Wednesday, June 16

[dirac]

A look at Houston Ballet's new virtual project.

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At the time, Artistic Director Stanton Welch and Gary Tinterow, director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, began a conversation about possible joint projects. That was several weather disasters, a worldwide pandemic, and a new MFAH building ago. Well, the collab’s finally happened.

 

[dirac]

Vladimir Kekhman accuses Natalia Osipova of malingering.

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Natalia Osipova, 35, was scheduled to dance at the Mikhailovsky theatre tomorrow but failed to arrive in time for rehearsals. Its artistic director has accused her of snubbing her homeland for a performance in Covent Garden.

 

[dirac]

Q&A with Chana Gazit and Peter Anastos about the new Trocks documentary, "Ballet Boys."

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ANASTOS: You have to have a complete working knowledge of what it is you're making fun of and respect it and love it. Otherwise, it doesn't work. It's just mean and nasty and also not funny. And so most of us - me especially - were passionately interested in ballet history. I mean, we knew all the names of these crazy, forgotten ballerinas of the 19th century, and a lot of that was funneled into how the Trockaderos formed and how we made our ballets.

 

[dirac]

Archival stories from The Guardian and The Observer on Rudolf Nureyev's defection, June 16, 1961.

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He is one of those lucky performers who have only to walk on to the stage to command it. His startling new interpretation of the fairytale prince in The Sleeping Beauty, with its foppish wit and royal disdain, would be keenly appreciated by Covent Garden audiences.

 

[dirac]

Madison Ballet announces its 2021-22 season.

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The ballet’s production of Peter Anastos’ “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was in rehearsals when the pandemic closed the doors of Overture Center, where the company primarily performs.

On Wednesday, Madison Ballet announced that “Midsummer” will be its first show back for the 2021-22 season. The production is now set to run two weekends, Sept. 17-26, in Overture’s Capitol Theater. Single and group tickets for the season’s shows go on sale Wednesday, June 23.

 

[dirac]

A story on the current state of Venezuelan ballet by Stephanie Mejias for the Pulitzer Center.

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On average, a ballerina goes through 120 pairs of pointe shoes over the course of a 40-week season. However, dancers at Ballet Teresa Carreño (BTC) in Caracas, Venezuela, only receive a few pairs each year and have to rely on artisanal methods to keep their shoes strong and their feet on pointe.

 

[dirac]

An interview with Darcey Bussell.

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Bussell thinks it misguided for schools to cut arts subjects in favour of STEM, when creative and active subjects can impact all learning. “It’s very sad. We get consumed in league tables, we forget it’s a collection of things that make people inspired to learn.” Studies show, for example, that breaking up sit-down classes with movement can help students focus better and retain more information. “We can’t pretend we’re all robots, we have to be creative individuals, that’s how we solve problems.” Bussell finds news of staff cuts in the dance department at Roehampton University “very disappointing ... that we’re not wise enough to understand its value.”