Dance Magazine articles from December 2005

Dance Magazine archives from December 2005

Curtain up.(New York Dance and Performance Awards )(dance trends)(Editorial)
December 1, 2005... In the 1970s when I was performing with the Trisha Brown Company in Europe, people told me how much they envied the American spirit of experimentation. They said that European dance artists were so laden with tradition that they couldn't budge...

Buoying up boys.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... As a dance teacher in the public school system, I absolutely love your magazine. I've used your November 2001 feature "Confessions of a Boy Dancer" to help students examine stereotypes about male dancers. This year I have an eighth grade with...

McKerrow's training.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... I wanted to fill in a gap in Amanda McKerrow's training ("Transitions," August). She studied early on with Phyllis Blake of the Twinbrook School of Ballet in Maryland, but then attended the Metropolitan Academy of Ballet in Bethesda with...

Prose poem.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... The visual imagery in the writing in every Dance Magazine is exquisite! Each article is just the right length and suffused with wonderfully rich and crisp language. Hats off to Ms. Perron, who never fails to cleverly and succinctly convey the...

Art, not Artemis.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... While flipping through the October issue, I spotted Belly Dancing: The Sensual Art of Energy and Spirit in "Dance Recommends." I am sad that a magazine I admire would recommend a book full of dubious facts. For instance, there's no more...

Broadway bound.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... I agree with Sylviane Gold's informative September "On Broadway" column which surveyed the upcoming season. Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out was a big step toward getting Broadway to appreciate the commercial potential of contemporary ballet. But I...

A teacher's request.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2005... Allegra Kent writes that her 3 1/2-year-old granddaughter was thrown out of a preballet class for not minding the teacher ("Advice for Dancers," September). While it is difficult to judge a situation without having been there, it's rare for a...

Corrections.(Letters)(Correction Notice)
December 1, 2005... In the November issue, Rachel Straus' byline was omitted from the story, "A Granddiva Diva," and Kathy Valins' byline was omitted From "Fear of Men in Tights." Oswaldo Muniz choreographed False Fantasy, the ballet performed on the cover by...

A mata of survival.(DANCE MATTERS)(Mata Hari)
December 1, 2005... The Washington, D.C. modern dance soloist Nejla Y. Yatkin has long been intrigued by the legendary Mata Hari. The exotic dancer was shot for spying in World War I, although her guilt was never proven. Yatkin, whose appearance is often labeled...

Jazz Dance Congress report 2005.(DANCE MATTERS)(Ron de Jesus' Prey)
December 1, 2005... Smooth: Ron de Jesus' Prey, performed by Giordano Jazz Dance Company. If anything defines jazz dance, it's the excitement of what's happening in the streets. Jazz changes with the times and at this year's Jazz Dance World Congress, Aug....

Revolving doors in Miami.(DANCE MATTERS)
December 1, 2005... Shifting alliances have turned South Florida dance figures into quick-claange artists. Only last spring David Palmer and Yanis Pikieris, choreographer-directors of the financially strapped Maximmn Dance Company, joined forces with Ballet...

American Ballet Theatre.(appointment of Michele Wiles )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... American Ballet Theatre has elevated Michele Wiles to principal dancer.

Boston Ballet.(promotions of Jorma Elo, Romi Beppu, Karine Seneca )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Boston Ballet has appointed Jorma Elo resident choreographer and promoted Romi Beppu and Karine Seneca to principals. Misa Kuranaga, Kathleen Breen Combes, and Joel Prouty have been promoted to second soloists.

Pennsylvania Ballet.(appointment of Riolama Lorenzo, James Ady)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Pennsylvania Ballet promoted Riolama Lorenzo and James Ady to principals.

Leipzig Ballet.(Names in the News)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Leipzig Ballet has hired Jean-Sebastien Colau, former second soloist at the National Ballet of Canada.

Bavarian State Ballet.(appointment of Roberta Fernandes, Tigran Mikayelyan, Natalia Kalinchenko)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... New at the Bavarian State Ballet: soloists Roberta Fernandes and Tigran Mikayelyan, Natalia Kalinchenko has been raised to principal.

San Francisco Ballet.(appointment of Claire Pascal, Elana Altman )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... New principal at San Francisco Ballet: French-born Claire Pascal, who last danced with Italy's Maggio Danza. The company has also promoted Elana Altman to soloist.

LINES Ballet.(appointment of Aesha Ash, Adam McKinney)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Fresh faces at LINES Ballet: Aesha Ash. and Adam McKinney.

English National Ballet.(appointment of Wayne Eagling)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Wayne Eagling is the new artistic director of English National Ballet, succeeding Matz Skoog, who resigned suddenly.

Suzanne Farrell.(awards and achievements)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Suzanne Farrell is one of five American artists celebrated during the 28th annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Jacob's Pillow.(Names in the News)(Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Jacob's Pillow set an attendance record for the 2005 festival, up three percent from the previous year.

Sudden exit at Houston Ballet.(resignation of Maina Gielgud)
December 1, 2005... In a surprise move, Maina Gielgud stepped down last summer as artistic associate of the Houston Ballet. Citing artistic differences, Gielgud stated her disagreement with the opening night casting changes imposed by artistic director Stanton...

More labor pains.(SATISFACTION, BOSTON-STYLE)(American Guild of Musical Artists withdraw discrimination case against Ballet West)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The National Labor Relations Board has notified Ballet West that the charge filed against the company by the American Guild of Musical Artists has been withdrawn... The Washington Ballet has settled a discrimination suit brought by AGMA, the...

Downtown dance in L.A.
December 1, 2005... When you're hot, you're hot--especially in Los Angeles. It's not, however, the temperature that's got people buzzing, but the downtown arts climate. Adding to Grand Avenue's "cultural corridor," where Frank Gehry's steel-clad Walt Disney...

Family ties.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... To Ronald K. Brown, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater counts as an adopted family. The works he's choreographed for them, like Sen, ins Nia and Grace, reveal a blood-thick fondness. "Each time I come to Ailey, I feel that I can go deeper,...

Instant choreography.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... On September 17, five choreographers were given five days to create new site-specific works by Dancing in the Streets for its "Breaking Ground" experiment, masterminded by Joanna Haigood. The chosen site was an open-air section of Brooklyn's...

Ballet Hispanico flies high.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... During Ballet Hispanico's 35th anniversary celebration, it will present the world premiere of Alexandre Magno's Orfeo in the Carnaval of the Souls, a Brazilian take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, during its two-week season at The Joyce...

Armitage gone home!(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(Armitage Gone! Dance's In this dream that clogs me)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The legendary "drastic classicism" choreographer Karole Armitage lands at home after 15 years of working with ballet and opera houses in Europe. Her five-member troupe Armitage Gone! Dance premieres In this dream that clogs me, Nov. 30-Dec. 18...

A new name, a new home.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(Dance New Amsterdam at Manhattan)(Dance Space Center)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... For Dance New Amsterdam, moving down means going up. Since 1984, the former Dance Space Center, founded by Lynn Simonson, Charles Wright, Laurie DeVito, Michael Geiger, and Danny Pepitone in 1984, has been a tenacious player in the real estate...

Moroccan square dance.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)(by Anahid Sofian and her company )(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... For more than 30 years, Anahid Sofian and her company of Near Eastern dancers have been presenting Moroccan culture through a modern lens. Their original dancing, music, and costumes are infused with traditional tribal styles. Sofian's latest...

Energy or candy? The bar facts.(HEALTH and Fitness)
December 1, 2005... One morning recently I ran into Smuin Ballet member Erin Yarborough digging through her dance bag before class. She pulled out an energy bar, took a bite, and complained that she'd be hungry by the end of barre. I wasn't surprised. Have you...

Advice for dancers: former New York City Ballet dancer Linda Hamilton, Ph.D., is a lecturer, a psychologist in private practice, and the author of Advice for Dancers (Jossey-Bass). She has been offering advice to Dance Magazine readers since 1992.
December 1, 2005... Does practising more than one technique cause injuries? I've studied ballet since I was a kid, but recently added modern classes to help land a job. My body is acting up big time. What should I do?--Vanessa, Brooklyn Heights, NY Pay...

Screen test: Susan Stroman talks about the risks and rewards of making the leap to the big screen.(Interview)
December 1, 2005... It was only a matter of time until Susan Stroman made a big Hollywood musical. Her stage dances have long flowed cinematically, and just last year, she debuted Double Feature, her homage to silent movies, for New York City Ballet (see "They...

Going nuts: dancers can develop strange rituals by the umpteenth Nutcracker performance.
December 1, 2005... Ah, the holidays. For so many Nutcracker devotees, the two hours spent each Christmas with Clara and her candyland fantasies is an event to look forward to. Like Santa, it only comes one night a year. But for the dancers who can chart their...

Plum roles: Nutcracker guesting brings extra income and experience.
December 1, 2005... The Nutcracker offers many Americans their first glimpse of ballet, so when the dancers-particularly the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier--are top-notch, the event can be life-changing. As representatives of the professional ballet world, guest...

The gift of giving.
December 1, 2005... Now that the holidays are coming, it's time to make your gift list. Dance Magazine went shopping to give you some ideas. Four New York dancers from Steps on Broadway model our discoveries: Lucia Campoy (BALLET), Virma Caramia (MODERN), Didi...

Life is a cabaret: choreographers have found a new kind of venue and audience.
December 1, 2005... On a Saturday evening last spring, Joe's Pub filled with the sounds of convivial conversation. Patrons sitting around cramped tables swirled the ice in their cocktails. The lights grew dim and a spotlight shone down on a tiny stage...

Brave new world: dancers and choreographers on surviving and thriving with HIV.
December 1, 2005... Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since reports of a voracious disease with an ability to destroy immune systems appeared in The New York Times. At the time, neither the disease, nor the agent that caused it, had names. Today they are...

DRA: remembering dancers with HIV/AIDS in a new way.(Dancers Responding to AIDS)
December 1, 2005... New ideas, old traditions, and a diverse mix of dancers will come together this December to raise money and awareness for dance professionals with HIV/AIDS. Since 1991, Dancers Responding to AIDS (DRA), a program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights...

Turning point: inside the mind of a 30-something female modern dancer.
December 1, 2005... A few months ago, at a time when I was particularly exhausted from the recurring insolvency of my freelance dancer lifestyle, I thought I had been granted a little monetary relief through an act of divine intervention. I was standing on the...

On your toes: pros' tips on pointe shoe accessories.
December 1, 2005... Finding the right pointe shoe accessories, like finding your second position, takes practice. What you choose can make a big difference in the way you look and feel on pointe. The ideal products should protect your toes without too much bulk...

Dancing in the dark: Astaire and Rogers made sweet screen magic.(DANCE MAGAZINE RECOMMENDS)
December 1, 2005... Astaire & Rogers Collection, Volume 1. DVD; set $59.92; each 19.97. Top Hat RKO, 1935. Directed by Mark Sandrich. 100 minutes. Follow the fleet RKO, 1936. Directed by Mark Sandrich, 110 minutes. Swing Time RKO, 1936. Directed by...

Nutcracker $$$ dreams.(TEACH-LEARN CONNECTION)
December 1, 2005... The Nutcracker has become entrenched in the fabric of our culture like no other ballet. Who hasn't experienced a thrill of anticipation on hearing the magical strains of Tchaikovsky's overture? The story of Clara and her stalwart Nutcracker...

Tom Hagood.(LIMELIGHT)(National Dance Education Organization's 2005 Visionary Award)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Tom Hagood's global perspective as dance program director at Miami's Florida International University has won him the National Dance Education Organization's 2005 Visionary Award. By developing process-based curriculum and drawing...

UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The UCLA Department of World Arts and CULTURES opened its new Glorya Kaufman Hall in October with faculty performances featuring works by Victoria Marks, WAC chair David Rousseve, and guest artist Rennie Harris, who also choreographed a work...

The Harid Conservatory.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Harid Conservatory awarded Rudolf Nureyev Education Fellowships of $5,000 each to students Isadora Loyola de Siqueira and Adam Still. Financial aid ($2,500 each) from the Ruth Nelson Kraft Awards Foundation went to four Brazilian dancers:...

West Texas A&M University Dance Ensemble.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The West Texas A&M University Dance Ensemble, directed by Edward Truitt, won first place for best contemporary dance and second place for best overall choreography at the Grand Prix Italia Dance Festival in June.

Kansas City Ballet.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Kansas City Ballet will be able to expand the number of elementary schools in its Reach Out and Dance program thanks to $50,000 from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The ROAD curriculum relates dance to geography, math, and other...

Alison D'Amato.(Kudos)(Alison D' Amato)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Alison D' Amato of Haverford College is one of 10 students to receive a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship for graduate study. She will use the funds to attend the Laban Centre in London.

Penn State University.(Kudos)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... For the first time, students of Penn State University may earn a BFA in musical theatre. The new major in the School of Theatre grew out of a musical theatre emphasis that Penn State has offered for 10 years.

Back to school with ABT.(American Ballet Theatre)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Thirty-two American Ballet Theatre dancers are earning college degrees in the humanities in a new partnership with Long Island University Since it's nearly impossible for them to attend classes on campus with their heavy duty.' rehearsal,...

Miami City Ballet School.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... TRUMAN FINNEY and PATRICIA STRAUSS have joined the faculty of MIAMI CITY BALLET SCHOOL. Finney, who will teach advanced ballet, trained at the School of American Ballet and danced with New York City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, and the Frankfurt...

California Institute of the Arts.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... RACHEL BERMAN, former lead dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1989 to 1999 and a Dance Magazine cover story (March 1997), has joined the faculty of the CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS in Valencia. Since leaving the Taylor company,...

Ballet Des Enfants.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... BALLET DES ENFANTS of Chappaqua and Larchmont, New York, has leased space for an additional dance studio in Darien, Connecticut.

Cuban ballet teacher and coach Laura Alonso visited Mercyhurst College.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Cuban ballet teacher and coach LAURA ALONSO visited MERCYHURST COLLEGE, Erie, PA, in October to teach master classes, an open community ballet class, and to stage Don Quixote Pas de Deux for The Mercyhurst Dancers.

Mill Ballet School.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... VANESSA LAWS has joined the MILL BALLET SCHOOL faculty. In addition to teaching ballet, pointe, and yoga for dancers, she is also children's rehearsal director for The Nutcracker. Laws trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow and toured...

Nancy Raffa will direct summer intensives for American Ballet Theatre in New York, Detroit, Alabama, Texas, California, and Bermuda.(New Assignments)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... NANCY RAFFA will direct summer intensives for AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE in New York, Detroit, Alabama, Texas, California, and Bermuda. Raffa danced with ABT and Miami City Ballet, and previously ran the Miami City Ballet School summer intensive...

Teacher's wisdom: Eva Evdokimova.(TEACH- LEARN CONNECTION)(Interview)
December 1, 2005... Eva Evdokimova's illustrious career is filled with firsts: the first American to win an international ballet competition, the first foreign ballerina accepted into the Royal Danish Ballet, the first American to perform with the Kirav Ballet,...

Teachers, first do no harm.(Rants & RAVES)(dance trainers)
December 1, 2005... Imagine you're a teenage girl. Ballet is your life, and you've been training for years at a small community dance school. You've been singled out for special attention--your teachers have given you a full scholarship, choice roles, heaps of...

Adiarys Almeida: this Cincinati Ballet soloist, without a word of English, defected from Cuba to take control of her career.(On the Rise)
December 1, 2005... Don Quixote's Act III pas de deux has been done so many times that it's hard to make it fresh. Yet when Adiarys Almeida and her partner Cervilio Amador danced it at their Cincinnati Ballet debut, a riveted audience burst into applause before...

On Broadway: what becomes a legend most? Chita Rivera's new show revisits her struggles and triumphs.
December 1, 2005... You would think that in file surly, back-biting world of Broadway, people would be talking about the unmitigated ego of doing a show like Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life. That they would be asking why in the world Broadway needs a reverential...

Mark Morris Dance Group.
December 1, 2005... Mark Morris Dance Group Zellerbach Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA September 22-October 1, 2005 The Mark Morris Dance Group's annual sojourn at Cal Performances, now 11 years old, yielded a modest charmer this season....

Pacific Northwest Ballet.(performance)
December 1, 2005... Pacific Northwest Ballet Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, Seattle, WA September 22-October 2, 2005 For "Director's Choice," his inaugural program as Pacific Northwest Ballet's new artistic director, Peter Boal continued the company's tradition...

Lula Washington Dance Theatre.(Dance Review)
December 1, 2005... Lula Washington DANCE Theatre John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, CA September 3, 2005 Star power not only gleamed in the sky but glittered onstage when Lula Washington's Los Angeles-based troupe presented a 10-part program,...

Bolshoi Ballet.
December 1, 2005... Bolshoi Ballet Metropilitan Opera House, New York, NY July 18-30, 2005 Martha Graham used to say, "If you can tell the story of your dance, it's not a dance but a literary thing." She knew that if dance was to have an identity of its own,...

Nutcracker Key West.(PREVIEW)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Picture an undersea Nutcracker set in a mangrove swamp, where fighting sharks assume the Russian Cossack roles and sea nymphs dance the Arabian variation, and you've pictured Key West Ballet's 2005 production. Artistic director Angela Whitehill...

A tap dance Christmas Carol.(PREVIEW)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... A tap dance version of Dickens' holiday tale might seem a bit odd, but in the hands of Cheryl Johnson and Anthony Peters it makes a jolly alternative to The Nutcracker. The co-directors of Johnson and Peters Tap Dance know how to tell a story...

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.(RETIREMENTS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... After 13 stellar years with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell gave her final performance in Tokyo last May. On December 15, the loyal Ailey audience at New York's City Center will see her perform one last time...

Tulsa Ballet.(RETIREMENTS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Tulsa Ballet principal dancer Daniela Buson retired at the conclusion of the company's 2004-5 season. Known for her command of the classical repertoire and for her versatility with contemporary ballet choreography, Buson was featured in...

Tatiana Dokoudovska.(founder of Kansas City Ballet)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
December 1, 2005... Kansas City Ballet founder Tatiana Dokoudovska died in September at age 84. While developing the KCB company, Dokoudovska helped to create what is now the University of Missouri-Kansas City's dance department. French-born Dokoudovska came to...

Ilya Kapitannikov.(DEATHS)(Obituary)
December 1, 2005... Sixteen-year-old Ilya Kapitannikov, a rising star in the amateur Latin dance competition circuit, died in a tragic car accident in the Catskill Mountains last July. Neither Ilya nor four other young campers and a camp counselor--who was...

Nathalie Krassovska.(DEATHS)(Obituary)
December 1, 2005... Former Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancer Nathalie Krassovska died last February in Dallas at the age of 87. Leningradbona Krassovska performed in two 1941 movies choreographed by Leonide Massine. Considered a great beauty, she was approached...

Griff Braun and Anna Laghezza, dancers with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, performed an excerpt from Lubovitch's My Funny Valentine in last September's Evening Stars concert in Manhattan's Battery Park.(ENGAGEMENTS/MARRIAGE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Griff Braun and Anna Laghezza, dancers with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, performed an excerpt from Lubovitch's My Funny Valentine in last September's Evening Stars concert in Manhattan's Battery Park. Holding a bouquet of roses, Braun fell...

Texas Ballet Theater dancers Julie Gumbinner and Lucas Priolo married last summer.(ENGAGEMENTS/MARRIAGE)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Texas Ballet Theater dancers Julie Gumbinner and Lucas Priolo married last summer. For the opening night of its new season, the newlyweds performed the lead roles in Ben Stevenson's Romeo and Juliet.

Dance Collective.(DISBANDED)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Last September Boston's Dance Collective opened its final season. During its 32 years, the collective premiered 160 dances, including works by co-founders Susan Dowling, Martha Armstrong Gray, Dawn Kramer, and Ruth Wheeler.

Fernando Bujones.(A PRAYER)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... International ballet star Fernando Bujones, whose five-year artistic directorship of the Orlando Ballet has reenergized the company, was diagnosed with lung cancer in September. Not a smoker, Bujones, 50, said that he takes inspiration from...

Schools, studios, colleges, universities, companies, teachers, dancers, choreographers, somatic practices, movement arts, dance medicine, yoga.(DANCE FINDER)(Directory)
December 1, 2005... United States ALABAMA ALABAMA BALLET Wes Chapman, Artistic Director Alice Cox, Director of External Affairs 2726 1st Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233 (205) 322-4300; Fax (205) 322-4444 www.alabamaballet.org ALABAMA DANCE THEATRE...

The Nutcracker ballet curls up with a book.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... If anyone from this cast of The Nutcracker wants to read the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story on which the ballet is based, they won't have to Google it. They can simply locate it on a nearby bookshelf. The Carnegie Performing Arts Center's 30th...

Attitudes.
December 1, 2005... You may say toh-MAY-toh while I may say toh-MAH-toh, and before calling the whole thing off we might argue intelligently and even rewardingly about the fascinating difference of Anglophone pronunciation across the world. But if I say I don't...