Watching Francisco Graciano fly across the stage in Paul Taylor’s Airs, or embrace his inner vaudevillian in Also Playing, reminds you that energy and personality can turn a good performance into a memorable one. Graciano, 32, joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 2006. A native of San Antonio, TX, Graciano received scholarships to Stephens […]
I need a fair measure of beginner’s luck to warrant further pursuit of any craft. It took two days of basketball camp for me to realize that I have terrible hand–eye coordination and a basketball uniform would never be my strongest suit. Dance, however, just fit. I started lessons at the age of 3 and was […]
Dance connects me to my ancestry. Raised both in India and the U.S., I relish finding a balance between two cultures and feeling the irresistible pull of both countries. I see parallels between the evolution I have undergone as a dancer and choreographer, and the personal transitions I have experienced as a product of the […]
My mother passed away during this past ABT Met Season. It spurred changes in me and my art that I could not have foreseen. I used to tell people that I dance simply because the music obliges me to. As though I’m compelled by some unseen force, like a man possessed. Perhaps that’s the reason […]
Principal dancer with The Royal Ballet PC Alice Pennefather, Courtesy ROH Love is a struggle, and so is my love of dance. It is not the same love that so many little girls think they have for ballet. That is a love of pink and puff, a desire to be a princess. That early concept […]
The reasons why I dance constantly shift and change. Sometimes gradually, sometimes all of a sudden. Sometimes the same reasons are all there, but their value changes from one day to the next. Toogood in Pam Tanowitz‘s Heaven on One’s Head. Photo by Ian Douglas. Dance is an art form that isn’t fixed. If no […]
Jaiani left Tbilisi, Georgia, at age 13 to pursue a dance career. Herbert Migdoll, Courtesy Joffrey Ballet Dancer with Joffrey Ballet. At a young age, without any connections to the ballet world, I told my mom that I was going to be a ballerina. Growing up, I would put on classical music and improvise around […]
If you imagine the notes on a sheet of music, they fly up and down across the bars. In a sense, that is the physical effect that music has on me. It makes me feel weightless, and I’ve always been obsessed with the idea of flight. Having the chance to defy the laws of nature […]
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.