Upcoming Deadlines | click here to see if you are eligible for any of these opportunities

March 26th: New & Experimental Works (NEW) Program, March 31st: SIA Foundation Grants, April 1st: Palm Desert Choreography Festival, April 1st: New England States Touring (NEST 1 and 2), April 17th: World Arts West (WAW) Cultural Dance Catalyst Fund, September 14th: New England Dance Fund, October 13th: Community Arts Grant - Zellerbach Family Foundation, December 1st: Culture Forward Grant - The Svane Family Foundation, December 31st: National Dance Project Presentation Grants - New England Foundation for the Arts, December 31st: National Dance Project Travel Fund, December 31st: New England Presenter Travel Fund

×

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

New York Times: Review: In Merce Cunningham’s Honor, Pam Tanowitz Thrills

/0 Comments/in /by

By Roslyn Sulcas

11 October 2019

LONDON — Seven dancers, their backs to the audience, heads turned in profile, move on to the stage in silence, stepping to the left on a bent leg, then ceremoniously curving the right leg forward. Arms interlinked behind backs, the women in soft draped dresses, they look like ancient figures on a Greek vase. The music begins: not ancient at all, but jagged, abrasive strings. A lone man appears. He is performing the same sequence, but facing forward.

Pam Tanowitz’s “Everyone Keeps Me,” a new work for the Royal Ballet that premiered here on Thursday, has begun, and for 20 entrancing minutes, we are in her strange, resonantly poetic world.

The dance critic Edwin Denby once wrote that “the strange thing about making pieces that have no logical narrative or logical formal structure is that it needs an exceedingly dramatic gift.” He was talking about Merce Cunningham, but that’s true too of Ms. Tanowitz, a choreographer who labored quietly at her craft for decades and now is suddenly in demand everywhere. In the last year, she has created pieces for the New York City Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Paul Taylor Company, among others.

Read the full article in The New York Times.

Washington Post: Suzanne Farrell returns to New York City Ballet to coach dancers

/0 Comments/in /by

By Sarah Kaufman

10 April 2019

Ballet eminences across the country hailed the news this week that Suzanne Farrell, the celebrated ballerina and choreographic inspiration to …

Read the full article in The Washington Post.

Joffrey Ballet’s Staging of Jane Eyre – A Full-Length Ballet By Cathy Marston – Hits Chicago

/0 Comments/in /by

In June, American Ballet Theatre performed the US premiere of Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre at the Metropolitan Opera House. The ballet was brought to the United States through a joint collaboration with Joffrey Ballet, which will now perform the work in its fall season in Chicago.

Given the paucity of female-choreographed, full-length ballets for the main stage around the ballet world, Marston’s invitation and support by these two major companies is of no small significance. Programming women is vital to diversifying ballet company repertoire, and these companies are leading the way.

Learn more about the production in Joffrey Ballet’s Inside the Studio video below or visit the company’s website here.

Learn more about Cathy Marston here.

Dance Spirit: How 20-Year-Old Gianna Reisen Balances Choreographing for NYCB and Dancing With L.A. Dance Project

/0 Comments/in /by

By Olivia Manno

9 October 2019

It was fall 2016. Gianna Reisen—then 17 and in her final year at the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet’s official training school—had just been made the offer of a lifetime: the chance to choreograph a work for the company’s fall gala. She would be the youngest person ever to do so.

Two weeks later, Reisen went from an all-time high to an all-time low: She found out she wouldn’t be getting an apprenticeship with NYCB. “I absolutely deflated,” she remembers. “Imagine if, after seven years of working towards something, it simply doesn’t happen. It’s sort of heartbreaking.”

But Reisen, now 20, handled the roller-coaster ride with aplomb. And her career has only accelerated since that fall. She’s created not just one ballet for NYCB but two: Composer’s Holiday, that first commission, which premiered in September 2017, and Judah, which premiered in September 2018. She spent a season at Dresden Semperoper Ballett before joining Benjamin Millepied’s trailblazing L.A. Dance Project, and recently created a new work for LADP.

With such a full plate, when does Reisen stop to catch her breath? As it turns out, she doesn’t need to: Constantly creating is her oxygen.

Read the full article in Dance Spirit.

Dance Business Weekly: 4 Things to Know Before You Open a Dance Studio—or Any Dance Business, for That Matter

/0 Comments/in /by

By Rachel Rizzuto

9 October 2019

Dreaming of opening a dance studio of your own? It might be more of a rude awakening than you’re imagining—especially if you’ve spent a few years as part of another studio’s faculty. Sure, you might have good ideas you’re ready to implement and a vision of yourself as the boss you’ve always wanted. But owning a business also means you’ll have to give up some of your favorite parts of your old job and learn or take on or even hire others for new roles and skills in order to keep your business moving forward. “If you’ve got the bug, it’s a magical adventure to own your own business,” says Genevieve Weeks, founder of Tutu School, a dance studio business with a successful franchise model that has grown to 34 locations throughout the country. “But some people are drawn to it because of the way they see it presented on Instagram. They’re not thinking about the layers underneath.” 

You’ll Need a Business Owner’s Mind-set

Owning a studio is a dramatic change in job description and requires a switch to a business mind-set—so here are four things to keep in mind before you launch.

1. Make sure you have enough capital to give yourself a really long runway for takeoff. 

“One of the primary reasons small businesses aren’t successful is that they’re not properly capitalized,” says Weeks. “You need enough of a runway to really give yourself a chance. You could be one month away from really turning a profit and becoming successful, but you have to shut down because you don’t have the next month’s rent or payroll.” 

Read the full article on Dance Business Weekly.

SC Times: Ballet Hispánico brings dance, culture to Central Minnesota

/0 Comments/in /by

By Sarah Colburn

8 October 2019

The world-renowned dance company Ballet Hispánico is coming to Central Minnesota for a residency, presenting a full week of classes, workshops, a social dance and a formal performance.

“They’re out of this world and out of our usual reach,” said Tanya Gertz, executive director of fine arts programming for the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University. “We’re only able to do this because of the Minnesota State Arts Board and our local funders.”

The company focuses not only on its Latino/Latina roots, but also its female choreographers. For this local performance the company is presenting pieces choreographed solely by women.

“We started doing an all-female program four years ago… We had a lack of female voices in (dance) leadership roles and choreography,” said Eduardo Vilaro, artistic director and CEO.

The program features an older work by Michelle Manzanales as well as the premiere of a new work by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa titled “Tiburones.”

Read the full article in the SC Times.

ABC Australia News: Melbourne choreographers are setting the scene for Australian dance at home and abroad

/0 Comments/in /by

By Dee Jefferson

4 October 2019

As Jonathan Holloway presents his final program, and as Melbourne Festival prepares to transform to a new format and season in 2020, many will be remembering the international headliners and “tent-pole” events of recent years (Taylor Mac’s 24-hour performance art party) and past decades.

But this year’s line-up serves as a reminder of what great work we make here in Australia; in particular, it showcases Melbourne’s incredibly strong and diverse dance culture.

New works by Melbourne-based choreographers Lucy Guerin (Split), Jo Lloyd (Overture) and Stephanie Lake (Colossus) appear in this year’s program, off the back of popular previous seasons in Melbourne and elsewhere. And Antony Hamilton will present the world premiere of his first major work at the helm of major dance company Chunky Move (Token Armies).

These dancers-turned-choreographers have worked together previously, and are part of Melbourne’s close-knit dance ecology.

Guerin, Lake and Lloyd are particularly interesting as women who have forged their careers as independent operators in a sector where all the major companies are helmed by men.

They each have decades-deep careers under their belts, a swag of Helpmann, Green Room and Australian Dance Awards, international commissions and tours, and critical acclaim. But instead of joining larger contemporary dance companies (such as Sydney Dance Company, Chunky Move or Australian Dance Theatre) they have either created their own small companies, or in the case of Lloyd, remained a solo operator.

The reduction of funding to the independent and small-to-medium sectors, through the George Brandis-led Australia Council intervention of 2015-2016, has made their advancement even more difficult, and their current positions more fraught.

You might say these women are succeeding against considerable odds.

Read the full article on ABC Australia.

Vox: Why HR is powerless to effectively handle sexual harassment claims

/0 Comments/in /by

By Laurie Ruettimann

3 October 2019

Nobody goes looking for a meeting with HR. That had always been Maya’s thinking. Even after she was sexually harassed by wealthy board members on the job, rather than report the incidents to the human resources department, she did what so many employees do — she tried to manage it.

“I side-stepped hugs and squeezes, redirected conversations when it turned to my appearance, and politely ask not to be called ‘doll’ or ‘kitten,’” said Maya (whose name has been changed for this story).

However, when a board member made sexual advances to a college intern on her team, Maya felt differently. She was compelled to report the incident to HR.

Unfortunately, the harassment investigation lived up to Maya’s low expectations. Nobody offered a timeline or shared updates. It was unclear who, if anyone, outside of HR knew about the accusations. University leaders grew cold and distant, but Maya wasn’t sure if they were reacting to the investigation or if she was paranoid. Eventually, the stress drove her to resign.

Maya’s story is not uncommon. In my work as a human resources consultant, people come to me with questions about the intricacies of sexual harassment investigations. How does it work? Who is responsible for what? When does HR manage this process, and when is it handled externally? Can you report your boss and remain confidential?

The answer to all of those questions is this: It depends.

Read the full article on Vox.

The Progress 1000: London’s most influential people 2019 – Creative Arts: Dance

/0 Comments/in /by

By Emma Byrne

Tamara Rojo​

Lead ballerina and artistic director, English National Ballet
Rojo has turned her company into a formidable force, championing women choreographers and talented youngsters alongside heavyweight stars. She’s overseen ENB’s move into its new home in Canning Town, cementing east London as the capital’s up-and-coming dance centre.

Cathy Marston

Choreographer | NEW
Marston has had one hell of a year already, creating ballets for the world’s great companies and winning a Critics’ Circle award. And there’s another major coup — her first main-stage work for the Royal Ballet, based on the life of Jacqueline Du Pré.

Cassa Pancho

Atistic director, Ballet Black
Pancho is changing the face of British dance. Last year she worked alongside Freed to create pointe shoes and tights for black and mixed-race ballet dancers – a UK first.

Read the full list in the Standard.

Pointe Magazine: Behind Ballet’s Diversity Problem

/0 Comments/in /by

By Joseph Carman

14 May 2014


Ballet has a lily-white reputation.

The great “ballet blanc” works glorify white swans, white shades, white wilis and white sylphs. Still, in 2014, balletgoers might expect some progress in racial diversity onstage, especially in the U.S., where populations of color are growing. But comb the rosters of most American companies and you’ll find a striking sameness. While a few have established inclusive policies in training and hiring, they are the minority. There is a notable exception—Asian and Asian-American dancers have made real inroads. However, dancers of other ethnic backgrounds continue to face challenges, especially women.

Many factors contribute to ballet’s lack of diversity: economic inequality—ballet training is notoriously expensive; a lack of role models for aspiring dancers to emulate; a failure on the part of schools and companies to provide support for young dancers of color on the uphill road to professional success. And another factor looms large in the discussion: Many believe a thread of racism still runs through the ballet world. “There are people who define ballet in a very specific and historic sense and think it should look like the Mariinsky in 1950,” says American Ballet Theatre executive director Rachel Moore, who last year launched the company’s Project Plié, an initiative to support the training of ballet students from underrepresented communities.

Read the full article in Pointe.