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

Victoria: Northern Ballet and National Ballet of Canada Feature a Woman Choreographer to Tell a Woman’s Story

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By Isabelle Vail

25 January 2019

Creator of Jane Eyre for Northern Ballet, Cathy Marston has choreographed a new co-production for the National Ballet of Canada and Northern Ballet. The production is a biopic on the life of Queen Victoria, as recorded in the Queen’s diaries and retold by her daughter following the Queen’s death. The work will premier on March 9th, 2019 in the Leeds Grand Theatre.

Watch a video below and buy tickets here.

BalletX Spring Series Gets In the Studio with 2019 Choreographic Fellow Katarzyna Skarpetowska

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By Isabelle Vaik

25 January 2019

Check out a sneak peek of BalletX in the studio with 2019 Choreographic Fellow Katarzyna Skarpetowska. Plus hear from Kate about the inspiration behind her ballet, and excerpts of the music. Catch the World Premiere of Kate’s work at Spring Series 2019!

WWD: At San Francisco Ballet’s Opening Gala, Feathers and Feminism

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By Diane Dorrans Saeks

24 January 2019

Though centered around fashion, Saeks’ recent article highlights feminism and female choreographers highlighted at the San Francisco Ballet gala:

Fashion and dance were the focus for the evening’s glittery crowd, but feminist issues were a major topic of discussion. Komal Shah ran into Larissa Roesch (wearing an Andrew Gn gown), with whom she founded the Center for Gender Equity and Leadership at University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

“We are planning to highlight and celebrate next year’s centennial of the women’s suffragette movement,” said Shah. “Women have come so far and there is still a lot to do for women in the business sphere. Equity is more urgent than ever.”

…

The evening’s program included two world premieres with a pas de deux by Bay Area choreographer Danielle Rowe featuring principal dancers Aaron Robison and Sofiane Sylve. It was followed by a new pas de deux by choreographer in residence Yuri Possokhov, with music by Arvo Pärt and featuring principal dancers Yuan Yuan Tan and Carlo Di Lanno.

Ballet fan Coralie Langston-Jones loved the new work by Rowe, who also designed the dancers’ costumes. “It’s great to see more female choreographers on the program,” said Langston-Jones, who was accompanied by her daughter, Sophia Wickens, a ballet student, who recently auditioned for San Francisco Ballet’s summer intensive program. “Women’s choreographers are somewhat rare in classical ballet, and Rowe is exceptionally talented.”

Read the full article on WWD.

Pittsburgh City Paper: Jessica Lang Dance closes out seven-year run with performance at Byham Theater Jan. 26

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By Steve Sucato

Awareness of the dearth of female choreographers in dance (especially ballet) has become more widespread in recent years. Dance companies and presenters have lined up to showcase programming exhibiting more inclusion on that front and celebrating female dance makers. 

For veteran choreographer Jessica Lang, this current climate of female empowerment represents a bit of a double-edged sword. Lang says that in her eyes, the lack of opportunities for female choreographers has been a problem for a long time, but the sudden rush by dance organizations to create all-female choreographer programs has in some ways exploited the issue. 

“It is slightly insulting to the female choreographers that have been working all along,” says Lang. And while she is all for the wider recognition of the issue, she says “If you like my work, I hope you select it because the work is good and not because I am a woman.”  

Read the full article in Pittsburgh City Paper.

Charlotte Ballet Innovative Works Begins

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24 January 2019

Charlotte Ballet, under the direction of Hope Muir, begins its Innovative Works this weekend, beginning on the 25th. The company details the program:

In a daring experiment, the works of William Shakespeare come to life at Innovative Works through a creative collaboration with UNC Charlotte. Artistic Director Hope Muir has paired renowned choreographers with Charlotte-area Shakespeare experts to explore his works from a fresh perspective. Acclaimed choreographer Peter Chu joins Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare Dr. Andrew Hartley, while award-winning choreographer Stephanie Martinez pairs with the playwright, theatre and dance historian Dr. Lynne Conner. Join us to witness the culmination of this innovative collaboration and experience Shakespeare’s enduring tales in a fresh, provocative way.

This exciting performance explores female characters and is an exemplary example of regional companies prioritizing strong female work and subject matters.

Learn more about, buy tickets for, and watch videos featuring Charlotte Ballet’s Innovative Works here.

Charlotte Observer: ‘Unsex Me Here’: What happens when you look at gender, via Shakespeare, through ballet

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By Lawrence Toppman

23 January 2019

Biology and psychology. Gender-bending and mind-bending. Innocent love and violent love and sparring love and interspecies love and anxiety so paralyzing it saps a philosopher’s will.

That’s what you’ll get when Charlotte Ballet unveils a new approach to Innovative Works this month.

In the old model, many choreographers — most of them already associated with the company — designed short pieces that filled up winter programs at McBride-Bonnefoux Center for Dance. This time, artistic director Hope Muir has paired two out-of-town dancemakers with two UNC Charlotte professors to create “Shakespeare Reinvented,” which runs Jan. 25-Feb. 16.

Muir mounted her first heavyweight collaboration last season, teaming with the Charlotte Symphony to present a gentler “Rite of Spring” that used dancers from Charlotte Ballet II, Charlotte Ballet’s apprentice program and young Reach trainees from three local recreation centers.

Read the full article in the Charlotte Observer.

The Annenberg Center: Martha Graham Dance Company The EVE Project

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By Isabelle Vail

24 January 2019

From the Annenberg Center’s description:

“One of the great companies of the world” (The New York Times), the Martha Graham Dance Company is one of the oldest and most celebrated contemporary dance companies on the planet. In the EVE Project, this iconic troupe stays true to Graham’s tradition of social activism with a program by all female choreographers commemorating the upcoming centennial of the 19th Amendment. Featuring the powerful Philadelphia premiere of Chronicle by Graham, as well as the first preview performance of a new work by contemporary superstars Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith, this amazing company continues to inspire and impress the generations worldwide.

Program includes:Diversion of Angels by Martha Graham
Ekstasis by Martha Graham, Reimagined by Virginie MeceneDeo (first preview) by Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene SmithChronicle by Martha Graham

Read about the program on the Annenberg Center’s website.

Pointe: Female Choreographers Shine at Victoria Morgan’s Cincinnati Ballet

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By Isabelle Vail

23 January 2019

Pointe has posted a recent article about Cincinnati Ballet and its fearless woman leader, Victoria Morgan. The article directly praises Morgan’s use of female talent behind-the-scenes at the company. Read below an excerpt of the beginning:


Victoria Morgan‘s normally bright smile is even brighter entering her 22nd season as Cincinnati Ballet’s artistic director. That’s because the 55-year-old company is in the best shape it has ever been: Attendance, ticket sales and the company’s annual operating budget are at all-time highs. But the road to Cincinnati Ballet’s current successes required an early revamp in Morgan’s thinking about programming. When she took over leadership in 1997, the former San Francisco Ballet dancer had trouble accepting that the company simply didn’t have the budget for her ideas about duplicating the repertoire she was used to.

“I finally realized that part of my reason for being was to find and grow young choreographic talent and to be in the conversation around today’s ideas,” says Morgan. That focus on rising choreographers and work from in-demand dancemakers, including Justin Peck, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and Adam Hougland, has come to define Cincinnati Ballet. So has Morgan’s commitment to highlighting female choreographers. Ballets by Heather Britt, Jessica Lang and Amy Seiwert and several all-female-choreographer programs have solidified that reputation.

Read the full article in Pointe Magazine.

Forbes on Choreographer Camille A. Brown: A Queens Girl Who Now Creates Dance Everywhere

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By Rise Sarachan

18 January 2019

Camille A. Brown has made a name for herself as a star choreographer in the dance world, receiving accolades notably but not limited to the Princess Grace Award, TED Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, USA Jay Franke & David Herro Fellowship and a Bessie Award. She’s graced the covers of dance magazines and performed at multiple TED conferences, choreographed for Broadway and television with John Legend’s Jesus Christ Superstar on NBC. But to speak to Brown, you’d never know it. It’s clear that the work itself is the prize she values most, as the soft-spoken Brown lights up with delight when discussing past and future projects.

Her journey was not one of overnight success but one of perseverance and learning that channeling her most personal anxieties and the stories that she found fascinating would open the most doors. Thinking outside of the box of only being a dancer allowed her to embrace all of who she is and Brown continues to expand her talents, pressing up against the confines of the male-dominated world of choreography as a black woman. Currently, Brown’s dance company Camille A. Brown & Dancers is touring the country, stopping at The Joyce Theatre in New York City in early February. Her choreographic work on the acclaimed show Choir Boy written by the Oscar-winning Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin is playing on Broadway. I spoke with Brown about her journey, her training and what advice she’d give to young women who want to succeed in this field.

Read the full article in Forbes.

San Francisco Ballet: Cathy Marston’s Snowblind

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By Cheryl A. Ossola 

In her first work for San Francisco Ballet, British choreographer Cathy Marston zeroes in on the heart of Edith Wharton’s 1911 novella Ethan Frome. Her ballet, Snowblind,tells a story of repression, love, desperation, and dependence—the forces underlying Wharton’s tale, a classic love triangle. After watching rehearsals, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson commented that Marston, a storyteller at her core, “was approaching it from the drama, as you would with an actor, and that is the driving force to make this work come to life.”

Read the full article on SFB’s website.