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[dirac]

A preview of the Joffrey Ballet'snew season by Philip Potempa in the Northwest Indiana Times.

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The Joffrey brings James Kudelka's critically acclaimed "Pretty BALLET" back to the stage along with Jiří Kylián's rarely seen work "Forgotten Land," with the highlight of the season surrounding a performance run of the ground-breaking anti-war ballet "The Green Table," choreographed by Kurt Jooss in the aftermath of World War I.

[dirac]

A story on former dancer Breanna Dvorack, who studied at the Bolshoi Academy and is now teaching.

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Back in the U.S., Dvorack performed as a soloist with St. Paul Chamber Ballet, and had roles in New York, Boston and Connecticutt. She has performed repertoire from classical ballets such as LaCorsaire, Paquita, Lafille Mal Garde, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Giselle, as well as danced in many contemporary pieces.

Performance opportunities  dwindled  when the recession hit and several ballet companies closed down. But she had started teaching ballet by then and enjoyed nurturing young dancers as much as performing.

[dirac]

Darcey Bussell is interviewed by Alexa Skinitis in RadioTimes.

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Despite having walked away from the Royal Ballet nearly five years ago, Bussell was recently lured out of retirement for one very special final performance. Having vowed to remove herself from the ballet world to experience life away from the dance floor – “I wanted to feel confident outside that world, as myself… whatever myself is…” – she very reluctantly agreed to dust off her pointe shoes and take on the role of the dying Olympic flame at the Closing Ceremony in August.

Her reluctance was at least partly because the idea of getting back into a leotard in front of millions was somewhat daunting. It certainly wasn’t because she didn’t want to dance (her abstinence only lasted a few months before she started sneaking into the back of dance classes at her local gym, taking on anything from lyrical jazz to zumba).

[dirac]

A slideshow of Valentino's new costumes for New York City Ballet.

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Ballet and fashion are well-matched partners, especially when the right designer is involved. Since April, Valentino has been visiting New York City Ballet’s costume department, at the behest of director Peter Martins, who asked him to create costumes for the company’s fall gala. “I don’t think he does anything but on a big scale,” says costume director Marc Happel. Valentino did have to scale back his vision for the ladies’ hair though: “It became obvious in the fittings that this huge hair was not possible to dance in,” Happel says. “I think he realized it was too much.”

[dirac]

The most recent Cuban ballet dancer defectorsperform in Miami.

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Milena Teresa Garcia Valido and Julio Cesar Concepcion Mederos will perform the Don Quixote pas de deux as part of the closing performance of the International Ballet Festival of Miami at 5pm Sunday at the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 East Flagler St., in downtown Miami.