A performance titled Passions croisées (Crossed Passions) in a historic Strasbourg church featured Pergolesi's Stabat Mater accompanied by athletic (and non-raunchy) pole and silk dancing by former champion Vincent Grobelny. The priest of the church rented for the performance then received letters saying he should be beheaded. - Yahoo! (AFP)
It's the first live work in North America for beloved Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning, and among her many collaborators are video artist Heleen Blanken and scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who provided video material and extensive consultations with the creative team. - MSN (The Boston Globe)
A dancer’s mind is just as important as her body; the one guides the other. To dance fully without hesitation, without self-consciousness, sets the stage for dancing of power and flow — to witness such unforced abandon is one of ballet’s greatest gifts. - The New York Times
It's not just a matter of coming off a proscenium or thrust stage: everything from audience expectations and behavior to documentation practices is different in a setting that's normally devoted to visual art. - ArtsHub (Australia)
"Leading industry choreographers Chloé Arnold, Marguerite Derricks and Mandy Moore share their experiences on what it's really like to create dances for the stars." - Dance Magazine
The Scottish Ballet's artistic director says that ballet "can inhabit the space between the words, the unspoken, and it can often delve into the predicaments the characters are in." Thus Anna Karenina, The Crucible, and more new story ballets. - Washington Post
Like Jerome Robbins and Bob Fosse before her, Susan Stroman is a director-choreographer who should really be called a choreographer-director. In this show, “we make New York City definitely a character in the show,” says Stroman. - Dance Magazine
"Mathilde Caillard's energetic dance became a meme for young activists opposing the reform. The slogan chanted in the clip, "Retraites, climat: même combat! Pas de retraités sur une planète brûlée" ("Pensions and climate are the same fight! No pensioners on a scorched planet"), became a rallying cry." - Le Monde (in English)
Earlier this month David McAllister became interim Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Wellington, as Patricia Barker departed following a troubled tenure. He'll be filling the same role (under more peaceful circumstances) at the West Australian Ballet in Perth when AD Aurélien Scanella steps down. - Limelight (Australia)
The new season of the podcast The Turning looks at the life of the choreographer; the heights, the difficulties, and the suffering that dancers experienced working with him, and how the still-powerful influence of his aesthetic led directly to many of the problems ballet is facing today. - MSN (The Washington Post)
The newly revamped space "is a boon for a New York dance scene still recovering from the setbacks of the pandemic. But it’s also an opportunity for an institution that was once central to dance in New York to regain importance, a possible realignment with a storied past." - The New York Times
For instance, anytime there's a scene in a club, a choreographer will suggest moves for the extras so they don't look awkward (which is easier than you'd think). And they'll help manage crowd scenes as well as any set piece where timing and execution are crucial. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"(Brittany Nicholas is) responsible for knowing the 12 ensemble tracks and all of the dancing for eight principals. She also acts as an extension of the choreographic team, maintaining the choreography and integrity of the show, taking notes, leading rehearsals, and teaching new cast members their parts." - Dance Magazine
"It's a precarious task that needs to carefully shape the audience's experience but not smother it. A title should be just enough of a frame to hold its contents, while remaining permeable so the viewer can ascribe their own meaning." Three dancemakers discuss how they go about it. - Dance Australia
