Ja'Malik, the company's new AD: "A lot of people think is a very elitist art form. It’s only for a certain demographic, a certain sociological background, economic background. ... I just want to help demystify that."- Madison 365
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, the Colombian-Belgian choreographer of Doña Perón for Ballet Hispánico, talks about such challenges as making the central character compelling when she has done many objectionable things and completely avoiding Andrew Lloyd Webber's show. - Pointe Magazine
When Nai-Ni Chen died in a swimming accident in Hawaii last December, her company's executive director — also her widower, Andrew Chiang — was unsure whether to disband the company or attempt to keep it alive. Gia Kourlas reports on the trio of women Chiang turned to. - The New York Times
In the decade before the pandemic, male choreographers were getting three times the number of commissions female ones got from major companies in the country. That's one issue that was looked at carefully during the pandemic, and we're starting to see results. - The Age (Melbourne)
The company left Kyiv for a tour in France one day before Putin's army invaded. The city of Paris has given them a residency at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and nobody knows how long it will last. Here's a photo journal of their stay so far. - National Geographic
"The 43-year-old principal dancer with the National Opera of Ukraine is the latest of several celebrities in the country that have been killed since the Russian invasion began last month." - Washington Post
The dance performance "from a Texas high school’s drill team was laden with Native American stereotypes, including repeated chants of 'scalp them!'" - The Daily Beast
Crisp's dance reviews for the Financial Times – "the pink 'un" – from 1970 until 2020 were legendary for their passionate fastidiousness about ballerinas and high style, their acuity about rising talents and the difficulties of creativity, and – often – their ferocity, when he saw something he thought a blight. - The Arts Desk
The company is the one where Mack first studied, Columbia Classical Ballet in South Carolina. Last fall, artistic director Radenko Pavlovich visited his hometown, Sarajevo — and never came back, becoming ballet master there and recommended his star pupil to fill in at CCB for the season. - Free Times (Columbia, SC)
"As a wordless art, dance travels well. With strong links to the Kremlin, the Bolshoi has been hailed as Russia's 'secret weapon' by former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, sent abroad to 'achieve our goals', he said, unabashed about using the ballet studio as an arsenal of soft power." - The Guardian
Sarah Kaufman: "To better understand the pressures facing these artists and how they'll affect audiences, I spoke with presenters, consultants and company leaders about what's happening now, and what the longer-term story may be." - MSN (The Washington Post)
Academies at top companies all over western and central Europe have given refuge to more than 60 young dance students since the war started, with more coming. - NPR
It was announced on Wednesday that Olga Smirnova, who was born and raised in St Petersburg, has now joined the Dutch National Ballet, where she will start immediately alongside the Brazilian soloist Victor Caixeta, who has left the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg in response to the war. - The Guardian
"Until the fall, Lauren Lovette was an esteemed principal at New York City Ballet, but now she has crossed over into modern dance and has been named the first resident choreographer at the Paul Taylor Dance Company." - The New York Times
You have to ask: why are people in the theatre? With dance, especially classical ballet, it still often does have to do with some celebratory facet. If someone does a triple turn in the air, we all applaud. This guy prevailed over physics and centrifugal force. - The Guardian
