Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Friday, July 9


dirac

Recommended Posts

An interview with Mats Ek by Jann Parry for DanceTabs.

Quote

He hasn’t withdrawn the rights to all his creations, though he insists on being in charge of their productions. He chose the casting for the Royal Ballet’s version of woman with water from auditions, giving the first night to Mayara Magri, newly promoted to principal, and later performances to Natalia Osipova, RB principal since 2013. “I’m no respecter of seniority. I had a great time and the company responded very generously to me. It was a very good experience.”

 

Link to comment

An op-ed in The Philadelphia Inquirer calls for the newly-renamed Philadelphia Ballet to hire more local dancers.

Quote

Most of Corella’s dancers are not native to Philadelphia and didn’t receive their primary training here. Of the eight principals currently listed on the roster, three are from Cuba, one from China, one from Ukraine, and the remaining three from two states: Colorado and Maryland. In keeping with its new name, the new Philadelphia Ballet (and its affiliated school) should resolve to do more of what Littlefield did: Draw talent locally and keep it here. Whereas Littlefield’s troupe included first-generation Poles and Italians, Corella’s might include first-generation Latinos from Hunting Park, Nigerians from Southwest Philadelphia, and Cambodians from Olney. The composition of the new Philadelphia Ballet would better reflect the city of its day, much as its predecessor did.

 

Link to comment

Q&A with Calvin Luckett on the "ABT Across America" tour.

Quote

Q • The tour is also a return to the company’s roots, correct?

A • The company was conceived as a national touring company — 1940 was our first year. And throughout the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, the mode of operation for the company was to tour around the country. They called those days “the bus and truck tours.” And those were mostly one-night stands — they would just travel from town to town, do a show, and get on the bus and go to the next town.

But the company’s always been based in New York City, and we’ve always had regular performance seasons in New York City. Of course, in the 1970s, with the advent of jet travel, tours moved away from the bus-and-truck and one-night-stand model. You just get on a plane and fly somewhere, and perform there for a week or two, and then fly somewhere else, or fly back home. So we haven’t done the bus thing for a long time.

 

Link to comment

Comments from the Canadian dance community on the legacy of Karen Kain.

Quote

Grace Wells-Smith, Dance Current editor

It was a priority for her to make international touring a big part of the National Ballet’s work. They went to Russia for the first time with her; there was a big Paris tour. She was really committed to getting the ballet on the “world stage,” which she did. Canada was playing with the ballet bigwigs. She came into the company and gave it a major boost, even financially.

I interviewed former principal dancer Sonia Rodrigues, and she told me that Karen Kain was also really great for the female dancers in terms of wanting a life outside of the ballet, specifically when it came to having kids. Sonia told me this story about how people were nervous to tell the company if they got pregnant and then someone did – and Karen Kain was just so excited and so supportive of that, that four other girls also came forward and said they were pregnant. It sounds like she fostered a real work-life balance.

 

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...