Dance

Russell Janzen: “This [2’11” segment] is the longest I have danced with someone else in quite some time, and after running it in this first rehearsal I am winded. … [I’m] happy we’re back but disappointed by how impersonal it feels to dance masked. I had been anticipating that the return to this work would be emotional, precious, but with the quick clip of the excerpt we are dancing, and the fact of our masks, it feels unfamiliar, almost like we’re dancing next to each other but not with each other.” – The New York Times

Gia Kourlas: “Generally, it doesn’t feel fraught, but at the same time I am aware of the sensitivity it takes to write about the body and how easily something could be misconstrued. I don’t want to hurt someone — and that’s not to say that I haven’t — but I try my best not to be cruel. And while I might love the way a dancer’s leg is shaped or the length of an arm, I don’t like to fetishize the body or dancers. To write about them as creatures or objects is really distasteful to me.” – The New York Times

His charm was colossal and effortless, his love for many people effusive and happy. I keep coming across poems and messages he sent me. They were signed “Your Jacques.” How lucky was I? Everyone who knew him has similar tales to tell. How lucky were we. – Alastair Macaulay

“Pointe spoke to four U.S. ballet companies — Milwaukee Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Avant Chamber Ballet [of Dallas] and Columbia City Ballet [in South Carolina] — about how they have cautiously made their way back to live audiences. For each, the road back to the stage meant a combination of lessons learned throughout the pandemic, adhering to government and health and safety policies, and dogged determination.” – Pointe Magazine

“Performances during the [July] tour will take place outdoors on a custom-built stage designed to unfold from an 18-wheeler truck. At each stop, 20 members of the company will perform a 50-minute show comprising four pieces.” – The New York Times

Reactions such as choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s social media post that claimed “Cancel culture is killing” are deeply harmful – they place “a burden of guilt on victims who may have come forward during the investigations, at a time when the ballet world is finally reckoning with the way it has normalized abuse over time.” – Dance Magazine

After the shootings in Atlanta, the already planned 10,000 Dreams Virtual Choreography Festival transformed into something that Asian American ballet dancers and choreographers have been missing and wanting for years – community. “There was a deep moment where we sort of were committing to building a network, building a community, taking up space, being loud, being bold. This festival really came out of that impetus of saying, ‘No, we’re going to take up space, we’re going to make some noise, and we’re going to show you how brilliant we are.'” – Washington Post

“Each Permanent domestic stamp, designed by Stéphane Huot, features a dynamic image of its subject in performance. Karen Kain almost breaches the borders of the three-by-four-centimetre stamp as she flies through the air as the Black Swan in a 1977 photograph by Andrew Oxenham. Fernand Nault is equally airborne in a 1947 outdoor photo shoot on Montreal’s Île Sainte-Hélène.” – Toronto Star

“Some factors that helped the studio persevere? A landlord who is postponing the studio’s $22,000 monthly rent payments, PPP loans totaling more than $110,000, the launch of a subscription-based platform for dance tutorials, and the studio’s nearly 30-year legacy and global brand with franchises in cities including Las Vegas, Nashville and Shanghai.” – Los Angeles Times

“The ballet world is filled with stories of dancers who first pointed their toes as toddlers and became professionals as teenagers. But what about those who started ballet as teenagers — and then realized that they wanted to make it their career? Their experience can be as thrilling as it is overwhelming, and also inspire a bit of panic.” – Pointe Magazine

“Contra and square dancing involve lots of other people, not just a single partner. Dancing involves live music, played with precision. It involves callers who stand with the musicians and direct the dancers’ moves. It involves a dance floor. These were all issues that had to be figured out. By the summer of 2020, they were.” – The Washington Post

“Scarlett’s death raises many issues. Foremost has been a widespread unease about the way that many dance companies in recent years have seemed to hush up various scandals or crises that purportedly involve a range of alarming sexual matters, heterosexual and homosexual, adult and under-age, on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as cases of violent assault.” – Alastair Macaulay

Rajan Zed, an advocate and the founder of the Reno-based Universal Society of Hinduism, has previously called on other companies, including Houston Ballet, the Royal Ballet in London, and, just this month, the Korean National Ballet and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, to remove “this deeply problematic ballet … [and] blatant belittling of a rich civilization” from their repertoires. In his latest statement, he says that “we are well into the 21st century now, and outdated La Bayadère, which was first presented in St. Petersburg in 1877, is long overdue for permanent retirement from the world stage, including from Opéra National de Paris.” – Gramilano (Milan)

“Yat-Sen Chang, 49, has been charged with 12 counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration against a female aged 16 or over. The alleged offences are said to have taken place at the English National Ballet and Young Dancers Academy in London between December 2009 and March 2016. Chang, who lives in the German port city of Kiel, has denied all the charges.” – The Guardian

Enter SB 805, which is up for a hearing by the California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee on April 26. If passed, the bill would greenlight low-cost payroll and paymaster services for small nonprofit performing arts organizations that make $1.4 million a year or less. It would also create a fund to award grants so that these theaters could hire and pay employees at least the minimum wage. – Variety

The JaQuel Knight’s company Knight Choreography & Music Publishing will see to the rights to Knights dance moves while operating as a music publisher as the company will broker licensing deals and protect IP. – Geo

It was both arduous and oddly pleasant for the dancers, used to touring – and to playing for packed houses; only 10 percent of the theatre can be sold in this case (but the ballets are available to stream online). “Jose Sebastian, one of the eight dancers performing Lovette’s ‘La Follia Variations,’ said the experience of living and rehearsing in the bubble has had its upsides. Typically performers fly into a new city for a show and rehearse on the stage for one day, he said. Having so much more time to get comfortable with the stage, lights and theater ‘has been such a gift,’ he said,” and the dancers have truly bonded as well. – Orange County Register

“Chloé Lopes Gomes filed a lawsuit in 2020 against the expiration of her temporary contract. She [alleged she had been] discriminated against because of the color of her skin. Now the State Ballet and the dancer have agreed to a court settlement: The ballerina will stay with the State Ballet for another year and receive a compensation payment of €16,000 ($19,240).” – Deutsche Welle

The 46-year-old Briton, who has continued to work remotely even as her big U.S. premieres planned for last year (Of Mice and Men at the Joffrey, Mrs. Robinson at San Francisco ballet) have been postponed, talks to Zachary Whittenburg about what she looks for in a story to tell, the unlikely novel she really wants to stage, and what reviews not to read. – Dance Magazine

“A career in ballet lasts only as long as a dancer’s body does. If they’re lucky, dancers can perform into their 30s — or in rare cases, into their 40s. When every season counts, taking time off to get pregnant, give birth, and recover is daunting. … [But since] they were already losing valuable career time to COVID-19. Why not have a baby now and avoid another major career disruption?” – Glamour

“More than three years after its 2018 debut, the professional company … announced April 6 that longtime Indianapolis arts leader Don Steffy will take the helm and manage the administrative, funding, facility and human resource functions.” – Indianapolis Star

“We dancers bonk up against the insanity of pining after someone else’s pair of legs day after day, but with age and maturity and years of fixating on our bodies – our instruments – we come to grips with what we have and what we can do with it. … I scrutinize my physique in the same way a painter stands back to examine her canvas. It’s my creation, made for a purpose.” – Oregon Arts Watch

He was a star British choreographer who staged a prodigious number of works and was assured a major international career. But “after allegations of sexual misconduct at the Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School, the company severed ties with him; an independent investigation found there were ‘no matters to pursue’ in relation to students.” – The Guardian

Somehow, despite the continued strain and strife, many dance companies have successfully adapted to the evolving digital stage — reimagining Nutcracker seasons, digitizing never-before-seen archival videos and launching their own streaming services. – Washington Post