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DanceGlance
Is Irina Dvorovenko Leaving ABT Too Early?
posted by Wendy Perron on Sunday, May 19
Irina Dvorovenko was more brilliant than ever in Onegin Saturday night—and sadly, it was her last. In her portrayal of the love-torn Tatiana, she traveled from a shy teenager to a married woman wracked with passion for the wrong man. She plunged into Cranko’s tricky partnering with spectacular pliancy. (See a rehearsal clip w…
DanceGlance
A Look Back at Freddie Franklin
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, May 17
Today's archive photo is of Freddie Franklin with Danilova. Franklin passed away May 4, 2013 at 98. Check out our slide show of more images of Franklin. And be sure to read Franklin's obituary, lovingly written by Sascha Radetsky. …
DanceGlance
Dancers Among Us Exhibit
posted by Khara Hanlon on Thursday, May 16
You know those crazy photos of dancers jumping in the subway, at parks, and on the street? They're by Jordan Matter. Last Friday (May 10th) the National Museum of Dance held a reception for Art in the Foyer with Matter displaying photographs from his book Dancers Among Us. If you're near Saratoga Springs, NY check out the exhibition…
DanceGlance
Heavenly Hee
posted by Kina Poon on Wednesday, May 15
Tonight at the Met Opera House, American Ballet Theatre's spellbinding Hee Seo—who graces the cover of our May issue—will reprise her role as Tatiana, the passion-wrenched heroine of Cranko's Onegin. As Evan McKie w…
DanceGlance
Happy Birthday, Buster Brown!
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Tuesday, May 14
It's a little over a week until National Tap Dance Day (May 25), but this Friday marks another cause for celebration in the tap world: It's the 100th anniversary of Dr. James "Buster" Brown's birth. One of the great late tap masters of the 20th century, Brown was known for his fast feet and generous spirit. One of the few artists to have been a m…
DanceGlance
Should Galas Be Reviewed—Or Not?
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, May 13
May is gala month. Last week was New York City Ballet’s gala and tonight is American Ballet Theatre’s. We also saw the Danspace Project gala and the Dance Against Cancer gala. Last month we had the Limón gala and next month is Jacob’s Pillow’s, and there are many more to come.. Galas have one purpose: to…
DanceGlance
Big Time Drama
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, May 10
Before Center Stage took movie audiences into the life of the fictional American Ballet Company, there was 1977's all-time classic The Turning Pointe. If you are too young to have seen it, get yourself the DVD. It is the original dance drama - including a ridiculous catfight between Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft beside the …
DanceGlance
NYCB, Flying High
posted by Kina Poon on Thursday, May 09
Imagine: A dancer who has done a role countless times, for years, suddenly transforms, elevating their performance to previously unimaginable heights. That breakthrough moment is one of the most exciting things to witness, period. And it happened, last night, at New York City Ballet's spring gala—to Andrew Veyette in Stars and Stripes
DanceGlance
On Fosse, Now and Then
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Wednesday, May 08
As dancers, we can't hear the word "Fosse" without pigeon-toeing our feet, slinking our wrists from side to side, and imagining our legs have suddenly sprouted to Ann Reinking's length. (And Fosse is on our minds a lot nowadays, since P…
DanceGlance
Harid Conservatory Turns 25
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Tuesday, May 07
What's one thing that American Ballet Theatre dancers Marcelo Gomes and Isabella Boylston have in common with NYCB's new soloist Ashley Laracey? They studied at the Harid Conse…
DanceGlance
Dance Against Cancer Gala
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, May 06
Tonight’s “Dance Against Cancer” gala, organized by Daniel Ulbricht and Erin Fogarty, offers an incredible array of dance stars: NYCB’s Ashley Bouder, Maria Kowroski,
DanceGlance
Farewell to Maria Tallchief & Freddie Franklin
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, May 06
Today we acknowledge the passing of two giants in ballet. Find our “In Memoriam” on Maria Tallchief here, and stand by for the one on Frederic Franklin. Tallchief and Franklin's paths crossed in the early 1940s when she was a young dancer with the Ballet R…
GuestBlog
United Nations of Ballet
posted by Larissa Saveliev on Monday, May 06
Larissa Saveliev is the founder and artistic director of Youth America Grand Prix, the largest international student ballet competition. In that role she helps place promising students in excellent schools to continue their training. Here she talks about recent school pe…
WendyResurrection as (Re)birth
posted by Wendy Perron on Sunday, May 05
You think you know where the piece is going, and then in the last few minutes a solo changes everything.Stephen Petronio has done this before. In City of Twist (2002) Ashleigh Leite, swathed in strings that swung as she danced, came out at the end with a wild, thrashing solo. This time, with Like Lazarus…
DanceGlance
More Than Mr. Martha Graham
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, May 03
Recently it has become popular to jokingly refer to men as Mr. (Insert powerful wife's name here). Obviously Erick Hawkins was more than just Martha Graham's ex. Here he is in 1969 in his Geography of Noon. …
DanceGlance
Philly Comes Together
posted by Kina Poon on Thursday, May 02
27 companies in 11 performances over 9 days? That's a whole lot of talent in one theater. The "Come Together" festival, presented by the jazz-based, gaga-inflected, hard-driving Koresh Dance Company, opens tonight and runs this and next weekend at Philly's Suzanne Roberts Theatre. The host company performs on every program …
DanceGlance
That's Dr. Gaga to You, Sir!
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Wednesday, May 01
Ohad Naharin will receive an honorary doctorate of fine arts from his alma mater, Juilliard, on May 24, 2013. It's hard to think of a choreographer more deserving of this recognition than Naharin. Gaga, the technique he began developing in 1990 when he took the reins of Israeli troupe Batsheva Dance Company, has swept the globe, …
DanceGlance
Petronio Opens at the Joyce Tonight
posted by Khara Hanlon on Tuesday, Apr 30
Tonight the Stephen Petronio Company starts its Joyce Theater season, closing May 5. On the bill is the world premiere of Like Lazarus Did, an evening-length work exploring the concept of resurrection. But his true subject is always movement: slithery, twisty, awkward-elegant sequences that are hard to follow and hard to d…
DanceGlance
The Stars of the No-Star NYCB
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, Apr 29
New York City Ballet is supposed to be a no-star company. They don’t anoint the top dancers as étoiles the way Paris Opéra Ballet does. And they don’t import mega-stars from Russia the way American Ballet Theatre does. With the enduring repertoire of Balanchine and Robbins, and tons of commissioned pieces, NYCB is suppos…
DanceGlance
Babs, as a Swan!
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, Apr 26
Congrats to Barbra Streisand for her award this week at the 40th annual Chaplin Award Gala April 22 at Lincoln Center. Guess what! She was also a DM cover for Funny Girl in 1967! We love someone who can pull off such a great head…
DanceGlance
Carousel is Bustin' Out All Over PBS
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Thursday, Apr 25
Clambakes, starkeepers, and robberies gone awry... Sure the plot to Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical Carousel may be a tad, er, complex, but getting to watch New York City Ballet principals—and fiancées!—Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild in the second act is well worth the 150 minutes on y…
WendyEverything I Loved About “Everything You See”
posted by Wendy Perron on Wednesday, Apr 24
As I pull myself up with arms outstretched in front of me, I sense, more than I see, five gorgeous strong women to the right of me, dancing in unison. For a moment they are my backup dancers. I am performing a phrase alone on Side A that I have just done part of on Side B as a duet. I take a breath to cherish this moment before moving on. I am lo…
DanceGlance
Danzón, Danzón!
posted by Kina Poon on Wednesday, Apr 24
Last night at The Joyce, Eduardo Vilaro's Danzón—with live accompaniment by the Paquito D'Rivera Ensemble—brought the house down. The Ballet Hispanico dancers shone, especially the unstoppable Mario Ismael Espinoza, who whipped through his playful solo side by side with D'Rivera, playing his clarinet onstage. The openi…
DanceGlance
Dancers with Incredible Spirit
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Tuesday, Apr 23
Few words can express the immense courage of those at the Boston Marathon last Monday. For many, their passions have been tested, and like Adrianne Haslet-Davis, their strength of spirit has prevailed. Dance Magazine would like to give a special mention to Haslet-Davis, a Boston-based ballroom dance instructor, …
DanceGlance
Tiny Triple Threats
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, Apr 22
There’s been a delightful influx of little tykes in Broadway musicals. Both Annie and Matilda get their oomph from children. These kids are highly professional. They don’t elicit sighs of “Awww, isn’t she cute” but a wholly more substantial kind of admiration. Lilla Crawford, now 1…
DanceGlance
United Together
posted by Kina Poon on Friday, Apr 19
At Youth America Grand Prix's "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" gala last night, the performances, as expected, were spectacular. (We are dying to see McGregor's full Borderlands. And three acts of Dorothée Gilbert's Julie…
DanceGlance
Today's Archive Image, Boston Ballet
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, Apr 19
While a scary scene is unfolding in Boston, here is an image of beauty courtesy the Boston Ballet for your spirits. Check out our facebook page for a folder of more archival Boston Ballet shots. Hang in there, Beantown.&nbs…
DanceGlance
Three Cheers for Dance at the Tribeca Film Festival
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Thursday, Apr 18
Dance and film are like peanut butter and jelly—two flavors that are unbeatable alone, but often more delicious together. So it's not all that surprising that dance has claimed a few spots in this year's Tribeca Film Festival, which opened last night, April 17, in downtown Manhattan. Two featured documentaries:
DanceGlance
Swan Vs. Swan at YAGP
posted by Kina Poon on Wednesday, Apr 17
Tonight, everything culminates for 350 international student finalists as they compete for the top awards of the Youth America Grand Prix. (Dancers who have been in their shoes? Sarah Lane, Beckanne Sisk, Whitney Jensen, and Lauren Lovette—just to name a few.) In addition to winning medals and scholarships, some students will earn a coveted…
DanceGlance
Supporting the Arts in Boston
posted by Khara Hanlon on Tuesday, Apr 16
“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” —Voltaire Yesterday was a traumatic one for Boston, and the rest of the nation. Dance Magazine is based in NYC but several of our staffers are either from Boston or attended college…
DanceGlance
Donald Byrd Propels DTH Into a New Place
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, Apr 15
Everybody wants DTH to regain its reputation as a Balanchine company that is versatile too. But I think they can become something more exciting than that. The last piece in Program B, Contested Space by Donald Byrd, laid bare a different kind of psychic space. Each dancer found a new, edgy self in a foreboding, roiling place. Da’Vo…
DanceGlance
Remembering Maria Tallchief
posted by Wendy Perron on Friday, Apr 12
Sadly, Maria Tallchief, often considered the first American ballerina, has died at 88. She was Balanchine’s muse (and for six years, his wife) in the early years of New York City Ballet. As Clive Barnes pointed out in these pages, it was partly…
DanceGlance
A Celebration of the Wacky and Wonderful
posted by Kina Poon on Thursday, Apr 11
Leave it to Monica Bill Barnes to bring the Joyce into the David H. Koch Theater. Last night's Joyce Theater gala opened with a time-lapsed film of Bill Barnes and dancer Anna Bass lugging a proscenium curtain from the Joyce through Manhattan, resulting, of course, in the film's action continuing live onstage. Their goofy performance involved bli…
DanceGlance
This Girl Is On Fire
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Wednesday, Apr 10
Not only is Michelle Dorrance the first tap dancer to have accepted a Princess Grace Award for choreography, she's now also the first tapper to receive the prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. It's just been announced that Dorrance will join the ranks of some of dance history's most legendary artists—Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones, and …
DanceGlance
ATDF's Gala Mixes Tap with Comedy
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Tuesday, Apr 09
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Ana Gasteyer is revisiting the dance world tonight, when she hosts the American Tap Dance Foundation’s spring gala. (Let’s hope her jokes are more en pointe than those from the less-than-hilarious routine she delivered last April at YAGP’s gala&h…
WendyA Collective Tribute to Trisha Brown
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, Apr 08
When Lance Gries invited 50 dancer friends to improvise with him for The FIFTY Project, it not only celebrated his 50th birthday, but also celebrated a rich vein of downtown dance. Videotaped moments from these 50-minute duets spread across the walls of La Mama Galleria last week.The project was blessed by Sarah Stackhouse, w…
DanceGlance
The Bay Area Dance Scene Celebrates Its Own
posted by Wendy Perron on Monday, Apr 08
The 27th annual Izzies have been announced and awarded! Although they cover a more modest dance scene than the “Bessies” in NYC, the Izzies are a much welcome annual celebration of the vibrant dance commotion in the San Francisco area. This list reminds me of the thriving diversity of …
DanceGlance
Here's Johnnie! (a/k/a Ann Miller)
posted by Khara Hanlon on Friday, Apr 05
You know her as Ann, but her given name is Johnnie (they say her dad wanted a boy!) Ann Miller starred in movie musicals like Easter Parade, Kiss Me Kate, and On the Town. She started dancing to build strength in her legs. She lied about her age to get jobs when she was only 13. She also is responsible for the fact that pan…
DanceGlance
Looking Back to Move Forward
posted by Jenny Dalzell on Thursday, Apr 04
Though it premiered almost thirty years ago, there is something refreshing about Murray Louis' Four Brubeck Pieces. On stage this week at Juilliard, the kinetic modern work is, like the title says, set to four of Dave Brubeck’s 1960s jazz tunes—a welcome departure from the all-too-frequent thumping a…
DanceGlance
Happy 15th Birthday, White Bird!
posted by Kina Poon on Wednesday, Apr 03
Portland's White Bird Dance has had a terrific 15th anniversary season, hosting the likes of Akram Khan Company, Trisha Brown Dance, and Illstyle & Peace Productions (which we recently reviewed here), with our 2013 "25 to…
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