Tuesday, February 4

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Leadership transition plans are announced for Alberta Ballet.

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Alberta Ballet’s longest-serving artistic director, Jean Grand-Maître, will step down after a three-year transition period that will see him passing the torch to Christopher Anderson by 2022, according to an announcement from the ballet company scheduled to be released today.

 

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Shanghai Ballet's visit to Australia is postponed over coronavirus concerns.

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Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin said the earliest opportunity to reschedule the performances was 2021.

 

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The Boston Ballet Ball raises $2 million.

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The theme for the bash — chaired by Jill Roberts — was Off the Charts, so the tables were trimmed with very rock ’n’ roll vegan leather and deep red flowers. Partygoers got a look at “Dance Part 3,” dancer and choreographer Stephen Galloway’s creation, which will have its world premiere May 8-29, part of Boston Ballet’s “Off the Charts” program.

 

 

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 Dianna Cuatto is retiring from Ballet Theatre of Maryland.

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Cuatto began her career in 1963 as a professional dancer with Ballet West. She went on to become a principal dancer, performing a wide range of classical and contemporary roles with national companies including Sacramento Ballet, Oklahoma Ballet, Berkeley Ballet Theatre, the San Francisco Chamber Ballet, and the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre. 

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Q&A with Cathy Marston on her hew ballet, "The Cellist."

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How do you show the effect on her cello?

I’m imagining how an inanimate object can hold emotion – something that feels and gives love. A cello is close to being human in terms of its shape and its sound. It’s her friend and companion, with her most of the time. She travels with it, buys it an airplane seat next to her. There’s no actual cello on stage – it’s a person: Marcelino Sambé or Calvin Richardson.

 

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A review of Pacific Northwest Ballet by Moira Macdonald in The Seattle Times.

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But the stage belonged to Pantastico, whose dancing ability (and beautifully light feet) hasn’t faltered a bit in two decades, and whose radiant presence seems, if anything, even brighter. There’s a kind of abandon to her performances, a way of both disappearing into a role and yet showing us herself, that was clear in every scene: Cinderella’s gentle connection with her father (William Lin-Yee), her kindness to her stepsisters (Nancy Casciano, Abby Jayne DeAngelo), her dazzlement on entering the ball, her dreamy little head-roll on the morning after, remembering. And in the final Act 3 pas de deux — a brief, rapturous duet that’s one of Stowell’s loveliest creations — she and Orza made joyous silk together. Amazing how quickly, and how beautifully, 20 years can go by.