Dance Magazine articles from September 2008

Dance Magazine archives from September 2008

Curtain up.(Natalia Osipova)
September 1, 2008... When great Russian dancers arrive in the West, we tend to swoon over them. There was Nureyev in 1961, Makarova in 1970, and Baryshnikov in 1974. For me it happened in 1962 when the Bolshoi came to the old Met and hired American teenagers to...

Body talk-back.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... Your July "Body" issue will never leave my magazine shelf. It's wonderful to hear and see that more dancers are sporting athletic and muscular body types. As a dancer myself, I've always been concerned about being too muscular. After reading...

Do you believe in magic?(Cirque du Soleil with Criss Angel)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Cirque du Soleil wants you to. That's why its new show, built around magician Criss Angel, and premiering at the Luxor in Las Vegas this month, is called Believe. Unlike other Cirque shows, acrobatics are nearly sidelined for wildly...

Shuffle off to ... Vancouver!(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] World famous tap instructors flock to Vancouver as summer winds down for the Vancouver Tap Dance Society's 9th annual tap festival, which runs Aug. 29-Sept. 1. The faculty, including Brenda Bufalino, Chester...

Magnificent muscles.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Chicago strollers can catch dancers out of their usual element: offstage and in the water. Swimmers II, a giant mixed media painting featuring four swimming dancers, has been installed along the Chicago Riverwalk since May. Deja vu? The...

Dancers unite!(New York City Ballet )(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New York City Ballet held its first ever Dancers' Choice program, and it was a hit. The purpose was to raise money for the Dancers' Emergency Fund, but the goal was, well, to take the reins for a change. Principal...

A marker for Martha.(Martha Graham )(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Though Martha Graham didn't start dancing until her late teens when she lived in California, she spent her early years in the Steel City, where she was born. She didn't speak too fondly of that period in the town of...

Keep on falling.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... It's becoming a habit now. The leaves start to fall, and New Yorkers flock to City Center to see an abundance of dance from around the world for just $10. This year, Fall for Dance (Sept. 17-27) features performances by classic companies like...

Under the Luna.(Luna Negra Dance Theater's anniversary )(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Luna Negra Dance Theater's 10th-anniversary celebration embraces the company's Latin roots by turning to choreographers of Latino descent. For the two-night concert dubbed "Ciclos" (Cycles), the program includes the company's premiere of...

Quickie dance.(Erika Shuch's After All)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... In a world where things move fast, and the idea of "short and sweet" is a mantra, Erika Shuch's After All, Part I, danced by the Erika Shuch Performance Project, will fit right in. Shuch has said that she desires "to take big questions of life...

Vital stat.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... A Chorus Line was performed 6,137 times during the original 15-year run on Broadway. As of June 1, 71 performances have been given since the show's reopening in October 2006. All together that's 6,808 performances!

Quick Q & A Angel Corella.(Interview)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Angel Corella's dreams are finally coming true. He left Spain 14 years ago to join American Ballet Theatre, but always wished his home country of Spain had its own major classical company. In the meantime, his daring...

Hofesh Shechter comes to the U.S.: Britain's choreographer-to-watch crosses the Atlantic.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not every year yields up a Next Big Thing in contemporary dance. Few would dispute, though, that Hofesh Shechter ticked that box in Britain last season, following sold-out performances that had the electric buzz of a...

Anastos gives Ballet Idaho a new life.(Peter Anastos )
September 1, 2008... Peter Anastos is reinventing Ballet Idaho. The company has gone through many changes, but none more dramatic than its present transition--the ending of a 14-year partnership of sharing artistic assets with Eugene Ballet. Starting from scratch...

Ballet in Baghdad.(Tchaikovsky and Strauss)
September 1, 2008... In a neighborhood of Baghdad often targeted by bombs and mortars stands Iraq's only ballet and music school. Although explosions sometimes interrupt the strains of Tchaikovsky and Strauss, girls and boys come here each day to study dance and...

Footage.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jazz Tap Ensemble's crackerjack dancers recreate classic movie routines by Bill Robinson, Fred Astaire, and Eleanor Powell. To see Sam Weber and Jason Samuels Smith, two of the most skilled tap virtuosos alive, don...

Small but rich.(Ballet New York)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Since 1997, Judith Fugate and Medhi Bahiri's Ballet NY (once known as Dance Galaxy) has presented a wide spectrum of repertory on a chamber scale. Thus a small group of accomplished dancers taps into a vein of often unheralded ballet...

Can't take Comfort.(Jane Comfort )(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jane Comfort does not shy away from controversial topics. In An American Rendition, premiering at the Duke Theater Sept. 24-28, Comfort weaves together plotlines about prison torture and our penchant for escapism via...

Why I dance.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] She packs a wallop of energy, long legs, and the ability to do edgy as well as classical ballet. Amy Brandt dances with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Washington, DC, and also has a freelance career with NYC...

Burned out: what exhaustion can do to a dancer's body.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's an understatement that dancers are hard workers. The profession demands drive, discipline, and perfectionism. But along with these qualities comes a tendency to burn out. Though it's a term that gets thrown...

Advice for dancers.(Column)
September 1, 2008... In ballet class, I can't point my foot properly because my toes knuckle under. I think it might be hammer toes. What do you think? Curly Toes Staten Island, NY It's impossible to make a diagnosis without seeing a doctor, but if...

Coming to theaters near you: what's in store for the upcoming season.(Calendar)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The calendar may say September, but if you're a true dance fan, you are looking ahead. The Bolshoi Ballet doesn't arrive until June, but balletomanes are already buying tickets for La Bayadere at Cal Performances and...

Delicate dynamite: the Bolshoi's Natalia Osipova wins over the world.(Bolshoi Ballet Company)
September 1, 2008... It was a brief YouTube clip of her Kitri that set balletomanes abuzz. From the first moment that Bolshoi starlet Natalia Osipova was spotted in a short solo from Don Quixote, the link flew from computer to computer around the world. Her...

For real? The TV dance competitions that you love to hate--and hate to love.(Television program review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] These days you can't swing a sequined dress without hitting a dance reality TV show. Every major network has its angle on them: from contestants competing weekly in front of a live audience, to behind-the-scenes...

Unwavering: Lar Lubovitch's work is still going strong after 40 years.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Ten years ago, Lar Lubovitch discovered a 90-second film of a solo he made as a student at the University of Iowa. An early 1960s audition film for the Juilliard School, it provided a microcosmic view of a...

Deja vu: Dance Magazine does a double-take.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... You know that feeling of seeing something you've seen before? Sometimes our memory plays tricks on us, but sometimes the image you recall has actually happened before. Take a look at our dance Deja Vu--dances through time with similar moments,...

Feeling caught? Dance your way out of the corner.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The day she got a call from American Ballet Theatre offering a corps contract, 18 year-old Stephanie Walz screamed ecstatically and ran to call her mother. Wide-eyed and eager, she set out for New York City, where...

Breaking into teaching: tips to land part-time teaching gigs.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As professional dancers, we know all too well the long breaks between gigs (and paychecks). While it may seem like waiting tables is the only way to pad your purse, teaching can be the perfect temp, job, offering...

Isadora is everywhere.(Isadora's Chopin Prelude)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I'm a Duncan dancer. Like so many young dancers, I fell in love with Isadora--the passionate, impulsive genius. But I accepted as gospel the belief that she had no technique or serious choreography that could be...

Fabulous fall finds: the season's hottest dancewear is right here.(Buyers guide)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Why head back to the studio with the same old leotard? From shoes to warm-ups, we found fall clothing and accessories destined for a place in your dance bag. We even found you a new dance bag! For a fresh look, pair...

The Ballet Life: new DVDs that go behind the scenes.(Violette and Mr. B., Ballet, and Do Not Go Gently )(Video recording review)
September 1, 2008... Violette & Mr. B. 75 minutes. Video Artists International. $24.95. www.vaimusic.com Ballet. 170 minutes. Zipporah Films. $29.95. www.zipporah.com Do Not Go Gently. 57 minutes. American Public Media. $19.95. ...

Teaching the teachers: ABT's new National Training Curriculum.(American Ballet Theatre)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Franco De Vita tells a packed group of attentive ballet teachers the story of a former young student of his who was shaped like a miniature Michelin man. He took her seriously (despite some major doubts in the...

Improving alignment.
September 1, 2008... Alignment is the backbone of any dance technique. Dancing inherently throws it off, but no matter the type of choreography, contemporary or classical, the body must be aligned to do it. Alignment is to a dancer what grammar is to a writer: a...

ACDFA in NYC.(ACROSS THE FLOOR)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For the first time, the National College Dance Festival was held in NYC instead of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Last June, 217 college students (escorted by 95 faculty members) were let loose on the streets...

Alcohol Awareness Through the Arts.(Dickinson State University's Form and Fusion Dance Company)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... North Dakota's Dickinson State University has been fighting an ongoing battle against its binge-drinking culture. But the school has a surprising ally in that fight: campus-based Form and Fusion Dance Company, which started the university's...

Building on their partnership started in 2005, American Dance Festival and Hollins University now offer a combined BA/BFA degree.(New Programs)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Building on their partnership started in 2005, American Dance Festival and Hollins University now offer a combined BA/BFA degree as well as a post-baccalaureate diploma program in dance. See www.hollinsdance.org.

York University.(masteral program in dance ethnology)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... York University in Toronto launches a Ph.D. in dance studies, focusing on dance ethnology and history. York now also offers an MFA in choreography and dance dramaturgy. See www.yorku.ca.

Chhandam School of Kathak.(New Programs)
September 1, 2008... The Chhandam School of Kathak, directed by international kathak master Pandit Chitresh Das, opened a branch in Northridge, CA, in June.

Taos Academy of Dance Arts.(New Programs)
September 1, 2008... The new Taos Academy of Dance Arts opens this fall in Taos, NM, led by renowned flamenco dancer and teacher Teodoro Morca.

ODC/Dance artistic director Brenda Way.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... ODC/Dance artistic director Brenda Way will be in residency at the American Academy in Rome for the 2008-2009 academic year. During her time there, she will serve as a senior advisor to the winners of the Rome Prize and initiate a choreographic...

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has received $75,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts to expand its education programs in local public schools. They will now be able to reach up to 40 classrooms and approximately 800 students and teachers....

Boston Ballet School's South Shore Studio.(Jared Redick as principal of Boston Ballet School's South Shore Studio)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Boston Ballet soloist Jared Redick is now the principal of Boston Ballet School's South Shore Studio. Redick has been teaching at the school since 2002. He will continue to perform with Boston Ballet.

The Hartt School Community Division.(Miguel Campaneria as new chair of dance )(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Miguel Campaneria is the new chair of dance at The Hartt School Community Division in West Hartford, CT. Campaneria was a former dancer with Ballet Nacional de Cuba, American Ballet Theatre, and Pennsylvania Ballet, among others.

The Colburn Dance Institute.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The Colburn Dance Institute in L.A. recently received a $9 million gift from an anonymous donor, the largest donation since Richard Colburn's founding gift in 2005. The school was renamed the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, after Viennese dancer...

2008 Arabesque competition.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In April, 16-year-old ballet student Elyse Jennings won the Japanese-Russian couple Yukari Saito and Nikolai Fyodorov Award of $1,000 at the 2008 Arabesque competition in Perm, Russia. The prize is awarded to most...

Kee-Juan Han: developing expression and elegance.(teacher's wisdom)(Interview)
September 1, 2008... Kee-Juan Han's students grace stages across the country and abroad. Among them is American Ballet Theatre's stately David Hallberg, who studied with Hart at the School of Arizona Ballet. Han assimilated the Vaganova method from mentor Lin Yee...

Callie Manning: this elegant MCB soloist is graced with natural stage presence.(Miami City Ballet )
September 1, 2008... Even in the ebb and flow of ensemble formations, your eyes go to Callie Manning. A Miami City Ballet soloist with elegance, unaffected style, and a ready command of the stage, Manning's steady focus has helped to bring her fresh opportunities...

A time to dance: a new season leaps onto the stage.(Calendar)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The new Broadway season, which began officially in June but doesn't really get going until fall, promises to be a big one for dancers and dance lovers. There's Billy Elliot, of course. Bob Fosse's Dancin' and Jerome...

New York City Ballet.
September 1, 2008... New York State Theater April 29-June 29, 2008 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New York City Ballet mounted one of its most ambitious and, for the most part, successful seasons in recent memory. It focused on the 33 ballets of the Jerome...

TU Dance.
September 1, 2008... Southern Theater, Minneapolis June 19-29, 2008 TU Dance's spring season features choreography by co-artistic director Uri Sands, a former Ailey dancer who blends elements of West African, ballet, modern, jazz, and street dance with...

Compagnie Maguy Marin.(Maguy Marin's Umwelt )(Dance review)
September 1, 2008... The Joyce Theater, NYC June 17-22, 2008 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Maguy Marin's Umwelt is not an easy piece any way you look at it--neither for her nine dancer/actors to perform nor for the audience to watch. It doesn't remotely...

Reviews on the Web.
September 1, 2008... Read about PNB, Ratmansky's new Flames of Paris, the Montpellier festival, the Venice Biennale, Cedar Lake (with video link), and more at www.dancemagazine.com. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Damian Woetzel.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the charisma of a movie star, Damian Woetzel has been irresistible to audiences at New York City Ballet for 23 years. One of the best virtuosos of his generation, he is also a gloriously relaxed performer. He...

Jennifer Fournier.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] National Ballet of Canada principal Jennifer Fournier, 39, gave her farewell performance in June in bare feet and a flurry of rose petals. Toronto fans cheered her poignant interpretation of Ashton's Five Brahms...

Cyd Charisse (1922-2008).(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... With her passing, the era of great dancing movie musicals has become one for the history book, and, when it is written, it will tell the story of the former Tula Finklea of Amarillo, TX, who metamorphosed into Lily Norwood, and then,...

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008).(DEATHS)(Obituary)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) A titan of American modernism, visual artist Robert Rauschenberg collaborated with Merce Cunningham and John Cage early on, helping to define the startlingly contemporary look of the Merce Cunningham Dance...

United States.(dance finder: a career & learning resource guide)(Directory)
September 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 Seale, Dir....

An island classic.(Hawaii State Ballet's Junior Company)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Hawaii is known for the hula, but the islands are no stranger to ballet. On Sept. 26 Hawaii State Ballet's Junior Company will perform director John Landovsky's Baroque Classique at the Ala Moana Centerstage in...

International.(dance finder: a career & learning resource guide)(Directory)
September 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...

Somatic/movement.(Directory)
September 1, 2008... Somatic Practices, Movement Arts, and Dance Medicine Certification and Training in Somatic and Movement-Based Arts. Contact: dcastro@dancemagazine.com ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE BALANCE ARTS CENTER NYC Alexander Technique for Dancers...

Four cheers for Robbins: Robbins was a choreographic genius rarely matched in the entire 20th century.(Jerome Robbins)
September 1, 2008... It was a risky business for New York City Ballet to give over its spring season to a Jerome Robbins celebration, marking the 10th anniversary of his death. Most ballet companies that started in the 20th century have a "founding choreographer";...

Law professor: Indian classical dancer.(Natasha Bakht )
September 1, 2008... Natasha Bakht never really had to choose between her legal and dance careers. In fact, until she was 22 and received an invitation to dance full time at the Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company in London, Bakht (who is from Toronto) didn't realize...

Gyrotonic trainer.(Alessandra Corona )
September 1, 2008... Alessandra Corona never planned to teach. "It just happened," she says. When Corona turned 15, her ballet instructor invited her to be an assistant teacher in her hometown of Cagliari in Sardinia, Italy. Two years later, Signora Reccia, a local...

Arts administrator: dance photographer.(Sarah Ferguson )
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sarah Ferguson can't stop. Not only does she work full time as education administrator for the Richmond Ballet and perform with the Richmond, Virginia-based Starr Foster Dance Project, but more and more, her dance...

Dancewear designer: business owner.
September 1, 2008... Patricia Barker started creating her own leotards shortly after she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet when she realized she was no longer tied to wearing only black leotards as she did as a student. But now that she could wear whatever she...

Stage designer: multimedia artist.(Benjamin Pierce)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Making the transition from dancer to designer and multimedia artist, as Benjamin Pierce did on retiring September, 2003, was not so much a choice as it was a genetic predisposition. "Look, my father is a painter...

Hollywood actress.(Victoria De Mare )
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Growing up with images of dance role models like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Twyla Tharp, Victoria De Mare believed that dancing could be her life-long career. But when she suffered a break in her fifth metatarsal at the...

Ballet competition director.(Richard Chen See)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Richard Chen See, 46, a dancer with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, will leave the stage in December, but he's certainly not leaving the dance community. Instead, he's moving to the other side of the stage as director...

Arts management for dancers.(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Schools that offer courses or concentrations in both dance and arts management prepare dancers for the offstage side of the business-directing a company, operating a studio, Or running a dance festival. An example is The Ann Lacy School of...

More balance: when injury interrupts a career.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Karen More's resume reads like a dancer's greatest-hits list. From gigs with modern companies like Donald Byrd/The Group and Elisa Monte Dance, to ensemble roles at Radio City Music Hall and in the European tour of...

Enter, Bebe Neuwirth.
September 1, 2008... In a glass-walled room above New York's 42nd Street, a group of dancers sit around a conference table, listening closely to Annette Lieberman explain why they need a financial plan. There are women in their 20s and men in their 40s, dancers...

A home for ever-dancing souls: Sherry Zunker brings retired dancers in Chicago back to class.
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "You don't dance anymore. Nobody prepares you for what that feels like," says retired Hubbard Street dancer Cheryl Mann. "You don't have your community. You don't see 20 people you're used to seeing every day. All of...