13 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A storyon dancing brother and sister Alex Estrada and Shaelynn Estrada.

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Alex won a full scholarship to the prestigious Joffrey Ballet School in New York City, where he will take part in an eight-week intensive classical ballet workshop. He turned down a full scholarship with the Orlando Ballet to study at Joffrey.

After New York, Alex will participate in a three-week summer program at the Carreño Festival in Sarasota – all expenses paid. Shaelynn has partial scholarships for summer intensives at the Orlando Ballet School and the Carreño Festival.

[dirac]

A review of Rock the Balletby Bridget Jones for Auckland Now.

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This is not anywhere close to ballet in its purest form. There are no point shoes, no tutus, no tights and no stiff routines. It's also not quite as sharp and focused as some ballet-lovers might expect. But it is impressive. With a soundtrack of close to 30 songs from the likes of The Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay and Michael Jackson, this is ballet for the non-purists.  

[dirac]

A review of the Australian Balletby Apollinaire Scherr in The Financial Times.

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The evening began with a movie trailer spliced between live titbits mainly from the classics. Despite the bullet-proof narrator (“This is a story of guts and determination”), the footage from the 1960s company’s beginnings – hefty Australians suffering cramped studios for the sake of their effete art – was adorable. The live dancing less so. The dancers lacked rapport with the music – a New York essential, given Balanchine. In these showy excerpts, they seemed both stolid and vague.

[dirac]

Pittsburgh Ballet Schoolholds open auditions.

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Dancers ages 8 to 15 of any skill level are invited to participate at the PBT School's studios, 2900 Liberty Ave., Strip District. Those with little or no experience will be taught basic positions and evaluated on flexibility and turn out. For more experienced applicants, the audition will model a ballet class with barre exercises and pointe work, when appropriate.

[dirac]

Boca Ballet Theatre holds a tea and fashion show.

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The event, which raised $17,000 for Boca Ballet Theatre's programming and costume needs, included raffles, a trunk show, a silent auction and an English-style afternoon tea. Boca Ballet Theatre's next production is "Coppélia" - one of classical ballet's greatest comedies.

[dirac]

Alys Shee wins a gold medal in Helsinki.

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Shee studied at the School of Canadian Ballet Theatre in Thornhill with its artistic director, renowned Russian-born teacher Nadia Veselova Tencer. Since then she’s been receiving special coaching from Canadian prima ballerina Evelyn Hart.

Hart, whose own career took off after winning senior gold in Varna, Bulgaria, in 1980, was unable to travel with Shee to Finland but watched the run-throughs on the Internet and gave her feedback.

[dirac]

Ballet Arizona gets a donation from US Airways.

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The US Airways charitable arm is donating $25,000 to Ballet Arizona to help it renovate a 45,000-square-foot warehouse at 29th and Washington streets in Phoenix. The ballet is consolidating offices and dance studios at the central Phoenix location.

[dirac]

A story on Mary Helen Bowers and her new book. Many photos.

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The ballerina responsible for whipping Natalie Portman into shape for her role in Black Swan is giving us the chance to attain 'prima' perfection with the release of a new book.

Former New York City Ballet dancer, Mary Helen Bowers, 32, hopes that readers of her exercise and lifestyle manual, Ballet Beautiful, will 'feel the power of grace, strength and possibility.'

[dirac]

Darcey Bussell becomes president of the Royal Academy of Dance.

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Darcey follows in the footsteps of Dame Antoinette Sibley who retired in April after 21 years in the role. She joins the RAD, one of the world’s most influential dance training organisations, at a time of growth and increasing public interest in all forms of dance.

[dirac]

A story on television showsfeaturing dance.

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New this summer is the CW network’s Breaking Pointe, an unscripted series that goes behind the scenes of Ballet West, a ballet company in Salt Lake City. In July, Oxygen will launch All the Right Moves, which follows choreographer Travis Wall and three of his friends as they try to start a
contemporary-dance company in Los Angeles.

[dirac]

Changes at the top are announced for New York City Ballet's board of directors.

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City Ballet board members are expected to contribute or raise at least $100,000, and generally more for chairmen. Mr. Fishman, 59, who earned $16.5 million last year, according to his company’s proxy statement, said he had not “even thought about” his personal contribution.

Mr. Fishman starts the job on July 1, succeeding John L. Vogelstein, whose term is ending. City Ballet is trying to pare down deficits that reached $8 million in 2008 and have dipped to a projected $1.4 million on a budget of $62.4 million this year.

[dirac]

A review of the Australian Ballet by Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times.

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So what are my objections to Mr. McGregor’s work? Like the ballets of Christopher Wheeldon, Mr. McGregor’s are displays of choreography, but are limited in expression. Most of his dances look like a brew of gimmickry and stunts, and the idea of humanity that emerges from his work inclines toward the freakish. New York has recently experienced at least two other dances done to Mr. Reich’s “Double Sextet”; Mr. McGregor’s revealed the architecture of the music far less than the pieces by Larry Keigwin and Peter Quanz.   

[dirac]

A review of American Ballet Theatre's"Firebird" by Leigh Witchel in The New York Post.

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Marcelo Gomes gave Ivan a human touch as he crossed himself before heading into the enchanted forest, but was overshadowed by Hallberg. It’s no fun being the hero. His chosen maiden, Simone Messmer, got a better deal. Ratmansky painted her as more than a stock damsel-in-distress when the lovers met in a dance full of steps, as if they were jabbering to cover up their nerves.

Edited by dirac, 14 June 2012 - 05:47 PM.
The OP misidentified the author of this article as Alastair Macaulay. Thanks to aurora for pointing this out!

[dirac]

An item on Mary Helen Bowers'new book," Ballet Beautiful," in People.

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That stunning transformation came courtesy of ballerina Mary Helen Bowers, a former New York City Ballet dancer who has since taken the celebrity world by storm — and penned a book about her routines.

After Portman’s Black Swan metamorphosis was revealed, other stars began requesting private sessions with Bowers. The demand persuaded her to create the “Ballet Beautiful” workout, which helps those not training for an Oscar-worthy role to get into shape.