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DDP Talks To

"The Devil Ties My Tongue" by Amy Seiwert performed for the SKETCH Series, 2013. Photo by David DeSilva. Courtesy of Amy Seiwert's Imagery

Up to date announcements of company seasons, featured artists and special programming as well as grant of awards such as Princess Grace, or artistic appointments

Broadway World: American Ballet Theatre Presents MOVING STORIES: An ABT Film Festival

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By BWW News Desk

18 September 2020

Celebrating the creativity of ABT dancers, American Ballet Theatre presents Moving Stories: An ABT Film Festival. Presented over two nights, Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1 at 7:00pm ET, Moving Stories features eight short films created by ABT artists. The films, varying from three to 11 minutes in length, will be available for viewing on ABT’s YouTube Channel. Four films will premiere each evening, followed by roundtable conversations with the filmmakers. The hour-long programs are hosted by ABT Principal Dancer Misty Copeland and Emmy Award-winning producer Leyla Fayyaz (Life in Motion Productions).

Filmmakers contributing to the Company’s first-ever film festival include current ABT dancers Claire Davison (Dans Tes Rêve), Zhong-Jing Fang (Perception), Erica Lall (The Thread of Navigation), Duncan Lyle (Alone Together), Jose Sebastian (Sillage), Eric Tamm (Le Tré Cortegé), Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside (Swan Lake), and former ABT dancer Alexandre Hammoudi (Transonata). All films were created in May and June 2020, as dancers sheltered in place and maintained strict COVID-19 health and safety precautions.

Read the full article here.

Dance Magazine: The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Just Awarded Four Dance Artists $275,000 Each

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By Jennifer Stahl

17 September 2020

At a time when many artists are feeling more financially strained than ever before, one of the most coveted grants in the arts is expanding. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has responded to the economic crisis by handing out eight Doris Duke Artist Awards, up from six in 2019.

What’s more, half of those have gone to dance artists: Ana María Alvarez of CONTRA-TIEMPO in Los Angeles, Sean Dorsey of San Francisco’s Sean Dorsey Dance and Fresh Meat Festival, Rennie Harris of Philadelphia’s Rennie Harris Puremovement and New York City contemporary choreographer Pam Tanowitz.

The 2020 Doris Duke Artist Awards come with a $275,000 grant—$250,000 of which is completely unrestricted, plus $25,000 meant to encourage savings for retirement.

This year’s other awardees include jazz musicians Andrew Cyrille and Cécile McLorin Salvant and playwrights Michael John Garcés and Dael Orlandersmith.

Read the full article here.

TRG Arts: Arts and Culture Comeback Planning: September 2020

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By TRG Arts

17 September 2020

Sharp Fall in Optimism Among U.S. Arts and Culture Organizations for Return to In-Person Performances in 2020

September Study Reveals Increase in U.K. and Decline in Canadian Organizations’ Optimism

TRG Arts published its findings to an initial study of 74 clients’ performance return plans in June 2020. The findings from that report can be found here. An update to that study, expanded to 133 arts and culture organizations across three countries and published in July, reflected waning optimism for an autumn return to in-person live performances and a formal turn to paid digital programming after shutdowns caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was refreshed and expanded on September 2, 2020, and represents 219 organizations’ current scenario plans for returning to in-person paid performance, as well as those same organizations’ plans for offering paid digital programming. Responses reflect arts and culture organizations across all disciplines of arts and culture in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The study does not contemplate howclient organizations will operationalize live in-person performances. TRG has learned the delivery method and specifics for returning to in-person performances are highly variable, and rely on national and local guidance.

Regional Outlooks Reflect Level of Viral Containment

As the number of Americans testing positive for COVID-19 continues to grow, optimism for a 2020 in-person return to performances sharply fell for U.S. arts and culture leaders. The September study reveals 23% of U.S. organizations expect to perform to in-person audiences in 2020, compared to 61% in the initial June study.

Positive containment and infection reduction in the U.K. reveal more optimism for a 2020 in-person return to performances, while flaring cases in some provinces of Canada decreased optimism as described in Table 1.

Read the full study here.

San Francisco Classical Voice: Ballet’s New Mandate: Change or Die

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By Lou Fancher

14 September 2020

Six months after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered performing-arts venues in mid-March, there are more unsettling questions than there are comforting answers about the future of dance — and classical and contemporary ballet in particular.

Adding tilt to the unsteady imbalance are the art form’s longstanding gender inequities and worldwide social-justice protests related to racism after the most recent killing of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. The open wounds of gender and racial inequities that lay across American history and current affairs have left deep imprints on the entire dance world.

In this environment float the presumptions and principles that have led to ballet companies directed generally by men; with more white dancers than people of color in ballet company ranks; with more funding for white-led dance company boards and management, and more commissions and grants awarded to white applicants or for projects with Western, Eurocentric origins and focus. White is not just found in the classical tutus found of Swan Lake or Giselle, but across the entire ballet landscape.

During the unwelcome furlough of COVID-19, companies large and small cancelled annual Nutcrackers, the ballet world’s major money-making machine, and often enough, the bedrock funding for entire seasons. This raises existential questions, but also opportunities to reflect on how companies can more broadly represent their communities. What are dance artists and organizations willing to change, and will it be enough to sustain the art form?

Searching for artists who might be pushing the parameters with results lasting beyond quick, flashy trends, I talked to Trey McIntyre, Amy Seiwert, and Gregory Dawson, three choreographers/artistic directors whose work has risen to prominence and receives considerable local, national and international attention. I asked them what they are doing to keep their companies afloat and invited them to speak about their perspectives on dance, ballet, digital dance offerings, and the state of the art.

Read the full article here.

New York Times: Watching a Choreographer Build: Trisha Brown’s Unusual Archive

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By Siobhan Burke

16 September 2020

In a video recorded in 1989, the choreographer Trisha Brown demonstrates a few restless seconds of movement, as dancers in her studio try to follow along. An arm darts across the torso; the legs appear to slip and catch themselves. It happens fast. As the dancers attempt to do as she does, a viewer can imagine how useful the video would be for anyone learning this material. There’s no easy way to explain what she’s doing; you just have to keep watching.

In her decades of dazzling experiments with the body, gravity and momentum, Brown invented movement so complex — so capricious yet precise — it could be hard to remember from one day to the next, let alone years later if the work were to live on. As if to keep tabs on her discoveries, the camera became a regular presence in her studio, a tool as pragmatic as her choreography was wild. By recording the building of a dance, she could revisit what had rushed forth in a solo improvisation, or retrace how a group of dancers had achieved an improbable lift.

“Her movement is so sequential, and there’s a whole logic for how it spills through the body,” said Cori Olinghouse, a former dancer with Brown’s company, who served as its archive director from 2009 to 2018. “I think recording it was a way to try to recover something of that logic when nobody could remember.”

Read the full article here.

Broadway World: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Announces 43rd Season Plans

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By BWW News Desk

14 September 2020

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago today announced its 2020/21 43rd season, to include virtual presentations of new work by five acclaimed choreographers, all with ties to the company: Rena Butler, Jonathan Fredrickson, Penny Saunders, Robyn Mineko Williams and Connie Shiau.

Launching the season will be a world premiere created by Butler, former Hubbard Street dancer and choreographic fellow, on Thursday, Oct. 22. The full-company piece is an examination of Butler’s perception of her home city of Chicago. Filmed in parks throughout the city, the work was inspired by GoodKids MadCity, an organization led by Black and Brown young people in Chicago advocating for the tools and resources needed to put an end to violence in their communities.

Butler’s 25-minute work, currently untitled, was filmed by Talia Koylass. It features music by composer Darryl Hoffman, as well as songs by vocalists Shawnee Dez and Alencia Norris. The work is performed by the full HDSC company. Performing with the company are the choreographer, Jessica Tong, recently named HSDC’s Associate Artistic Director, and Jonathan Emanuell Alsberry, Artistic Liaison. In addition to the presentation of the filmed piece, there will be a live, interactive conversation with Butler and other members of the creative team. The choreography, casting, rehearsals, and shooting amidst the coronavirus required the dancers to perform at a distance from one another, or in groups of dancers who reside together, while wearing personal protective equipment such as masks.

Read the full article here.

The Patriot Ledger: Boston Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ leaps onto TV this holiday season

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By Iris Fanger

14 September 2020

NBC Boston to air Boston’s beloved holiday ballet. The company also plans six virtual programs beginning Nov. 21; in-person events at the Opera House won’t happen until next May.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to add the date of a televised performance of “The Nutcracker.”

On March 11th, the Boston Ballet dancers were on stage at Citizens Bank Opera House in full costume and makeup for the dress rehearsal of Jorma Elo’s “Carmen,” with the musicians of the Boston Ballet orchestra seated in the pit. The following afternoon, just hours before opening night, Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen walked onto the stage to announce that the show — and the two weekend run — were canceled due to the threat of the deadly novel coronavirus.

That same day, Margaret Tracey, director of the Boston Ballet School, sent her young students home because she feared a possible exposure to the virus. Within 24 hours, the school was officially closed. Tracey thought classes would start up again “in a few weeks,” she recalled. Nissinen commented that “everything fell apart in March.” No one knew that the dancers of the Boston Ballet would remain off stage for the rest of the 2019-2020 season and far into the next.

Read the full article here.

New York Times: For New York City Ballet, Another Digital Season

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By Peter Libbey

10 September 2020

New York City Ballet will not be returning to the David H. Koch Theater this fall, but the company’s coming digital season will culminate with performances of new dances by Pam Tanowitz, Jamar Roberts, Justin Peck, Sidra Bell and Andrea Miller. The commissioned ballets will be recorded outdoors in New York City and shared with audiences, one each night, from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31.

“We couldn’t go a whole year without creating new works,” Jonathan Stafford, City Ballet’s artistic director, said in an interview. “It’s simply not in our D.N.A.”

The choreographers chosen for this mini festival, all of whom were set to make new pieces for the company this year before the pandemic struck, face various restrictions as they prepare their new works. The number of dancers in each piece has been capped at four, and dancers who are not in a couple or otherwise in isolation together must maintain social distancing while performing. “The choreographers, I think, are really into the limitations,” said Wendy Whelan, the company’s associate artistic director. “They all seem very keen to play within the rules and create with the new elements.”

Read the full article here.

Broadway World: Pennsylvania Ballet Welcomes New Talent and Announces 2020/2021 Promotions

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BWW Newsdesk

9 September 2020

Pennsylvania Ballet’s Artistic Director Angel Corella announced today the addition of six dancers to the company, including two newcomers and four former Pennsylvania Ballet II (PBII) dancers. The company also welcomed new PBII dancers and announced a batch of promotions in preparation for the upcoming season.

“We are dedicated to preserving and extending the legacy of our celebrated organization by adding incredible talent to the fold and promoting those who have shown great promise over the years,” says Angel Corella. “We’ve been met with several challenges this year, but with the addition of our incredibly rich roster of dancers, we’re eager to get back on stage and deliver an unforgettable performance next season.”

Fernanda Oliveira has been named a member of Pennsylvania Ballet’s corps de ballet for the 2020-2021 season, while Mine Kusano, Paloma Berjano Torrado, Emily Wilson, Isaac Hollis and Jeremy Power are appointed as apprentices with the Company.

Read the full article here.

 

Pointe Magazine: American Ballet Theatre Promotes 6 Dancers to Principal, 1 to Soloist

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By Amy Brandt

10 September 2020

This spring was supposed to be one of highly anticipated debuts at American Ballet Theatre, a chance for many soloists to test their mettle in major leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera House. While the coronavirus pandemic shutdown put those debuts on pause, the company has shown a major leap of faith in its up-and-coming dancers: This morning, in a sweeping move, ABT promoted six of its soloists—Cassandra Trenary, Skylar Brandt, Calvin Royal III, Joo Won Ahn, Thomas Forster and Aran Bell—to principal dancer. Longtime corps standout Gabe Stone Shayer is promoted to soloist.

 

The announcement ushers in an exciting new era of young, home-grown stars, and adds welcome diversity to ABT’s top ranks. It also comes as veteran principals Stella Abrera and David Hallberg make their exits, with Abrera now the artistic director of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park for Dance and Hallberg taking on his new post as artistic director of The Australian Ballet in January. (He recently told the New York Times that he hopes to have a farewell performance at ABT next spring.) Soloists Alexandre Hammoudi and Arron Scott also announced their retirements over the summer.

Read the full announcement here.