Monday, November 29

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A look at how ballet companies are altering their Nutcracker productions to address concerns about ethnic stereotyping by Javier Hernandez in The New York Times.

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Tulsa Ballet, hoping to dispel outdated portrayals of Asians, is infusing its production with elements of martial arts, choreographed by a Chinese-born dancer.

And Boston Ballet is staging a new spectacle: a pas de deux inspired by traditional Chinese ribbon dancing.

 

 

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A TV news feature on the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory's Nutcracker.

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The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory is putting on a production of The Nutcracker. Scot met with the talented team behind the production. 

 

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A review of the Australian Ballet's "Celebration Gala" by Jill Sykes in The Sydney Morning Herald.

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The problem with calling a program of 10 pas de deux a gala is raising expectations of exceptional dance that goes beyond what the Australian Ballet can offer – at least, at the moment.

Nevertheless, it was an absolute pleasure to see work brought out of the company’s archives and to get a glimpse of future repertoire, as well as discovering new performers making their way to the top.

 

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A radio feature on Chattanooga Ballet's Nutcracker.

 

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James Steichen has some ideas on returning the zip to Balanchine's ballets that Jennifer Homans says is missing at NYCB.

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......... much could be done if the keepers of the George Balanchine Trust opened his works to new interpretations by dancers and choreographers. Balanchine himself remade dozens of his dances during his long career—notably, “Serenade,” a ballet set to Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings”—altering the sets, the costumes, and even the steps themselves. If today’s artists were given license to update Balanchine’s ballets for our present moment, the spontaneity and danger that Homans wishes for in City Ballet’s dancing could be regained.