Dance Magazine articles from May 2008

Dance Magazine archives from May 2008

Curtain up.(editorial)(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... In a tap class, everyone knows when you make a mistake. If your shuffle comes a beat late, other students can hear it. It can be pretty humiliating, and that's why you need to take class at your own level. I've been lucky to find a truly...

Rant, rave, & respond.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... I take exception to Theresa Ruth Howard's February "Rant & Rave." While arguably the term "black dance" is "nebulous," that does not mean that it shouldn't be discussed or utilized. Howard's point that the term "black dance was not chosen by...

Best foot forward.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... In response to the foot type story ("Unique Feet") in your March issue, here's how I've dealt with my feet: Because of high arches, I squeezed into too tight ballet shoes. Ten years ago I saw a podiatrist because of metatarsal pain, and told...

Memories of masters.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2008... The article on Antony Tudor in the February issue brought back memories. I studied with him at Juilliard in the 1960s, and he once invited Fritz Ludin and me over to his apartment, where he prepared a most delicious fish dinner for the three of...

Correction.(letters)(Correction notice)
May 1, 2008... In the March "On the Rise," Vincent E. Thomas is the dancer pictured with Lesole Maine. In April's "On Broadway," performers James Snyder and Spencer Liff's names were misspelled.

Quote of the month.(Quotation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... "I am all these things: performer, choreographer, writer, teacher. I need each one to feel complete, to feel like I am tapping all of my potential." --Penelope Freeh, Why I Dance, p. 22

An ultimate experience.(Ultima Vez)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Belgium's Ultima Vez, known for its powerfully aggressive "Eurocrash" style, gives the American premiere of Wim Vandekeybus' Spiegel at UCLA's Royce Hall. His group of nine hurls heavy limestone blocks into the air,...

Go Spoleto.(Spoleto Festival U.S.A.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Each May and June, dance, theater, and music converge onto Charleston, SC, for the 15-day Spoleto Festival USA. This year features an international mix of classical and contemporary dance. Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve makes its festival...

Birmingham steps up.(Birmingham's International Dance Festival )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] England's second city has its first international dance festival this month. Birmingham kicks off its International Dance Festival Birmingham, featuring dance from every continent. The month-long festival is expected...

Suburban modernization.(Brandywine Ballet )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... This month, the regional ballet repertory company Brandywine Ballet goes modern with the help of Koresh Dance Company's founder Ronen Koresh. Brandywine is known for classics like The Nutcracker, Concerto Barocco, and Dracula. But Koresh will...

Vital stat.(dancing of prisoners of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... More than 1,500 prisoners of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines dance to "Thriller" and "Jailhouse Rock," rehearsing up to 5 hours a day! Check it out on YouTube.

The force of vitality.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What do you get when you mix the traditional Indian dance form Bharata Natyam with Japanese taiko drumming? Sva (Vital Force) was the result for Ragamala Music and Dance Theater. Experience the cross-cultural...

Tying threads together.(art festivals)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Its theme may be a mouthful--"The Truth in Knowing/Now: Threads in Time, Place, Culture"--but the fifth annual San Francisco International Arts Festival, opening May 21, offers an impressive lineup of cross-cultural...

Snazzy jazz.(Jazz Fever)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] California-based Diablo Ballet's got the fever--as in Jazz Fever, a new program showcasing jazz music that runs May 9-10 at Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts. World premieres by co-artistic director Nikolai...

Chicago's tapped in.(National Tap Dance Day )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... You can always shuffle off to Buffalo, but make sure you pull back to Chicago for its National Tap Dance Day celebration. Chicago Human Rhythm Project performs Windy City Rhythms at the Vittum Theater May 22-24. Want to tap those toes all year...

Crystal Pite.(Interview)
May 1, 2008... The Canadian choreographer and dancer Crystal Pite is cropping up everywhere these days. She has set her lush, lingering movements on an impressive list of international companies, including Nederlands Dans Theater, Ballett Frankfurt, Les...

Spring in their step: a new festival hits the Midwest.(Spring to Dance )
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This month Spring to Dance will bring together 32 Midwestern dance companies in six performances that celebrate the richness of dance in the U.S. heartland. Co-sponsored by the Touhill Performing Arts Center and...

The English channel: immigrants enliven the contemporary dance scene.(Dance: Edition 2008 )
May 1, 2008... The contemporary dance scene in Great Britain has exploded in the last 20 years. With generous government funding and stimulating contributions from immigrant cultures, the creativity has been overflowing. A cross-section of this activity was...

Flying high: White Bird celebrates 10 years.(White Bird Dance)
May 1, 2008... When Paul King and Walter Jaffe first presented Paul Taylor Dance Company in Portland, Oregon, they didn't know that supporting contemporary dance through the organization White Bird Dance would become their life's work. King and Jaffe had...

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.(GRANTS)
May 1, 2008... The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was awarded $100,000 by the Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund.

Dance Advance in Philadelphia awarded a total of $901,000 to various dance groups.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Dance Advance in Philadelphia awarded a total of $901,000 to various dance groups including: BalletX, Dancefusion, Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Group Motion Multi Media Dance Theater, Headlong Dance Theater, Jeanne Ruddy Dance, Leah Stein Dance...

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts awarded grants of $25,000.(GRANTS)
May 1, 2008... The Foundation for Contemporary Arts awarded grants of $25,000 to Kimberly Bartosik, Sarah Michelson, and Yasuko Yokoshi.

The 5th Annual Joyce Awards awarded grants of $50,000.(GRANTS)
May 1, 2008... The 5th Annual Joyce Awards awarded grants of $50,000 to the Ragamala Music and Dance Theater and the Walker Art Center.

Copezio Ballet Makers Dance Foundation will present the 57th Capezio Dance Award.(Chuck Davis's award)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Copezio Ballet Makers Dance Foundation will present the 57th Capezio Dance Award to Chuck Davis as part of DanceAfrica at BAM on May 23.

Lar Lubovitch.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Lar Lubovitch was named the 2007 Chicagoan of the Year for his contributions to the city's dance scene. His company will set out on a 15-city tour in July as part of their 40th anniversary.

Americans Kyle Davis (North Carolina School of the Arts and Rock School for Dance Education) and Boston Ballet student Dylan Tedaldi won scholarships at the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Americans Kyle Davis (North Carolina School of the Arts and Rock School for Dance Education) and Boston Ballet student Dylan Tedaldi won scholarships at the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland.

Scottish Ballet.(AWARDS)
May 1, 2008... The Scottish Ballet won the Critics' Circle Nations Dance Award Company Prize.

Theatre Arts at the Banff Centre.(COMINGS & GOINGS)
May 1, 2008... Kelly Robinson is the new director of Theatre Arts at the Banff Centre.

Arthur Murray International, Inc.(COMINGS & GOINGS)
May 1, 2008... John Kimmins is now president of Arthur Murray International, Inc., the world's largest dance-studio chain.

Red & blue.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the eternally curious and inventive Moses Pendleton brings his company MOMIX to the Joyce for their annual NYC stint, they will perform two vastly different evening-length pieces. In Lunar Sea (left) the...

Lion/swan.(Nora Chipaumire )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nora Chipaumire is a lioness--a regal, iconic presence hailed for her performances with Urban Bush Women as well as her own solo creations. She has turned Fokine's Dying Swan into a tropical bird who refuses to die....

Golden opportunity.(Ivy Baldwin's Could Be Nice ...)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... If you liked the movie Knocked Up, you might just love the work of choreographer Ivy Baldwin. She pairs schlubby guys with elegant, remote women to create very contemporary dance theater. A graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts and NYU...

By Penelope Freeh: Penelope Freeh brings a vibrancy and piquancy to the full repertoire d James Sewell Ballet in Minneapolis. She has danced with the company for 14 years, has garnered several awards, and has begun to choreograph. This year she was named artistic associate of the company. You can follow her thoughts on her blog at barefootpenny.blogspot.com.(from the heart: WHY I DANCE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's such a simple question, like something a child might ask at a lecture demonstration, "Why do you dance?" But as we who dance know well, the simplest things are the hardest. I took to dancing from the...

How much pain (killers) can you take.
May 1, 2008... During her senior year of high school, Jen Thompson's shins started to hurt. She shrugged it off as shin splints, and started popping Advil to get through class. It turned out she had stress fractures in both of her tibia, which she didn't...

Advice for dancers.(Column)
May 1, 2008... Q What can you do to prevent a choreographer from plagiarizing someone else's work? Some colleagues and I were shocked when our ballet master took full credit for a new piece that lifted whole sequences from a prominent European choreographer....

Tap out loud: the multitalented, multifaceted Michelle Dorrance is stompin' up a storm.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It takes a certain kind of person to be a plate spinner. You know, one of those people who starts spinning one plate on a tall pole, then a second and a third before coming back to the first to make sure it's still...

What I love about tap: Max Pollak reflects on his favorite moments in tap history.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] One of my favorite tap scenes from a movie is a crazy up from-underneath-through-a-glass-floor shot of three guys in tuxedoes wearing oxford shoes without taps in a Busby Berkeley extravaganza from the 1930s. It...

Pre-performance rituals of tap pros: in the moments before a performance, all dancers have ways of getting warm, loose, and focused. Tap dancers sometimes face special challenges like not finding the right surface backstage or needing to keep their feet quiet while warming up. Brian Seibert asked four tap pros about their pro-performance rituals.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Bril Barrett Chicago I get on the wood and improvise. If I'm performing by myself, I'll throw on my iPod and just hit, listening to the song I'm going to dance to. If I'm performing with a group, we'll get...

Back from the brink: The Washington Ballet forges ahead under the dynamic Septime Webre.
May 1, 2008... Septime Webre, artistic director of The Washington Ballet, blazes across the local scene, frequently bounding in front of the curtain to introduce his programs. He's a very public presence and a fixture on the social circuit, always upbeat,...

Capturing the heart: as companies worldwide present Jerome Robbins gems, dancers who worked with him talk about his process.
May 1, 2008... Nearly 10 years after his death, the imprint left by Jerome Robbins seems to have grown, rather than diminished. Four biographies have been written about his life--brilliant, creative, checkered, and troubled--but his choreography appears to...

Global Robbins.(ballet companies)(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] March 25-June 29 NY Public Library for Performing Arts Exhibition "New York Story: Jerome Robbins and His World." April 23 NY Historical Society presents a panel on Watermill with Edward Villella and Deborah...

Challenge yourself: get tough using this stuff.(Buyers guide)
May 1, 2008... In your quest to be a strong, healthy dancer, great gear is an invaluable ally. With just a few items, your bedroom, basement, or living room can become your studio away from the studio. So, if your regular school is closed for a short summer...

Beauty in motion: three ballet photo books showcase companies on and offstage.(Kansas City Ballet: The First Fifty Years; San Francisco Ballet at 7S; In The Wings: Behind the Scenes at the New York City Ballet)(Book review)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Kansas City Ballet: The First Fifty Years By Wyatt Townley. Kansas City: Kansas City Star Books, 2007. 64 pages. $29.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] San Francisco Ballet at 7S By Janice Ross. San Francisco:...

Memory demystified: Dr. Ruth Day's Memory for Movement offers insight into how dancers learn and remember.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Ruth Day took her first ballet class, she made an observation that would change her life. Only 6 years old, she became frustrated by how long it took her classmates to learn a leap combination. After explaining...

The next level: improving pointe work.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] How wonderful it would be to feel lifted and delicate, to feel above gravity--like you're dancing on air. That's how Tiler Peck, soloist with New York City Ballet, describes her experience when dancing on pointe. But...

Don't bully, dance.(Ugly Duckling Anti-Bullying Program)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... With recent studies indicating that 20 percent or more of all children are frightened at some point during the school day, it's not surprising that playground bullying is high on elementary educators' lists of problems to address. What is...

ABT's new curriculum.(American Ballet Theatre)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... American Ballet Theatre kicked off the first phase of their new National Training Curriculum, February 17-21, with a weeklong teacher training session exclusively for former ABT dancers. Designed by Franco De Vita, principal of ABT's Jacqueline...

NYC field trip.(Sharing the Legacy: Dance Masterworks of the 20th Century)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... University dance programs from around the country sent students to NYC to perform in Sharing the Legacy: Dance Masterworks of the 20th Century, presented by Hunter College's dance program March 14 and 15. Dancers came from Barnard College,...

Presidio Performing Arts Foundation.(10th anniversary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... San Francisco's Presidio Performing Arts Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. One of only two performing arts establishments permanently based in a national park, the nonprofit school and company is dedicated to exposing the...

Goucher College.(donations of memorabilia from Charles H. Woodford )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... With a recent donation from Doris Humphrey's son Charles H. Woodford and executive director of the Doris Humphrey Institute Minos G. Nicholas, Goucher College now houses the largest collection of Humphrey materials in the U.S. The memorabilia...

Ailey II.(Class Notes)
May 1, 2008... Syracuse University's Division of Student Affairs presented Ailey II artistic director Sylvia Waters with their 2008 Women of Distinction Award in February.

Walnut Hill School.(Class Notes)
May 1, 2008... Walnut Hill School named Eileen Soskin as the new head of school.

Ballet Hispanico Schoot of Dance.(Class Notes)
May 1, 2008... Ballet Hispanico School of Dance has announced that their new director will be Jose Costas, a former principal dancer with Ballet Hispanico.

Derick Grant: listening to the sound of dance.(Interview)
May 1, 2008... Derick Grant started tap training at age 2 in The Roxbury Center for the Performing Arts, the Boston studio run by his aunt. He served as dance captain in Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk on Broadway, and for the first national tour he...

Kathryn Morgan: the NYCB corps member has captivated audiences with her radiance and dramatic ability.(New York City Ballet)
May 1, 2008... On a winter afternoon several months ago, Kathryn Morgan was rehearsing for her debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy in New York City Ballet's Nutcracker. Under the tutelage of ballet master in chief Peter Martins' assistant Sean Lavery and teaching...

True to life: Robbins' Gypsy keeps it simple.(Jerome Robbins )
May 1, 2008... "It's a play." This is how Bonnie Walker explains why the Jerome Robbins dance steps she has reproduced for the latest Broadway edition of Gypsy are so, well, run-of-the-mill. She doesn't use the term--I do. But she doesn't argue the point,...

The State Ballet of Georgia.(Chaconne and Dreaming About Japan)(Dance review)
May 1, 2008... The State Ballet of Georgia Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYC February 27-March 2, 2008 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What do you do in order to top off a brilliant career as a prima ballerina for the Bolshoi and American Ballet...

New York City Ballet.(Dance review)
May 1, 2008... New York City Ballet Winter Season New York State Theater, NYC January 2-February 24, 2008 The big news this season was Mauro Bigonzetti's world premiere Oltremare (Beyond the Sea). It transformed the stage at State Theater...

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.(Chapel/Chapter)(Dance review)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company '62 Center at Williams College, Williamstown, MA February 9, 2008 Bill T. Jones' Chapel/Chapter, from 2006, is a bracing eulogy for those who suffer, from jailed killers and their victims to...

Bay area National Dance Week.(San Francisco's celebration of dance)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... San Francisco is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the area's NDW with 10 days of free dance events, including performances and classes in poi fire dancing, classical Indian, ballet, Argentine tango, hip hop, and aerial dance. See companies...

Tap Extravaganza.(tap dancing)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... NYC hosts the 19th annual Tap Extravaganza this month. Performers run the gamut from the young members of the Tap City Youth Ensemble to octogenarian tap diva Mable Lee and her Dancing Ladies. The Peggy Spina Tap Company, Rhythmutation, and...

Natalia Bessmertnova (1941-2008).(DEATHS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A great ballerina of the late Soviet period, Natalia Bessmertnova was born in Moscow and died there in February. A fragile (albeit with the fragility of spun steel) dancer, she excelled in the 19th-century Romantic...

LaVaughn Robinson (1927-2008).(DEATHS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... One of the last of the "street dancers," LaVaughn Robinson was of that breed of hoofers who created, found, and stole their technique by imitating the moves they saw on street corners and in nightclubs. They interpreted the syncopations of...

Jennifer Jansma.(DEATHS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Carolina Ballet ensemble member Jennifer Jansma died of head and throat cancer in February. She was 22. Born in NJ, Jansma studied at the Miami City Ballet School and danced in the company's ensemble before joining Carolina Ballet in 2004....

Patricia Nanon.(DEATHS)(Obituary)
May 1, 2008... Patricia Nanon, founder and longtime artistic director of The Yard, died in February at 84. A 1944 graduate of Bennington College, she performed with Hanya Holm and Doris Humphrey and on Broadway in Sing Out, Sweet Land. She co-directed the...

Florence Pettan.(DEATHS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Florence Pettan, coordinator of the artistic staff of American Ballet Theatre for almost 50 years, died in December. Assisting artistic directors Lucia Chase, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jane Hermann, and Kevin McKenzie, she provided a discreet and...

Births.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Jenifer Ringer, principal at NYCB, and her husband James Fayette, former dancer with NYCB and now New York-area dance executive at AGMA, welcomed a baby girl in January. Her name is Grace Rebecca Fayette. Festival Ballet Providence dancers...

United States.(directory)(Directory)
May 1, 2008... 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 Kitty...

All the world, one stage.(Wesleyan University's Worlds of Dance Concert)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Don't have the time or money to travel the world to experience new dance styles? Simply journey to Wesleyan University on May 4 for their free Worlds of Dance Concert. See works of Javanese, Bharata Natyam, jazz, and...

International.(Schools, Studios, Colleges, Universities, Companies, Teachers, Choreographers, Dancers, Somatic Practices & Movement Arts Certification, & Dance Medicine)(Directory)
May 1, 2008... ARGENTINA MANUEL VALLEJOS DANCE JAZZ STUDIO Lavalle 1579 C.P. 1048-Buenos Aires Tel/Fax (541) 371-6811 AUSTRIA SALZBURY INTL BALLET ACADEMY (SIBA) Yehuda Maor, Ballet teacher/Master Salzburg Ballet. Phone +43+069911134586...

A tap dancer named Fred: Astaire survived his infamous screen test: "Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little.".(Fred Austerlitz)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The name Austerlitz sounds more like a Napoleonic battle than a name fit for a great dancer. As a matter of fact, in 1805 it was a Napoleonic battle! But dancer Fred Austerlitz was born in Omaha some 94 years later,...

Lifetime learners: teacher training.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... MAY, 2008 Each time I plan the content of Lifetime Learners (and this is our fourth annual edition!), I'm newly amazed at the range of opportunities and role models for dancers who want to teach. In this issue, we stepped outside the...

Gina Gibney reaches out: bringing movement to survivors of domestic violence.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Gina Gibney's long-time dream of bringing dance to the underserved became a vibrant reality eight years ago. Since 2000, her New York City-based company, Gina Gibney Dance, has partnered with Sanctuary for Families,...

Back to school: teachers discover an array of options.
May 1, 2008... Considering returning to school to earn a teaching degree? Whether you've been at your profession for decades or you're just starting out, whether you're seeking a B.S., M.A., or M.F.A., and if you want to study full-time or must fit classes...

Mind matters: somatics is a growing trend in dance training.
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Longtime somatics advocates Bill Evans and Sondra Fraleigh will spearhead a conference this June to highlight somatics-based technique-movement practices that retrain, reeducate, and rehabilitate the body--as a...

Mastering the weekend intensive: tradition in tap presents the Danny Daniels Tap Experience, May 24-26.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Germaine Salsberg discovered tap after years of studying modern and she quickly found herself teaching She taught at the collegiate level and in dance studios around NYC, but it was Israeli tappers Avi Miller and...

Danny Daniels: Tony-award winning Broadway tap artist.(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When Germaine Salsberg first saw tap legend Danny Daniels perform, it was the way he moved, along with the hoofing and syncopated rhythms, that drew her in. "It was like listening to a really catchy hook in a...