuso says that Lynn Garafola's biography of Nijinska last year saved her years of research. - Bachtrack

How Editor Robert Gottlieb Helped Shape Dance

"He brought a galaxy of dance luminaries into his list of authors when he was editor in chief of Alfred A. Knopf. ... He ran influential works of dance criticism as editor of The New Yorker, and he later became a dance critic himself." - The New York Times

What Do You Get When You Cross Hip-Hop With Ballet?

Hiplet, of course. (That's pronounced "hip-lay.") "The dance style — a captivating fusion of hip hop and ballet, with some jazz and modern thrown in — has roots in the 1990s, got its name in 2005 and was trademarked in 2009." Here's a guide for the perplexed. - Observer

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s New Artistic Director Has Some Big Dreams For Her Dancers

Dani Rowe hopes to end the company's apprentice program by 2030, instead treating — and paying — the young dancers as full company members. Indeed, she wants to raise pay for all of the performers (many of whom work second jobs) and extend their contracts from 34 to 44 weeks. - Oregon Public Broadcasting

“Mao’s Last Dancer” To Retire

Li Cunxin, who found international fame for his remarkable rise from rural China to become one of the world’s leading ballet dancers, has announced his retirement as the artistic director of Queensland Ballet due to health issues. - CNN

“Mao’s Last Dancer,” Li Cunxin, Retires For Health Reasons From The Company He Has Transformed

After 16 years as a star of Houston Ballet and four at the Australian Ballet, followed by 13 years as a successful stockbroker, Li became in 2012 artistic director of Brisbane's Queensland Ballet, where he has doubled the number of dancers and quintupled the budget. - Australian Financial Review

BAM Releases Scaled Down Plans For Its Next Wave Festival

"This year’s edition of the storied festival will be scaled back, featuring seven programs — nearly half the last slate." One BAM associate director says, "We prefer to think of it as dense and not necessarily shrinking." - The New York Times

A Story Ballet For A Hoped-For New Audience

Audience numbers are down at American Ballet Theater. So: Like Water for Chocolate. "For people who might not be familiar with the great abstract works of Balanchine or the classics, ... they might see a poster and think, ‘Well maybe I’ll go and see that.’" - The New York Times

Pina Bausch’s Dance Company Goes On, With Its Fifth Director Since Her Death

But what is Tanztheater Wuppertal without Bausch? Answers may come as the group celebrates its 50th anniversary. In addition, there's now "a shortlist of candidates for design competition to build the Pina Bausch Center, a major new cultural building for the city." - The New York Times

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