News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in May 2021

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, as well as notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month. Comings & Goings At The Royal Ballet, Fumi Kaneko and Cesar Corrales have been promoted to principal, Meghan Grace Hinkis, Nicol Edmonds and Calvin Richardson to first soloist, Gina Storm-Jensen and Joseph Sissens to soloist, and […]

What It's Like to Choreograph The Nutcracker Four Different Times

Choreographer Val Caniparoli started his ballet career by performing in Lew Christensen’s The Nutcracker with San Francisco Ballet in 1971. Today, he still performs with SFB as Drosselmeir, in the company’s current version by Helgi Tomasson. It takes Caniparoli a lot of concentration to stick to the choreography. “I have the four versions that I […]

Can Dancers Take Mental Health Days?

In dance, pushing through pain is often glorified. Dancers can be reluctant to take time off when sick or injured for fear of missing out on opportunities. It can feel even harder to justify when the pain isn’t physical. Though it’s becoming more commonly acknowledged that mental health is just as important as physical health, […]

Cincinnati Ballet Shows Even More Love for Women Choreographers This Season

At Cincinnati Ballet, the 2017–18 season boasts that 8 out of the 15 company productions are from female choreographers. For the past five seasons, Cincinnati Ballet had devoted one program a year to works by women, which allowed for a directed conversation about the need for female voices. “People always responded strongly to that series, […]

What Directors Really Think of Ballet Dancers Going To College

In the ballet world, the phrase “going to college” is sometimes regarded as the musings of a dancer who’s not really serious about their craft. Although schools like Juilliard and Bennington College have made degrees acceptable for modern dancers for decades, the competitive ballet world (which often follows a philosophy of “the younger the better”) […]

Cincinnati Ballet Bets on Women Choreographers

Cincinnati Ballet has announced their 2017-18 season, and it looks like artistic director Victoria Morgan is making a statement about gender equality with her programming choices: Of the 15 works being presented this season, 8 are choreographed by women. Kate Weare, Penny Saunders, Jennifer Archibald, Johanna Bernstein Wilt and Heather Britt are creating world premieres […]

Leading Ladies

Are ballet companies different when led by a female artistic director? Before becoming its artistic director, Karen Kain danced for every director in National Ballet of Canada’s history, then staged ballets, did fundraising and observed the administrative offices under her predecessor James Kudelka. But she wasn’t ambitious for the top job. Although she had a […]

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