Dance Magazine articles from September 2006

Dance Magazine archives from September 2006

Curtain up.(taking up dance as a career)(Editorial)
September 1, 2006... Sustaining a career in dance takes focus, discipline, energy--and bravery. In this issue, we offer several examples of the kind of courage that is an essential element in the dancer's makeup. Since every dancer incurs an injury at some...

Great body work.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... Thank you for the great info in July's special body issue. I was anorexic and bulimic from ages 15-30. My teacher walked past me one day and said, "Oh, you've gained a little weight, huh?" That was all it took. I went from 113 pounds to 85, and...

Eye of the beholder.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... I was disappointed in the body issue's very superficial coverage. Surely it is possible to dig deeper. Although you mentioned "problem" bodies, every one of the pictures of famous dancers in your timeline showed them buffed to the max. What...

Hoping for Julio.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... When I received my May issue of Dance Magazine with its feature on "Great Partnerships," I was dismayed to find no mention of Julio Bocca and Alessandra Ferri. This is irresponsible, since they have danced as one person for many years, and have...

Studio smarts.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... I'm a professional dancer from Cuba and I would like to open a ballet studio near where I live in New Jersey. I've been certified to teach dance in my country, but do I need to get a teaching certificate or special license to teach in the...

Correction.(Letters)(Correction notice)
September 1, 2006... In July's "Secrets of a Successful Studio" supplement, Harlequin's web address was incorrect. The complete address is www.harlequinfloors.com.

Ready for his close-up.(Jack Mitchell exhibition)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Legendary photographer Jack Mitchell's first Dance Magazine cover was in April 1956: a sweaty close-up of Jose Limon in The Lament of Ignacio Sanchez Mejias. Since then, 167 of his photographs have graced our covers. Mitchell's glamorous...

Our weird town.(Karen Sherman dance achievements)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A fifth-generation lasso-spinner who's spent time swinging from the flying trapeze, Karen Sherman has never shied away from the unconventional. She's danced in everything from roller skates to water wings to inflatable boots. Her latest...

Savion says thanks.(Savion Glover honors dancers)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... On National Tap Dance Day, Savion Glover honored 15 "responsibilitors" who support tap dance "off the wood." Beginning with Delilah Jackson, who held the first National Tap Day 17 years ago, Glover presented each with a personalized...

Dancing in the street.(Solstice in Times Square: Dancing at the Crossroads)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... With flips and precision jazz moves, The U.S. Acrobatic and Dance Team nearly stopped traffic. The twisted humor of Todd Williams and Glen Rumsey's Exquisite Corpse puzzled the crowd. The Parsons Dance Company received a standing ovation for...

Ballet left; modern right.(Gillian Murphy performances)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... While moping at home after the balk, Kudelka's Cinderella wears one glittery pointe shoe and one bare foot (Gillian Murphy in American Ballet Theatre's new production of the ballet, above). This way she can daydream about that heady night of...

The god of global dance.(Ted Shown appreciation)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Anyone who went to Jacob's Pillow this summer was greeted with an elegant tribute to Ted Shown in Blake's Barn. "Ted Shawn First," lovingly assembled by Norton Owen from the Pillow's archives, showed not only vintage photos and films, but also...

Super festival.(Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe performances)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe keep the City of Brotherly Love jumping and jiving with over 1,000 performances from dance to poetry to puppetry. The festival, celebrating its 10th year, gives choreographers license--even...

Underground movement.(David Dorfman's performance)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... David Dorfman's latest work explores the controversial relationship between political activism and violence. Underground, premiering in San Francisco this month, investigates the motives, tactics, and ideals of the 1960s radical group the...

Tai Jimenez.(Boston Ballet principal)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... A former principal with Arthur Mitchell's Dance Theatre of Harlem, Tai Jimenez just completed her first season as a principal with Boston Ballet. She's been working closely with artistic director Mikko Nissinen and resident choreographer Jorma...

Dancing for dollars.(Dixie Fun Dance Theatre show The Money Show)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Dixie Fun Dance Theatre took the term "starving artist" to a new level with The Money Show, at New York's Dance New Amsterdam last June. Each performer wore the costume of their day job-waitress, model, dance instructor, or massage...

Happy Birthday!
September 1, 2006... * Tulsa Ballet, 50 (pictured above) * American Dance Guild, 50 * Venetia Stifler & Concert Dance, 25 * Downtown Dance Festival, 25 * Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, 15 * Dance on Camera Festival, 35

A Tetley-fest.(Twyla Tharp performances and works)
September 1, 2006... A decade before Twyla Tharp started mixing modern with ballet in the 1970s, Glen Tetley became the original crossover choreographer. Although he created most of his ballets in Europe, he has also mounted works on companies like American Ballet...

A rift between Ballet West and Jonas Kage.
September 1, 2006... Jonas Kage, artistic director of Ballet West for nine years, is leaving under a cloud of controversy. With one year left on his contract, Kage has taken a gentlemanly, but unblinking stand against the board of directors and executive director...

Sarah Michelson.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Sarah Michelson was awarded the $50,000 Alpert Award in Dance

Murray Louis.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Choreographer Murray Louis received the $35,000 2006 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award

Creative Capital Foundation.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Creative Capital Foundation awarded grants to Sarah Michelson, Bebe Miller, David Rousseve, Sophiline Shapiro, Tamango Van Cayselle, and Nami Yamamoto

Sophiline Shapiro.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Sophiline Shapiro was also awarded the Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture for her contributions to Cambodian performing arts

The 2006 Guggenheim fellowship awardees.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... The 2006 Guggenheim fellowship awardees include Ellen Bromberg, Roxane Butterfly, Christopher Caines, Wally Cardona, Dayna Hanson, Constance Valis Hill, and Basil Twist

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... The Foundation for Contemporary Arts awarded grants to Jonah Bokaer, Vicky Shick, and Christopher Williams

The first Maya Plisetskaya Award.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... The first Maya Plisetskaya Award went to Peter Breuer for his version of Carmen

IB Andersen.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Ballet Arizona's artistic director IB Andersen was awarded the Gold Medallion of Merit Award by the National Society of Arts & Letters

Paige Barnes, Tracy Broyles, and Gillmer Duran have been selected as dance lab artists.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Paige Barnes, Tracy Broyles, and Gillmer Duran have been selected as dance lab artists for NEFA's Regional Dance Development/Initiative Pacific Northwest

Paul Gordon Emerson and Hedi Pope received Pola Nirenska Awards.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Paul Gordon Emerson and Hedi Pope received Pola Nirenska Awards from Washington Performing Arts Society

The winners of Hubbard Street 2's National Choreographic Competition.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... The winners of Hubbard Street 2's National Choreographic Competition are Fransisco Avina, Kyra Green, and Edwaard Liang

New England Foundation for the Arts.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation gave New England Foundation for the Arts a 4-year, $5.8 million grant to support their National Dance Project

Ernest Brown, the Charles "Coockie" Cook Collection.(Awards and Honors)
September 1, 2006... Ernest Brown, the Charles "Coockie" Cook Collection, and Sali Aann Kriegsman received Tradition in Tap Awards

Choreographers Jeanine Durning.(New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Choreographers Jeanine Durning, Levi Gonzalez, Koosil-Ja Hwang, Luis Lara Malvacias, Yvonne Meier, Sarah Michelson, Tere O'Connor, Annie-B Parson, RoseAnne Spradlin, and Reggie Wilson were among the recipients of this year's NYFA fellowships

Company grants.(National Education Association awards travel grants to dance companies)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Through USArtists International, the NEA awarded travel grants for appearances at international festivals to: Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Eiko & Koma, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Illstyle & Peace...

New at national ballet of Canada.(appoints Zdenek Konvalina, Bridgett Zehr and promotes Keiichi Hira)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Zdenek Konvalina, formerly of Houston Ballet, joins the company as a principal dancer. Bridgett Zehr, also from Houston Ballet, comes aboard as a second soloist. Keiichi Hirano and Jillian Vanstone have been promoted to first soloist, Alejandra...

Carmen de Lavallade.(Lifetime Achievements)
September 1, 2006... At its 30th Anniversary celebration, Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center honored Carmen de Lavallade with a lifetime achievement award

Carolyn Carlson.(receives Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievements)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... At the 2006 Biennale di Venezia, Carolyn Carlson received a Golden Lion for career achievement. She is the first person in the performing arts to receive one

Chita Rivera.(Lifetime Achievements)
September 1, 2006... Chita Rivera received the New Dramatists' Career Achievement Award

Ashley Page.(Lifetime Achievements)
September 1, 2006... Scottish Ballet's Artistic Director Ashley Page was awarded an OBE for his services to dance.

Dynamic debris.(Constanza Macras works)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... "Memory is fragile. Garbage lasts forever." Argentinean Constanza Macras grew from the "Who-hired-this-choreographer?" kid to the most popular enfant terrible in the Berlin dance scene when she sold out seven performances of Back to the Present...

Crowds of dance makers.(DancenOw/NYC works)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A force on the New York dance scene since 1995, DancenOw/NYC brings downtown dance, in all its diverse funkiness, to fresh audiences. The festival kicks off the season each September, presenting works of seven minutes or less. In the past,...

Following a line.(NEW YORK NOTEBOOK)
September 1, 2006... A brainstorm in programming ideas comes to Battery Park courtesy of Evening Stars, which will juxtapose three generations of influence in one concert. On Sept. 8, the series, co-sponsored by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and The Joyce,...

Feldenkrais: dancing like water, fluid & strong.(Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement)
September 1, 2006... We've all had moments of feeling absolutely free while we are dancing. Moments when everything falls into place without needing to think about it. We just "go with the flow." Have you wondered how to tap into that more consistently? Maybe...

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.
September 1, 2006... How can I remember modern dance combinations better? I memorize phone numbers, names, vocabulary, and dates easily, but I can't put steps together. It upsets my teachers, though I can get the phrases down after I've been shown a few times. I've...

The new season our insider guide: touring companies visiting your neighborhood plus highlights of dance troupes on their home turf.
September 1, 2006... Hey, it's autumn. The shadows are growing. The nights are lengthening. The tans are fading. Time to catch a show. During the coming months, dance companies will be where you would least expect to find them. The New York City Ballet, which...

Home runs covering all the bases.(dance companies anniversaries)
September 1, 2006... STEP AFRIKA! When it comes to rhythm, Step Afrika!'s got it in their soles. This Washington D.C.-based company specializes in step, the foot-stompin', hand-clappin' dance form based on African call-and-response traditions and popularized...

Will & Grace: grit and determination brought NYCB's Jennie Somogyi back from a devastating injury--to critical raves.
September 1, 2006... To watch Jennie Somogyi rehearse the pulsating Fearful Symmetries is to witness a ballerina in her prime. Somogyi naturally taps into the sharpness and speed, angles and agility of Peter Martins' choreography. In the adagio, her willowy body...

Dancing inside the box: So You Think You Can Dance contestants on their best--and worst--moves.(Ashlee Nino, Travis Wall, Aleksandra Wojda)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... So You Think You Can Dance, the reality TV show from Fox this summer, has brought dance into America's living rooms as never before. Young people from all over the country compete in jazz, modern, hip hop, ballroom, Broadway, salsa, and more....

Dancing without boundaries: immigrant dancers make their moves.(Yasuko Yokoshi, Jaime Diaz, Julieta Valero)
September 1, 2006... In 1961 Rudolph Nureyev defected to the West, fleeing his homeland to expand his artistic horizons. In the 1970s, fellow Russians Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov followed suit. They are among countless dancers who have come to the...

Is extreme technique hurting artistry? Competitions are exciting showcases, but do they emphasize tricks over ballet's finer points? Coaches, teachers, judges, and artistic directors weigh in.
September 1, 2006... Jumps soar higher and higher. Legs fly up to ears. And pirouettes routinely come in fours--or more. Audiences gasp with excitement, and standing ovations are now standard fare. Is this the Olympics, the circus, or just ballet in the era of...

With a hop, a kick, and a turn, Cumbia enters the global stage: a dance that began as part of the Spanish slave trade in Colombia is gaining popularity.
September 1, 2006... In Costa Rica, where dancing ranks close to soccer as a national pastime, the insistent wood-block percussion of cumbia rattles inside crowded buses and from the speakers of beachside clubs, where dancers kick up sand under the moonlight. Here,...

The big easy the next generation of studio gear: twenty-first century studio equipment can be described in one word: easy. Portable barres are actually portable. Mirrors are shatterproof. Portable floors are lighter. Pilates equipment is affordable and compact There are even software programs to schedule and register students. What's not to like? Give your studio a facelift and make your life more about dance and less about maintenance.(DM STYLE)
September 1, 2006... LIGHTEN UP Portable floors for performances away from the studio make sense for safety reasons alone, but when it takes a team of adults to haul them around, many studio owners think twice. Now floormakers offer lightweight durable floors...

The Body Series: Turnout; The Standing Leg.(Video recording review)
September 1, 2006... The Body Series: Turnout; The Standing Leg By Deborah Vogel Two DVDs, 44 and 43 minutes, www.thebodyseries.com. $45 each. After viewing Deborah Vogel's DVDs you may feel as if you have just spent a couple hours with a physical therapist....

The Visual Dictionary of Ballet for Children.(Video recording review)
September 1, 2006... The Visual Dictionary of Ballet for Children By Rosemary Boross. Two DVD set; 155 minutes. Kultun, $29.99. When teaching ballet to small children you have to break down even the simplest movements, like assemble and pas de bourree, into...

Learn to Hip Hop.(Video recording review)
September 1, 2006... Learn to Hip flop Vol. 1 &2. DVD; 45 mins. www.boyviewentertainment.com. $29.99. This DVD begins with preteen Janelle Ginastera leading a warm-up for young dancers, then learning a combination from choreographer Shane Sparks, (seen...

Dance Composition Basics.(Dance Composition Basics Capturing the Choreographer's Craft)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Dance Composition Basics Capturing the Choreographer's Craft. By Pamela Anderson Sofras. Charlotte: The University of North Carolina, 2006. 163 pages. $39. While no book can replace a good composition teacher or years of experience in...

Dance from the Campus to the Real World and Back Again: A Resource Guide for Artists, Faculty and Students).(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Dance from the Campus to the Real World (and Back Again) A Resource Guide for Artists, Faculty and Students. Edited by Suzanne Callahan. Washington D.C.: Dance/USA, 2005. 139 pages. $16. Nineteen faculty members and dance professionals...

Body, Mind, & Spirit in Action.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2006... Body, Mind, & Spirit in Action A Teacher's Guide to Creative Dance. By Patricia Reedy. Berkeley: Luna Kids Dance, 2003. 256 pages. $25. Patricia Reedy's approach to dance programming in schools and communities begins with you, the...

From street to studio: hip hop comes inside.(TEACH-LEARN CONNECTION)
September 1, 2006... Emilio "Buddha Stretch" Austin, Jr., best known for his hip hop crews Elite Force and Mop Top Music and Movement, teaches hip hop classes at Manhattan's Steps on Broadway. But he remembers when dance studios didn't offer any hip hop at all....

A tight class: advice to new students.(clothing)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... When walking (or strutting) into hip hop class, forget your ballet studio decorum. Separate rules apply. But regardless, respect, sweat, and fun are always in line. * Dress the part. Wear comfortable but fashionable street clothes and...

Virginia Commonwealth University dance majors debut in New York.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Despite lost luggage and a weekend forecast of endless rain, the enthusiasm of dance majors and recent graduates from Virginia Commonwealth University remained unquenchable. The group traveled from Richmond to make its New York City debut May...

Norma Dalby Freestone dies.(composer)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Respected composer and music teacher Norma Dalby Freestone died in May of complications following hip surgery at the age of 82. Dalby was a prominent member of the dance community, serving on the faculties of Stephens College in Missouri, the...

New visibility for arts educators.(Eric Booth keynote)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Eric Booth, futurist and founding editor of Teaching Artist Journal, presented the keynote address at the 2006 Dance/USA Roundtable in Portland, OR. Among the American cultural trends his research has identified is that a strong emotional or...

Roni Mahler and Banu Ogan have joined the dance faculty of The Juilliard School.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Roni Mahler and Banu Ogan have joined the dance faculty of The Juilliard School. Mahler, who teaches ballet and pointe, is artistic associate of Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. She started the dance degree program at Kansas State University and...

Kara O'Toole has replaced Velocity Dance Center founders Michele Miller and KT Niehoff as executive director of the popular contemporary dance studio in Seattle.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... * Kara O'Toole has replaced Velocity Dance Center founders Michele Miller and KT Niehoff as executive director of the popular contemporary dance studio in Seattle. O'Toole comes to Velocity from the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts dance...

The Aloft Loft.(dance classes)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Chicago has a new space for aerial dance and circus training with The Aloft Loft. Home to the Aloft Aerial Dance company under director Shayna Swanson, The Aloft Loft offers classes in trapeze, aerial dance technique, silks, rope, lyra/aerial...

Ballet Florida.(study and teaching)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Ballet Florida has added tap dance classes to its ballet curriculum at Boynton Beach Community High School in Boynton Beach, FL. Beginning with the 2005-06 school year, Academy of Ballet Florida teaches one or two classes a day at the high...

Broadway Dance Center.(The Pulse Tour)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Broadway Dance Center has announced dates for its 2006-07 The Pulse Tour. Beginning in November, the wildly popular hip hop and jazz dance workshop will travel around the country to Las Vegas, Houston, Ft. Lauderdale, Secaucus, Atlanta,...

Vanina and Dennis Wilson.(ballet instructors)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Vanina and Dennis Wilson of Essex, VT, have published an article proposing state licensing of ballet instructors and schools in the Loyola Consumer Law Review (Volume 18, Number 3), Loyola University Chicago School of Law, 312.915.7181. Vanina...

Teacher's wisdom.(Robert "Bobby" Barnett opinion)(Interview)
September 1, 2006... Robert "Bobby" Barnett is one of the few living performers from Colonel de Basil's Original Ballet Russe. He began his ballet study with Bronislava Nijinska, danced with the New York City Ballet from 1944 to 1958, then directed the Atlanta...

Amanda Peet: Sacramento Ballet's electric ingenue.
September 1, 2006... When Amanda Peer floats into view perched atop a sliver of moon, more than lunar luminescence lights tip the stage. As the Princess of the Moon in Kathryn Posin's Scheherazade, she is clearly not of this world. Her arms undulate with shimmering...

Debut: hijinks and jokers.(Carlos Lopez)
September 1, 2006... Don't be fooled: Playing the Joker is no laughing matter. Ask American Ballet Theatre's Carlos Lopez, and he will tell you that, in fact, it's no easy part. This season, Lopez debuted as the Joker in the crowd-pleasing production of Jeu de...

On Broadway: A Season to Celebrate? Chorus Line, a new Twyla, and Bourne's Mary Poppins--this could be the year of the dance musical.
September 1, 2006... Broadway seasons don't necessarily lend themselves to a logical narrative. They tend to result from random combinations of events. Somebody breaks a foot and a high-profile show postpones its opening, so a producer decides to fill the newly...

The Diamond Project.
September 1, 2006... The Diamond Project New York City Ballet New York STate Theater, Lincoln Center, NYC April 25-June 25, 2006 From 1992 to 2004, the Diamond Project commissioned 48 ballets by 28 choreographers. This year, the sixth such festival presented...

Kirov Ballet.(Opera review)
September 1, 2006... John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC June 13-15, 2006 If Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man existed in three dimensions--standing naked in a sphere but with his limbs inscribing wild, swooping arcs--he might begin...

The Royal Ballet.
September 1, 2006... John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC June 20-25, 2006 The old days when Britain's Royal Ballet would tour extensively in the United States are as extinguished as the five-cent cigar. Two years ago it appeared for...

Preview: Siobhan Davies dance company.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Davies' refined, unfussy yet beautifully textured new work, In Plain Clothes, is performed in intimate studios where its subtlety can be read in full color. To poignant Italian folk songs, sung in English and broken down into raw, sassy,...

Sophie Maslow (1911-2006).(choreographers death)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Sophie Maslow, one of the 20th century's leading realist choreographers, died in New York on June 24. Unlike many other socially conscious dancers and choreographers, she did not think belligerently. Her works had an optimistic undertone. ...

Nadia Chilkovsky (Nahumck)(1908-2006).(dancer)(Brief article)(Biography)
September 1, 2006... A passionate pioneer of modern dance and Labanotation, Nadia Chilkovsky (Nahumck) died on April 23. She founded the Philadelphia Dance Academy (now the University of the Arts School of Dance) and is the author of Isadora Duncan: The Dances...

Thomas Armour (1909-2006).(dancer)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Thomas Armour knew the thrill of performing with legendary dancers on the world's preeminent stages, but his longest and most successful run came in American regional dance. When he died of heart failure on May 7, few in South Florida's ballet...

Roger Kachel.(dancer)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Dancer/actor/singer Roger Kachel died on April 5 in Florida of undisclosed causes at age 44. Born in Minnesota, he performed in the cast of Cats for more than 11 years in four different companies. As a swing member, he learned every male role,...

Sue Ronson.(faculty member of The Boston Conservatory )(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Sue Ronson, master tap teacher and faculty member of The Boston Conservatory from 1979 to 2001, died in May. Ronson landed her first Broadway show at the age of 4, playing Ethel Merman's daughter, and went on to dance in many others including...

Jose Granero.(choreographer dies)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Jose Granero, known by his colleagues as Maestro Granero, died suddenly from a heart attack in early May. He was 70 years old. Granero choreographed Medea in 1984, one of National Ballet of Spain's most important full-length pieces.

Onwin S. Primus Borde.(choreographer )(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Onwin S. Primus Borde died in May in Las Vegas, where he lived and worked as a percussionist for dance and theater. He was 51. As the son of dancers and choreographers Pearl Primus and Percival Borde, he grew up touring through Africa, where he...