July 18 marks the end of an era: Gillian Murphy, American Ballet Theatre’s longest-standing current dancer, will give her final performance in Swan Lake after a 29-year career. (She’s been a principal dancer there since 2002.) Known for her bold technical strength, she is also an artist of profound intelligence, bringing nuanced, thoughtful interpretations to ballets like Sylvia, La Bayadère, La […]

Her career soaring at Miami City Ballet, Taylor Naturkas has ridden on the wings of fabled creatures for her latest successes. After Naturkas performed the titular role in the Balanchine/Robbins Firebird last February, artistic director Lourdes Lopez promoted her to principal soloist. Two months later, Naturkas debuted as Odette/Odile in Alexei Ratmansky’s Swan Lake. This fall she’s ready for a deeper dive into Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, after her spring guest appearance in this work with New York City Ballet.

That old saying about limitations breeding creativity—hat tip to Orson Welles—has never felt more relevant than in these lockdown days. Here’s the latest brilliant dance project born (hatched?) of quarantine restrictions: “Swan Lake Bath Ballet,” a contemporary take on the classic featuring 27 A-list ballet dancers performing from their own bathtubs. The BBC commissioned the […]

A scholar of Russian literature and culture, Dr. Natalie Rouland works for the Kennan Institute, a DC think tank invested in building bridges between the United States and Russia. She also advises The Washington Ballet’s artistic director Julie Kent on staging classical ballets, serving as the company’s first scholar in residence. A native of Lexington, […]

Choreographer Natascha Greenwalt loves the music of Swan Lake, but she has a few problems with the ballet itself. “I don’t see this love story,” Greenwalt says. “I see—there isn’t consent.” To her, Siegfried seems predatory, Odette seems far too apologetic, and the Odette/Odile duality reinforces toxic tropes about women who are either dangerously sexy […]

Sergei Polunin, whose recent homophobic and sexist Instagram posts have sparked international outrage, will not be appearing with the Paris Opéra Ballet as previously announced. POB artistic director Aurélie Dupont sent an internal email to company staff and dancers on Sunday, explaining that she did not share Polunin’s values and that the Russian-based dancer would […]

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t possibly give you the amount of money you’re asking for.” My heart sinks at my director’s final response to my salary proposal. She insists it’s not me or my work, there is just no money in the budget. My disappointment grows when handed the calendar for Grand Rapids Ballet’s […]

From the minute my journey as a dancer began at age 4, there were no other options of what I might do with my life. Sure, I tried other “after-school activities.” I tried desperately to master The Phantom of the Opera with my squeaky violin rental—a headache for my parents who paid for private Suzuki […]