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[dirac]

A profile of Isaac Hernandez of Dutch National Ballet by Katherine Corcoran for the Associated Press.

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Little has changed in 14 years, even as the rest of Latin America has exploded with ballet talent, producing male virtuosos such as Jose Manuel Carreno and Carlos Acosta of Cuba and Argentines Herman Cornejo and Julio Bocca, who now directs the national ballet in Uruguay.

Mexico, known for its frenetic, heel-stomping folklorico dance, has had its share of prima ballerinas, including Elisa Carrillo, a principal dancer for the Berlin Ballet. But it's virtually unheard of for Mexico to produce world-class male dancers. The image persists that ballet is for elites in a country of mostly working class and poor — and definitely not for boys.

[dirac]

Darcey Bussell brings out a book, "Darcey Bussell: A Life in Pictures," next month.

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Unlike Sylvie Guillem, who maintains strict control over who takes her photograph and which images may be published, Bussell thinks, “You’ve got to give the photographer his creative due. If you start controlling it yourself it’s not as creative.”

She did, however, exert a smidgen of control over the singer and part-time photographer, Bryan Adams, who photographed Bussell in a pose based on an art deco sculpture. “He said ‘the leg isn’t meant to be that high’,” Bussell recalls. “I said ‘it has to be 90 degrees’, a perfect arabesque.”

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[dirac]

Reviews of the Joffrey Ballet at Jacob's Pillow.

Berkshire Eagle

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Accordingly, Welch's dance is filled with solos and duets, some extremely demanding, taking advantage of the Joff rey's greatest strength -- Rob ert Joffrey's in ten tion was to establish a company of soloists, rather than the traditional en semble in which the corps is a key element in its danc es, and that philosophy clearly continues to prevail.

Boston Globe

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Today, the wild child has matured: The triple bill presented through Sunday at Jacob’s Pillow feels like a grown-up night at the ballet; though the program is flecked with wit and imbued with youthful spirit, the dancers are given serious choreography. They perform a delicious flood of recognizable, largely unadulterated ballet steps with sincere, rather than satiric, vigor. (The company boasts so many terrific dancers that it seems unfair not to mention them all, especially given the Joffrey’s non-ranking system; but suffice to say, wow.) Now that it’s de rigueur for small to medium ballet companies to present a multimedia, crossover repertoire, perhaps the Joffrey’s next legacy is to bring us full circle, back to classical ballet, albeit 21st-century style.

[dirac]

Gwinnett Ballet Theatre opens the doors of its new facility.

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The girls in the group are giddy about the new facility. One of the features of they hope to have will be two baby grand pianos in the large studios. Right now, they practice using pre-recorded music. “It’s a different kind of energy with live music,” said dancer Kendall Greene, 17, of Lawrenceville.

Another upgrade is the addition of locker rooms. At their current home in Snellville, the dancers only have two small bathrooms with just toilets and sinks. At the Lawrenceville location they will have showers, a row of sinks and changing rooms for both the male and female dancers so they can clean up after hours of rigorous rehearsals.