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[dirac]

The Joffrey Ballet Women's Board holds a 'Couture and Cocktails' event.

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To open the fashion show, co-chairs Kristina McGrath and Sonya Jackson made a grand entrance in a cherry red $380,000 Lexus LFA. Pamella DeVos, internationally known fashion designer and Joffrey Women's Board member, showcased her 2013 spring line, which was co-presented by Neiman Marcus. The Joffrey dancers led a dance party, and guests enjoyed local food truck offerings from Southern Mac & Cheese Truck, Two Italians, Meatloaf-A-Go-Go and Babycakes.

[dirac]

A review of Scottish Ballet by Mark Brown in The Telegraph.

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New Scottish Ballet director Christopher Hampson introduced himself to the audience on opening night. His warm and assured oration endeared him to Glasgow’s ballet lovers, as did his autumn triple bill.


Martin Lawrance’s Olympics-inspired piece Run For It takes on a new, glowing complexion when presented after the success of London 2012. It’s the kind of piece that could easily go horribly wrong; think dancers performing literal mimes of sprinting or, worse, discus throwing. However, performed to John Adams’s appropriately pacey composition Son of Chamber Symphony (played live), the work draws subtle and sustainable parallels between leading athletes and top-class dancers.

Trailerand other links.

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The dance company’s Autumn Season 2012 is a trio of pieces: fresh from its world premiere at the Cultural Olympiad this summer, Run For It, choreographed by Martin Lawrance with a set by Turner Prize winner Martin Boyce, is inspired by the athleticism of the Olympic Games; Workwithinwork by William Forsythe is a playful study of the possibilities of motion; and 5 Tangos by Hans Van Manen is a fiery work combining the precision and control of classical ballet with the drama of the tango.

Preview.

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And finally, a fusion of technical ballet and sensual movement as Scottish Ballet present, for the first time, Hans van Manen’s 5 Tangos.

[dirac]

Photosfrom the Colorado Ballet production of "The Sleeping Beauty."

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Westword's Elyse Mitchell stopped by to take the photos you can find in this slide show.

An interview with Maria Mosina, who dances Aurora.

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Though Mosina, who last performed the part in 2005, says Petipa left very good instructions. He created the piece in 1890 and generations of dancers have learned to trust his methods for making grown women move like teen princesses. "Sharp, small jumps," explains Mosina. "Quick foot work. Arms light and bright."

[dirac]

The Royal New Zealand Ballet announces the schedule for its 2013 season.

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The line-up was revealed last night at an event held at Premier House with distinguished guests including the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, the Hon. Christopher Finlayson.

Ethan Stiefel, Artistic Director of the line-up says, "I’m delighted to be with the RNZB and to celebrate its 60th birthday. I hope that audiences will share my enthusiasm for what I believe is a festive year of programming. To honour the company‘s significant milestone we will revisit works that have helped elevate the RNZB to its current place in people’s hearts and present new works which keep us moving forward."

[dirac]

Valerie Wilder will step down from the executive directorship of the Australian Ballet next year.

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Wilder has no definite plans beyond next June, saying she is keeping her options open. She is likely to return to Toronto.

[dirac]

Ella Havelkabecomes the first Aboriginal dancer to join the Australian Ballet.

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The Australian Ballet's new recruit will perform her final shows with Bangarra Dance Theatre this week, before commencing rehearsals with the national company in November.

Related.

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Havelka is under no allusion as to the task ahead of her, acknowledging the significant difference in aesthetic and physicality between the traditional and the contemporary disciplines.

"Re-entering the ballet world will be a big challenge,'' she said. "It will be nice to get my pointes back on, get my weight higher in my body as opposed to it being grounded.''

[dirac]

A previewof Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project by Jordan Levin in The Miami Herald.

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“What I discover is people are really hungry to learn about this,” says Miriam Klein Kassenoff, who advises Miami-Dade County Public Schools on Holocaust education and runs seminars for teachers on the subject. “How did people allow this to happen? How could six million people be herded to death camps without people knowing? As the years go by it’s really unbelievable.”

There will be a wealth of opportunities to explore such questions in Miami this month, with concerts, lectures, films, teacher workshops, exhibits and plays under the umbrella of Light/The Holocaust and Humanity. The project culminates Nov. 3-4 with Texas’ Ballet Austin performing a dance of the same name, inspired by the story of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren.

[dirac]

Ballet Des Moines signs six dancers to 26-week contracts for the first time.

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The new flock — three men, three women — will make their debut tonight at a fundraising reception at a barn in Van Meter. They’ll perform three new works (including “Nesting”) this month at Hoyt Sherman Place. Later they’ll join the annual production of “The Nutcracker” in December and “Snow White” next March.

The half-year contract nudges the company into the middle of the nationwide pack, said Rachel Gross, Ballet Des Moines’ executive director. It’s not as established as the likes of New York’s American Ballet Theater or Chicago’s Joffrey, which perform year-round, but it marks a big step forward.

[dirac]

Reviews of the Rudolf Nureyev exhibit at the de Young.

The San Francisco Chronicle

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San Francisco always had a soft spot in its collective heart for Rudi, not least because of his friendship with prominent restaurant owner Armen Bali and her daughter, Jeanette Etheridge. The de Young exhibit seems intended for long-time admirers of the Nureyev legend. This mounting of what is, basically, a costume show is attractively organized. The French source has supplied 70 costumes from ballets that Nureyev either choreographed, or, like Frederick Ashton's "Marguerite and Armand," he appropriated through sheer force of personality.

SF Weekly

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The exhibition, which opens Oct. 6 on the 20th anniversary of Nureyev's death, also bears the mark of another innovator: Jill D'Alessandro, the museum's costume and textile curator.


It seems most curators stop working when they've collected a group of interesting objects that suit each other nicely and hung them all on a wall. D'Alessandro does not. Her hand is as firmly present in her exhibitions as the artist's. Since her arrival at the de Young in 2010, there's been a marked shift in how garments are displayed -- they're more frequently out from behind plexiglass, for starters.....

[dirac]

The Grand Rapids Ballet Company performs David Parsons' "The Envelope" at an arts awards ceremony.

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“It’s awfully perfect,” said Grand Rapids Ballet Company artistic director Patricia Barker.

The piece from 1984, featuring seven dancers, is deadly serious. But set to the music of Gioachino Rossini’s 19th century comic opera overtures, it’s often humorous as well.