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[dirac]

Q&A with Lourdes Lopez by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

Q. What happened during your first week in Miami?
A. The president of the board called me up and said, “Edward is making some noises about wanting to leave early.” I think it was just a very stressful situation emotionally for both him and his wife, Linda. I completely understand it. It’s like having to give up your child or something. The blow was hard for me emotionally just in terms of what to do. But in a funny way it was very similar to when Mr. Balanchine passed away.
Q. How so?
A. It was overnight. Dancers just want to dance, and their life on this earth of when they can do it is so limited......

[dirac]

Liam Scarlett becomes the first artist-in-residence at the Royal Ballet.

The Royal Ballet released a statement today of the appointment, which is in effect immediately. Scarlett, who joined the Royal Ballet in 2005 after training at the company’s Lower and Upper Schools, will finish his performance in the current production of Swan Lake as a dancer before stepping into his new role. Scarlett’s latest work “Viscera” will be debuting in the UK tomorrow night.

Related.

MacMillan's powerful narrative style ranged from strongly character-driven dramas such as Mayerling, Manon and Romeo and Juliet, to more experimental, expressionistic work such as Anastasia, The Judas Tree and Las Hermanas (which is to be given a rare revival later this month). The failure of some of his risks and equally the world-wide expectations generated by his most successful ballets made him a terrifying act to follow, and the Royal Ballet has studiously avoided appointing an official chief choreographer from within the company since. The three choreographers in this era are gnomically differentiated as "Resident Choreographer" (McGregor), "Artistic Associate" (Wheeldon) and "Artist-in-Residence" (Scarlett).

[dirac]

An exhibit of ballet costumes goes on display at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Ballet & Fashion will show costumes from the past 30 years and includes big names such as Valentino, Christian Lacroix, Viktor&Rolf and our own Akira Isogawa and Collette Dinnigan.

Gallery director Tony Ellwood says the free exhibition, running until next May, celebrates the creative collaboration between dance and design.

[dirac]

An interview with Marie-Agnès Gillot by Roslyn Sulcas in The New York Times.

Ms. Gillot had even better reason to be a bundle of nerves. She is the first in-house female dancer to be given the chance to choreograph for the Paris Opera Ballet. Her new work, which opened Wednesday, is her first large-scale, high-profile piece. “Sous Apparence” also shares a program with “Un Jour ou deux,” a major work by Merce Cunningham; enough to make far more seasoned choreographers quake.

So, was she perhaps feeling a little pressure at the idea of showing her work on the Opera dancers, on the Opera stage? Ms. Gillot looked astonished.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Next by Andrew Boynton in The New Yorker's blog.

.....Ballet Next, which was founded only last year, seems intent on making a statement. Providing live music is certainly one way to do that.

Another way is to commission innovative works from contemporary ballet choreographers. Ballet Next’s mission, as laid out by its co-artistic directors, Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard—former principal dancers at A.B.T. and City Ballet, respectively—is to celebrate classical ballet by presenting both old favorites and new works. The Joyce performances stressed the latter, and gave audiences a lot to appreciate, with five world premiÿres on two programs.