When management fired the entire main company in August, the dancers said it was because they tried to unionize; management said that a social media video the dancers made violated longstanding rules covering DBDT members' behavior. The dancers respond that those rules are rigid and severely outdated. - KERA (Dallas)
Dance Data Project's 2024 survey of the 150 largest ballet and classically-based companies in the U.S. shows little change in the gender balance among artistic directors, still roughly 60% male and 40% female. And more women were replaced by men last year than vice versa. - Dance Data Project
Unicorns are, unsurprisingly, hard to find. In dance, that’s led to a sort of executive director musical chairs, with some successful executives rotating through multiple organizations. - Dance Magazine
Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, accused by many former dancers and staff members of body shaming and bullying, apologized and said, “I embrace the idea that the leadership style that people expect today involves more open dialogue, and more awareness of — and respect for — everyone’s limits.” - The New York Times
Today, fliers and social media posts use labels including “dissident tango” and “inclusive tango,” while a growing number of the nontraditional lessons and events use “queer tango” – increasingly accepted as the most all-are-welcome way of describing the fluid and open atmosphere of the events. - Christian Science Monitor
Researchers in Germany and France have analyzed the stylized movements of some female gibbons, and they've found that, defining dance as "an intentional movement that’s rhythmic and doesn’t serve a physical purpose" (as does, say, walking or scratching an itch), the gibbons' movements qualify. - The New York Times
Stanford Makishi, vice president and artistic director of dance at New York City Center: "We literally have companies written on Post-it notes on a giant whiteboard, and we’re constantly moving around Post-it notes. It is the most low-tech way of programming that you could possibly imagine.” - Pointe Magazine
Four Loves, a 30-minute ballet with a cast of more than 20, is inspired by C.S. Lewis's book The Four Loves, which examines storge (familial love), philia (friendship), eros (romantic love), and agape (spiritual love). Farley describes his piece as "like a cosmic daughter of (Balanchine's) Four Temperaments." - Dance Magazine
Branislav Henselmann, 49, most recently worked as the deputy general manager of arts, culture and community for the city of Vancouver, where he worked for seven years and previously led the city’s Cultural Services department. He also served as executive director of Ballet BC for nearly five years. - San Francisco Chronicle
"Tours provide relief from the constant stress and noise of incoming fire, the principal dancer Nataliia Matsak said in a video interview. 'Even though we’re working very hard, it’s like taking a break,' she said, 'because we can finally sleep.'" - The New York Times
Christopher Marney talked to regional theaters around Britain to make sure there was demand for ballet. (There is!) And he discovered that no one held the rights to the London City Ballet name. He also met with former company dancers. - The New York Times
While same-sex pairings aren't unusual in contemporary dance or in abstract ballets, they're almost never seen even in new narrative ballets. With this new work about Oscar Wilde, commissioned by David Hallberg for the Australian Ballet, Wheeldon fills that gap — and considers just how much can be shown onstage. - The Guardian
Cohasset, a Butte County community atop a ridge north of Chico, is home to about 400 residents and the site of a 26-year-old annual dance and yoga retreat. It took place on a 26.5-acre property that featured hand-built huts, lavender fields and manzanita trees they danced with. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
Yes, Raygun (civilian name: Dr. Rachael Gunn), the Australian academic whose singularly odd performances and (ahem) perfect score made her one of the viral sensations of the Paris Games, is — due to quirks in the rules of competitive breaking's governing body — temporarily leading the sport's rankings. - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)
