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
July 31st: Community Engagement Artists and Creatives Grant, December 31st: New England Presenter Travel Fund, December 31st: Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Scholarship, December 31st: 24 Seven Dance Convention, December 31st: National Theater Project Presenter Travel Grant, December 31st: Breck Creek Artist-in-Residence Program
×"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
By BWW News Desk
8 July 2020
New York City Center President & CEO Arlene Shuler today announced New York City Center Live @ Home virtual programming including a newly commissioned weekly performance series conceived and curated by tap dancer Ayodele Casel, alongside frequent collaborator Torya Beard, called Ayodele Casel‘s Diary of a Tap Dancer V.6: Us, and the popular Studio 5 series curated and hosted by Alastair Macaulay and featuring Misty Copeland, Sara Mearns, and Tiler Peck in a special five-part event titled Great American Ballerinas. The much-loved social media series Encores! Archives Project, which revisits selections from City Center’s illustrious musical theater vault, also continues through September.
“During these uncertain and turbulent times, it is even more important that City Center provides a platform for artists to develop and share their work,” said Shuler. “I’m excited that City Center Live @ Home programming showcases some of the extraordinary dance artists who are part of our extended family. This has been a challenging time for so many and I am personally grateful for the support City Center has received from our loyal audiences. I hope you will all tune in as we launch these new online initiatives.”
In keeping with City Center’s founding mission to provide access to the best in the arts for all, City Center Live @ Home programs will premiere for free on City Center’s YouTube page and website at NYCityCenter.org.
For this new virtual series, Ayodele Casel has curated a group of artists who will present seven different video performances-solos and duos created and performed by a multigenerational and multicultural group-to be released weekly at 12pm beginning Tuesday, July 14 (through Tuesday, August 25). Co-directed by Casel and Torya Beard, the series is a continuation of her Diary of a Tap Dancer project and will feature performances from Casel and other tap artists including Amanda Castro, Starinah Dixon, Andre Imanishi, Ryan Johnson, Lisa La Touche, Ted Levy, Michela Marino Lerman, Anthony Morigerato, Makenna Watts, and more. Kurt Csolak serves as editor of the series, with Darren Biggart and Anthony Morigerato acting as creative producers.
To read more about these program, click here.
By BWW News Desk
29 June 2020
Ballet Hispánico continues to celebrate 50 years of uniting people through dance with Noche Unidos on Tuesday, June 30, 2020 from 7:30-8:15pm EDT on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. All are welcome to view the show, with an advanced RSVP requested here, donations are optional.
The evening includes ten virtual world premiere performances featuring Ballet Hispánico Company dancers and students, new works created remotely in the past weeks by world renowned choreographers Carlos Pons Guerra, Michelle Manzanales, Andrea Miller, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Pedro Ruiz, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, Nancy Turano, and Eduardo Vilaro; and celebrity appearances including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rita Moreno, Gloria Estefan, Norman Lear, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, and other Latinx artists. A highlight of the evening will be performances by Ballet Hispánico School of Dance students Julienne Buenaventura and Ruby Castillo, Nuestro Futuro scholarship recipients in BH’s La Academia program, works choreographed by Kiri Avelar and Rodney Hamilton.
The pre-recorded show will include new works set remotely on our dancers by prominent choreographers. The choreographers are social distancing in locations around the world, and our dancers are across the country, yet the beauty of dance transcends the distance between them.
Read the full article here.
By Joshua Kosman
18 June 2020
World premieres by choreographers Cathy Marston, Mark Morris, Danielle Rowe and Myles Thatcher — as well as a return engagement for George Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic after a single performance in March — are among the highlights of the San Francisco Ballet’s 2021 season.
Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson announced details of the season on Thursday, June 18, under the title “Leap of Faith,” an aptly balletic rubric acknowledging the elements of uncertainty and hope that surround any planning by a performing arts organization in the current climate.
“The situation is totally un-normal right now, and we will have to be able to adjust to different situations,” Tomasson told The Chronicle in a phone interview. “The season is assuming that the city will allow us to perform and that people are willing to come. That would be the ideal.”
If that doesn’t happen by the time the season is scheduled to open on Jan. 19, Tomasson said, the company has backup plans, including the possibility of live-streaming performances from the studio.
The season’s seven programs, which run through June 27, 2021, have been arranged with the goal of keeping the two biggest and most elaborate programs at the end, in order to maximize the chances that performances will be fully possible by then. Those are the full-length story ballets “Swan Lake” (May 28-June 6) and “Romeo and Juliet” (June 18-27), both choreographed by Tomasson.
Read the full article here.
By Jenesis Williams | 17 June 2020
I am a public speaking champion. I am the captain of a top-five debate team. I have nine national titles and am ranked fifth in the nation in informative speaking by the National Speech and Debate Association. I wield my voice like a weapon, but the only place I remain silent is the ballet studio.
At my first summer intensive away from home, at age 14, I was injured and unable to participate in class, so our teacher decided to play a “game.” I had to record every combination and correction throughout the class. Easy. Except before the first combination started, my teacher asked me if I knew how to spell the steps I had written down. I nodded, but that wasn’t enough. He looked at me, expectantly. His icy glare effectively communicated that he wanted me to spell the entire combination. So I did. I stood up and repeated the combination back to him, spelling out each step.
By the time I had brushed it off, it was time for the next combination. He looked at me again. I spelled out every step, spelling bee style, taking up valuable class time to prove to him I was smart enough to know the steps I had practiced every day for the past five weeks. It evolved into a cycle: write down the combination, stand up, spell it for him, repeat. His eyes widened as I proved capable of spelling out more complicated steps— I was mortified, but I didn’t falter. When class ended, my friends and I talked about how weird that was. Why me? What was wrong with him? Why did he think I couldn’t do it?
What we didn’t talk about was the fact that I was one of two black girls in the class. I didn’t say that this was just one of the many microaggressions that I had to accept as a Black girl who does ballet. I am one of the best speakers in the country, and when the time came, I said nothing.
The ballet world does not give Black students a safe space to speak, to dance, to simply exist. The decisions of white boards, teachers, directors, and choreographers trickle down into the studio where Black students are ultimately told that ballet was not built for Black bodies. Until I watched Misty Copeland’s documentary, I believed that it was physiologically impossible for a Black ballerina to have nice feet— it was what I had been told. I jammed my metatarsals under the piano in my studio daily, telling myself that maybe five minutes of pain could defy genetics. I know I am not alone.
The goal of the corps de ballet is to move as one, fluid body. Each dancer must be a part of a larger whole, standing out enough as to not be too replaceable while simultaneously fitting in. How am I supposed to fit in when my skin color stands out? Famous Black dancers like Raven Wilkinson were told to paint their bodies white to dance. Some, like Janet Collins, turned company spots down for this very reason. But, sometimes, in the shower when I wash off a long day of class and rehearsal, I think about what it would be like to look in the mirror and see the sameness ballet has taught me to desire. I immediately feel guilty. Then I’m angry. And then I go to sleep, only to put on pinkish-white tights the next day.
In class, we are taught that ballet should be an escape from everything outside of the studio. But you can’t escape Blackness, (especially not when your teachers crack jokes like “mosquito lives matter” when a student swats at fly during tendus) and there is nobody to teach Black students how to channel that into their dancing. It takes an educated, anti-racist teacher to find and share Black narratives in ballet with their students. Good luck finding them.
A former student at my studio reached out to the director recently because, despite taking multiple studio-sponsored trips to NYC, she never heard of Dance Theatre of Harlem until she ended up living right next to the company’s studios. She shared Arthur Mitchell’s Giselle with the director, suggesting a studio showing to promote diversity and awareness. I am still waiting for that showing.
Black ballet students deserve to feel like they belong. So please, support initiatives like ABT’s Project Plié. They grant scholarships to students, teachers, and arts administration interns of color, develop their outreach programs within ballet companies, and work with the Boys & Girls Club of America. Help Brown Girls Do Ballet, a nonprofit whose mentor and volunteer network and other initiatives are building the next BIPOC role models in ballet. Increase their impact via donations, sponsorship, buying merchandise, becoming an ambassador, or letting your dancer friends of color know about mentorship opportunities available.
I’ve been told that ballet is just a conversation between a dancer and the audience. If that’s true, it’s time we give young, Black dancers a voice.
A note from DDP: An earlier version of this OpEd listed Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell as “Arthur Miller.” DDP corrected this error on July 8th and appreciates Dance Theatre of Harlem for notifying us of the inaccuracy. We make every effort to be accurate, and therefore circulated this piece multiple times, both within our team and within our network of journalistic allies, for thoughts and revisions. We apologize for the unintentional misattribution. For more information on Dance Theatre of Harlem, the company’s legendary founder Arthur Mitchell, and its female leadership team (made up of Artistic Director Virginia Johnson and Executive Director Anna Glass), please visit https://dancetheatreofharlem.
By Roslyn Sulcas
16 June 2020
Dance Theater of Harlem emerged from tragedy and uprisings; the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968, was the catalyst for Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American principal dancer at New York City Ballet, to found (with his teacher, Karel Shook) a ballet school and a company that would offer dancers of color the chance to show that mastering classical dance had nothing to do with race.
There couldn’t be a better moment to spend some time watching this company, which was recently awarded a $4 million gift from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will go, in part, to supporting new work by women and people of color.
Forced by the coronavirus to cancel its 50th anniversary season in April at New York City Center, the company is now offering a changing selection from its repertory online. On Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern, Dance Theater of Harlem on Demand will offer Robert Garland’s 1999 “Return,” a homage to James Brown and Aretha Franklin that has become a signature piece for the company. Mr. Garland, the troupe’s resident choreographer, has described the work as “an attempt to fuse an urban physical sensibility and a neo-Classical one,” and it provides a terrific showcase for the dancers, who combine the rigor of ballet technique with the funk of vernacular forms. Starting Wednesday, there are also online talks with Mr. Garland and company members about “Return,” and a Juneteenth and Black Music Month Celebration Dance Party. (R.S.V.P. for this on the company website.)
Until Sunday at midnight, you can catch Darrell Grand Moultrie’s “Vessels,” a well-crafted and inventive neo-Classical ballet to music by Enzio Bosso. You can also watch a conversation between Mr. Moultrie and Virginia Johnson, the company’s artistic director, about the work, which also touches on his thoughts about the protests and foregrounding of the Black Lives Matter movement since the killing of George Floyd.
Read the full article online here.
By Mark Peikert
13 June 2020
With its 50th Anniversary Celebration cut short by COVID-19, Dance Theatre of Harlem has turned to its archives to continue honoring its five decades of work. The new weekly Virtual Ballet Series launched June 6 with Creole Giselle.
All of the full works (and accompanying videos and articles) will be available on DTH’s YouTube channel and Facebook page each Saturday beginning at 8 PM ET until 11:59 PM on Sunday. Creole Giselle will remain available to view until 11:59 PM ET June 19. The full lineup below, and consider giving to the DTH Emergency Relief Fund, if you are able.
READ: Dance Theatre of Harlem Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary at New York City Center
June 11
Vessels (Choreographed by Darell Grand Moultrie)
June 20
Return (Choreographed by Robert Garland)
See the full schedule online here.
By Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy
5 Jun 2020
I remember the first year that I competed at the Youth America Grand Prix. I was 17 years old and particularly excited to be participating in a competition that focused on ballet. First up for my age group was classical, where I danced Kitri’s Act I variation showing off all of my strengths: personality, speed and the ability to jump and turn. I felt really proud of how it went—imperfect, but not terrible.
The next day I performed my contemporary solo, a dance I choreographed to a jazzy version of The Beatles’ “Blackbird.” I danced in bare feet with my natural hair out. Halfway through the solo I forgot the steps and improvised my way through the rest. I felt mortified, defeated and heartbroken. Later that day, I was pulled aside by one of the competition’s organizers congratulating me (what?) and telling me that they wanted to work to get me a scholarship to The Ailey School. I had already participated in Ailey’s intensive the summer prior and had discovered that modern dance was not the language in which I wanted to develop. I wanted to do ballet.
At the time I didn’t understand why Ailey kept being pushed on me, but looking back I understand that in this moment, the reason had not much to do with my dancing and more to do with the texture of my hair and the color of my skin.
Well-intended ignorance. The ballet world is full of it. It took me years to see it. Why were the same three places—Dance Theatre of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Houston Ballet—always mentioned to me when people recommended where to dance? Eventually it dawned on me that while two of these are well-known as historically Black companies, all three organizations had been known to have women of color at the forefront: Virginia Johnson, Judith Jamison, Lauren Anderson.
By Sarah L. Kaufman
Forty years ago almost to the day, American Ballet Theatre premiered a glittering extravaganza of Indian temple dancers, bejeweled Brahmins, an opium-aided trip to the afterlife and an earthquake watched over by a Buddha as big as a house.
By the time the curtain fell, the ballet landscape had changed.
Natalia Makarova created, directed and starred in that landmark production of “La Bayadere.” It became an ABT staple and eventually entered the repertoires of troupes around the world. As she was first bringing it to the stage, Makarova taught the ABT dancers every step and gesture of the three-hour production, with corps de ballet rookies and the company’s greats alike watching in fear and awe as the world-famous Russian ballerina commanded them to dance bigger, move freer and even breathe with more conviction.
Read the full article with a subscription to The Washington Post.
22 May 2020
By Rachel Hellwig
Flocks of swans, waltzing flowers, bourréeing phantoms and leaping princes are all regular sights in rehearsals at Alabama Ballet’s downtown Birmingham studios. Throughout its season, the company produces classical story ballets as well as works by major names like Twyla Tharp, Agnes de Mille and Jiří Kylián. “We’re classically based,” says artistic director Tracey Alvey, who trained at The Royal Ballet School and was a principal with London City Ballet.
But during Alabama Ballet’s annual Ovation showcase, the programming skews more toward the contemporary, as Alvey aims to “give the dancers something to extend their abilities. They need to be versatile, able to jump into any style and excel.” This May, the double-bill features pieces by two female choreographers: the lyrical Donnette Cannonie and German dancemaker Anna Vita.
Springing from three local organizations, Alabama Ballet traces its roots to the early 1980s, and was originally directed by noted Bulgarian dancer Sonia Arova and her husband, Thor Sutowski. Former American Ballet Theatre principal Wes Chapman served as artistic director next, from 1996 until Alvey’s arrival in 2007. Under Chapman’s leadership, the company began to present George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. In 1998, Alabama Ballet added a school, which became RAD certified under Alvey.
Alabama Ballet performs four main-stage productions per season plus an in-studio show. Story ballets are a staple, so audiences can expect full-lengths—such as Romeo & Juliet, La Sylphide and The Sleeping Beauty—alongside mixed-repertoire programs ranging from classical to contemporary. In recent years, these have included Act II of La Bayadère, Études by Harald Lander, Tharp’s In the Upper Room, de Mille’s Rodeo and Kylián’s Sechs Tänze. Associate artistic director and resident choreographer Roger VanFleteren also produces original work, like Bonnie and Clyde and Alice in Wonderland.
“I love the variety of the repertoire,” says Ariana Czernobil, who’s now in her ninth season. “It’s so different from year to year.” A graduate of University of North Carolina School of the Arts’ high school program, she became acquainted with Alabama Ballet as a teen because her sister was a company member. “Since we’re unranked, there are also opportunities for new dancers to perform solo roles,” says Czernobil. “An apprentice might be cast in the corps and also in a variation. We cheer everyone on.”
Read more here.
26 March 2020
By Lyndsey Winship
With their 20th anniversary tour now on hold, BalletBoyz rise to meet the challenge of theatreland going digital, taking their new show Deluxe online to launch the Facebook Premieres series from Sadler’s Wells.
No strangers to the screen, directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt often use behind-the-scenes video to connect with the audience, and this show’s opening dance was always going to be a film. The Intro is a short by new choreographer Sarah Golding. It’s a striking piece with jazz dance flavour, its camp edge offset by the blokeishness of the six dancers, an enjoyable dissonance that whets the appetite for more of Golding’s work.
Nunn and Trevitt are never predictable in their choices of collaborators, giving us the first UK commission for Chinese choreographer Xie Xin. Her piece Ripple would probably have benefitted from being seen live (or at least on a large screen with the lights off), being all about tapping into an energy state, a continuous ebb and flow of rolling tides, the dancers crossing each other’s paths like warp and weft to the raw strings and electronics of Shaofeng Jiang’s score.
Maxine Doyle’s Bradley 4.18 fares well on screen. Renowned as the choreographer behind immersive theatre megastars Punchdrunk, it’s great to see Doyle’s work stand by itself. Rather than a free-roaming experience, there’s focus with just one camera, and it’s beautifully shot and framed (great lighting too, from Andrew Ellis).
Read the full article.
Reach out to us to learn more about our mission.
"The Devil Ties My Tongue" by Amy Seiwert performed for the SKETCH Series, 2013. Photo by David DeSilva. Courtesy of Amy Seiwert's Imagery