China Launches First Contemporary Ballet Company The Beijing Contemporary Dance Theater, China's first modern dance troupe, gives its inaugural performances next month. The company's founder and director, 35-year-old choreographer Wang Yuanyuan, is a frequent collaborator of star filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

Xinhua News Agency 11/19/08

email this story | Posted 11/19/08@09:21PM

Orlando Ballet's Artistic Director Resigns Unexpectedly "In an abrupt upheaval at the Orlando Ballet, artistic director Bruce Marks quit Saturday night and was replaced Monday morning by Robert Hill, a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre."

Orlando Sentinel 11/18/08

email this story | Posted 11/18/08@09:12PM

AD Of Cleveland's Verb Ballets Departs Suddenly, Evidently Fired "Hernando Cortez, the former member of noted New York dance companies who raised Cleveland's Verb Ballets to national status, is stepping down immediately as Verb's artistic director." The company's board president says Cortez is leaving "to follow other artistic interests," but an internal e-mail suggests otherwise.

Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 11/18/08

email this story | Posted 11/18/08@09:11PM

Rahm And Billy Are Making Ballet Cool For Boys "With the flurry of attention for the ballet history of congressman Rahm Emanuel (President-elect Obama's pick for White House chief of staff), it's suddenly become a lot cooler to be a guy who knows his way around toeshoes, turnouts and tights." But it's not just because of Emanuel. "'Billy Elliot the Musical,' which opened this week to enthusiastic reviews, has thrust boys and ballet into the bright Broadway spotlight."

Daily News (New York) 11/17/08

email this story | Posted 11/18/08@07:09AM

Is Balanchine's Legacy Ill-Served In New York? 25 years after his death, George Balanchine remains a giant of the dance world. But the company that made him famous, New York City Ballet, "has become less incisive, more lightweight, less disturbing" in presenting his work, says Alistair Macaulay.

The New York Times 11/16/08

email this story | Posted 11/16/08@11:01AM

Major Cuts At OBT Oregon Ballet Theatre is dumping its live orchestra for all but a few performances of The Nutcracker to save money. In addition, "nine senior staffers took a 5 percent pay cut, and salaries were frozen across the rest of the staff. The company also made production cuts for a total savings of a little more than $300,000, or about 5 percent of its $6.7 million budget."

The Oregonian (Portland) 11/16/08

email this story | Posted 11/16/08@10:31AM

The Dancing Seagull Canada's National Ballet is giving the North American premiere of a newly choreographed version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. "Chekhov's original play is about actors and playwrights. In [John Neumeier's] ballet, they have become dancers and choreographers."

The Globe & Mail (Canada) 11/15/08

email this story | Posted 11/16/08@09:24AM

L.A. Music Center Cancels Nederlands Dans Theater The Music Center's dance season has called off one of its six remaining programs this season: three June performances by Nederlands Dans Theater I. The decision was made "solely on the basis of our desire to manage our resources in the most prudent fashion." The series has recently seen "reduced donor giving, a decline in investment revenue and a shortfall in ticket sales."

Los Angeles Times 11/10/08

email this story | Posted 11/13/08@09:54PM

Sydney Dance Company Finally Gets Artistic Director London-based choreographer Rafael Bonachela has just begun his tenure leading the popular and dynamic troupe. The SDC had been somewhat rudderless since longtime directors Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon quit in 2006 over persistent money trouble; their planned successor, Tanja Liedtke, was killed in an accident shortly before she assumed the post.

The Australian 11/14/08

email this story | Posted 11/13/08@08:04PM

Dancing About Architecture, Sort Of "But choreographer Tere O'Connor, 50, who also calls himself 'an advanced architectural hobbyist,' sees plenty of connections between the two [disciplines]." His piece Rammed Earth, named after an ancient building technique, makes "conceptual links between solid and moving architecture."

Miami Herald 11/12/08

email this story | Posted 11/12/08@09:25PM

Britain Needs Ballet Dancers The art of the dance sits near the top of the list of professions favored under a new points system for admitting non-EU immigrants announced by the UK's Home Office. Other sought-after workers include sheep shearers, chemical engineers, horse trainers, math and science teachers, physicists and frozen fish filleters (Scotland only).

Financial Times 11/12/08

email this story | Posted 11/11/08@09:22PM

Colorado Ballet Names New Executive Director Jack Lemmon, a widely-experienced dance administrator who has managed the Louisville Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Idaho and the Joffrey Ballet, takes the reins of the recently stabilized Denver company as of Jan. 1.

Denver Business Journal 11/11/08

email this story | Posted 11/11/08@09:16PM

An Education For Dance "Dismissive views of dance and few resources for developing and scientifically evaluating dance programs generally have kept dance education out of, or marginalized in, the K-12 curriculum. Yet dance has long had a significant role in the education, religion, ethnic identity, gender marking, and social and political organization of many cultures."

Educational Researcher 08

email this story | Posted 11/10/08@07:47PM

All The Pretty Horses The climactic scene of the Broadway production of Equus is best known at the moment for the fact that actor Daniel Radclyffe is naked when it begins, but the most interesting figures in the scene are six "horses," who enact a mesmerizing, terrifying ballet as they are viciously blinded by Radclyffe. The scene is one of the most painstakingly choreographed moments on Broadway.

The New York Times 11/09/08

email this story | Posted 11/09/08@09:08AM

Uneasy Truce At Mpls Dance Venue Minneapolis's Southern Theater, one of the Twin Cities' premiere dance venues, has been embroiled in infighting and recrimination since the board decided to fire its founding artistic director last summer. "For now, it appears the artists and the board have put most of their differences aside to keep the 2008-09 season alive. But getting to this point was a difficult and occasionally ugly process."

City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 11/05/08

email this story | Posted 11/09/08@08:41AM

Texas Ballet Gets Some Breathing Room "The Texas Ballet Theater announced Friday that it had received a $500,000 grant from the Dallas-based Meadows Foundation, enabling the financially beleaguered ballet to reach its goal of $2 million to keep its doors open the rest of the year."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 11/08/08

email this story | Posted 11/09/08@08:00AM

David Dorfman Surfs The Zeitgeist The choreographer's 2006 dance-theater piece underground, inspired by the Weather Underground's anti-war and anti-racism protests, suddenly became topical as onetime Underground leader William Ayers became an issue in the presidential campaign.

Washington Post 11/02/08

email this story | Posted 11/06/08@09:54PM

Ballerina And Teacher Rosella Hightower Dies At 88 The Oklahoma-born Native American "became the first 20th-century American ballerina to hold a leading place on the European stage" and went on to direct the ballet companies at La Scala and the Paris Opera and to found one of Europe's top ballet schools.

New York Times 11/05/08

email this story | Posted 11/06/08@09:51PM

Starting From Scratch Two former principal dancers at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater are making waves in their native China. "The husband and wife team were hired as ballet master and mistress for China's latest ballet company, only the sixth in this land of 1.3 billion people."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 11/05/08

email this story | Posted 11/05/08@06:09AM

First Bolshoi-Style Academy Outside Russia Opens Next Year "The Australasian Bolshoi Ballet Academy will open in Melbourne next year, to the benefit of dancers and audiences. The academy will be the only one in the world outside of Moscow training dancers in the highly-acclaimed Russian Bolshoi system."

ABC (Australia) 11/05/08

email this story | Posted 11/04/08@10:00PM

NY City Ballet Cuts Saratoga Season "The New York City Ballet will be spending only two weeks at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center next July, instead of the usual three." The decision was made in response to the current economic turmoil: the company typically loses $1 million on its Saratoga residency.

The Saratogian 11/04/08

email this story | Posted 11/04/08@09:59PM

The Uncategorizable Richard Alston, Indifferent To Fashion "This autumn Richard Alston celebrates both his 60th birthday and his 40th anniversary as a choreographer. ... If Alston now ranks as one of the great survivors in British modern dance, he was once one of its original rebels."

The Guardian (UK) 11/04/08

email this story | Posted 11/04/08@05:36AM

New York's New Dance Space "The main theater can be manipulated into eight different configurations, seating from 70 to 150 people. The lounge, which features a smaller stage for readings and acoustical music events, will be used for community workshops during the day. At night it turns into a bar, a way to generate income."

The New York Times 11/02/08

email this story | Posted 11/03/08@01:13AM

Touring Falls By The Wayside For Canadian Ballet "Once the life blood of Canadian ballet, touring has become - to borrow a phrase from Porgy and Bess - a 'sometime thing,' too costly to be a regular activity for the National Ballet in particular... According to the National Ballet, the simple problem is money."

Toronto Star 11/01/08

email this story | Posted 11/02/08@08:07AM

ABT Goes From Glory To Glory Alastair Macaulay: "Over the last few days marvels have unfolded at American Ballet Theater, conferring a kind of performance-by-performance mounting delight that ballet today too seldom has."

New York Times 10/30/08

email this story | Posted 10/30/08@10:00PM

At Least One Company Is Growing The West Australian Ballet heads into its 2009 season with 10 additional dancers (for a total of 32), more rehearsal space and a budget increased by A$1.2 million.

The West Australian (Perth) 10/31/08

email this story | Posted 10/30/08@09:50PM

Gerald Arpino Dies At 85 One of the last of the giants who created the American modern dance movement in the mid-20th century, Arpino co-founded the Joffrey Ballet, served as its primary choreographer for three decades, and shepherded the company through several financial crises and an ultimately successful move from New York to Chicago.

Chicago Tribune 10/29/08

email this story | Posted 10/29/08@01:50PM

Martha Graham Company To Debut In Beijing The company gives its first performances in China next month at the National Center for the Performing Arts (a/k/a "The Egg"). The repertoire ranges from such classics as Errand Into the Maze, Night Journey and Appalachian Spring to Graham's last work, Maple Leaf Rag.

China Daily 10/28/08

email this story | Posted 10/28/08@09:30PM

Costumes Fit For By A Queen "Denmark's Queen Margrethe on Tuesday unveiled costumes she designed for a Christmas ballet based on the classic Russian folk tale ["The Snow Maiden"]… Margrethe, a prolific graphic artist and scenographer, has previously designed costumes and sets for several plays, including adaptations of stories by fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen."

Minneapolis Star-Tribune (AP) 10/28/08

email this story | Posted 10/28/08@09:20PM

Ananiashvili To Bid Adieu To ABT With Swan Lake "Nina Ananiashvili will give her final performance with American Ballet Theater as part of its spring 2009 program at the Metropolitan Opera House, it was announced."

The New York Times 10/27/08

email this story | Posted 10/27/08@05:43PM

Oakland Ballet Rises Again "Could Ronn Guidi really reclaim the troupe he founded in 1968 - the troupe that foundered and finally folded seven years after his 1999 retirement - and bring it back to life with its old plucky spirit? But Saturday at the Paramount Theatre, extra points for perseverance were no longer necessary."

San Francisco Chronicle 10/27/08

email this story | Posted 10/27/08@08:15AM

The Perils (And Rewards) Of Being Billy Elliot "The drama demands so much of a young performer--emotionally, vocally, physically--that it hardly seems sane to have tried telling it onstage. Billy goes full tilt for all but two scenes. There have been many injuries, and it has often happened, including to Trent in London, that a boy finished Act I but could not go on for Act II. Even leaving the role can be traumatic."

New York Magazine 10/27/08

email this story | Posted 10/27/08@08:11AM

The 21-Year-Old Dance Entrepreneur Josh Beamish started his dance company at 15. "He created all the choreography, and mounted three successful productions at the local Creekside Theatre. In his senior high-school year, he choreographed a fashion show to raise money for his class's prom." Now 21 he's working in Vancouver and has three shows touring Canada...

The Globe & Mail (Canada) 10/24/08

email this story | Posted 10/26/08@08:43AM

Scottish Ballet Sells Off Costumes "As the company prepares to move across the Clyde to a purpose-built home at the Tramway arts complex next spring, many of these outfits - from stripey pyjamas worn in Peter Pan, to tutus designed by Jasper Conran - are being sold."

The Scotsman 10/24/08

email this story | Posted 10/23/08@09:51PM

Brighton Dome Names First Resident Company "Dance group the Hofesh Shechter Company has become the first organisation to gain a three-year residency at the Brighton Dome. […] During its time at the Dome, the group will research and develop new works, present several pieces including a new commission and a major education project as part of Brighton Festival 2009, and premiere a new full-length work in May 2010."

The Stage (UK) 10/23/08

email this story | Posted 10/23/08@09:40PM

Ohad Naharin's 'Gaga' Style - Innovative Dance or Staged Pilates? The style of movement, "which Naharin devised when he had back trouble,… is rooted in the dancers' own movement patterns, making them conscious of their bodies in an extraordinary way, graceful and jerky at the same time, strong in balance and vivid in the articulation of every muscle and bone. The results are distinctive, but limiting."

The Telegraph (UK) 10/22/08

email this story | Posted 10/22/08@09:44PM

Leeds To Get £12M Dance Center "The six-storey building [scheduled for completion in summer 2010] will feature seven dance studios, a 200-seat theatre, office spaces, a health suite and costume workshop. Alongside the two professional companies [Northern Ballet Theatre and Phoenix Dance Theatre], the site will eventually house a full-time classical dance school and Leeds Metropolitan University's dance degree courses."

The Stage (UK) 10/21/08

email this story | Posted 10/22/08@08:08PM

Texas Ballet Still Dancing, But For Whom? After a harrowing couple of months in which it wasn't clear that the Texas Ballet Theater would have a season, the company opened this weekend, but to a noticeably small crowd. "It was masterful from start to finish. But the applause these fine performances drew came from a crowd of only 1,165."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/18/08

email this story | Posted 10/19/08@07:50AM

TBT Still Needs $600K To Keep Season Afloat "As the Texas Ballet Theater makes its much anticipated 2008-09 season debut at Bass Performance Hall tonight, the financially troubled company will take Fort Worth's most famous stage still seeking an estimated $600,000 in donations to help it reach its goal of $2 million, the amount it says it needs to bring financial stability for the rest of the year."

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/17/08

email this story | Posted 10/17/08@06:09AM

Five Things I Hate About the Kirov "Two years ago, the former Los Angeles Times dance critic Lewis Segal wrote an article called 'Five Things I Hate About Ballet'… Tuesday night, watching the Kirov Ballet at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall, I thought I knew just how he felt."

San Francisco Chronicle 10/16/08

email this story | Posted 10/16/08@09:42PM