Monday, October 10

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Sterling Hyltin is interviewed by Charles Isherwood for Broadway World.

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In retiring, she is sincerely motivated by a strong desire to open up opportunities for other dancers.

“It’s time for others to dance; there’s a lot of talent in the company,” she says. “And it is important that these young dancers get into these roles so they can start developing. It’s important for the audiences, too, and for the company, and the ballets.”

“You need to respect the institution,” she concludes. “Sometimes with a ballet, the best thing you can do is give it over.”

 

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California Ballet presents its first post-pandemic live production.

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For more than half a century, California Ballet was known for staging lavish classical ballets at the San Diego Civic Theatre and for being an important part of many dance careers, including Calvin Kitten (Joffrey Ballet), Justin Peck (New York City Ballet) and many local artists, largely due to founder and dance advocate Maxine Mahon.

The school continues to offer classes at two locations, but the performing arm of the company changed hands.

 

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Jonathan Batista is made a principal at Pacific Northwest Ballet.

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"Being the first Black dancer in 50 years of Pacific Northwest Ballet, this is a moment for young Black boys, young Black girls, that want to dance, that want to see themselves on that stage," Batista said.

Originally from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Batista has performed with companies from the UK to Canada, sometimes as the only Black member of the company.

 

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Learning your A-B-Cs with dancers of the Australian Ballet.

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Dancers with The Australian Ballet gracefully recite the English alphabet using specific ballet terms, particularly those relating to their pointe shoes.

 

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Choreographer Chanel DaSilva makes her second work for the Joffrey Ballet.

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DaSilva's sophomore Joffrey work, "Colōrem," premieres in the mixed-bill Beyond Borders program on Oct. 12, at the Lyric and runs through Oct. 23. Inspired by photographer Tim Tadder's series "Nothing To See," "Colōrem" features 16 dancers with an original score by composer Cristina Spinei. In one Tadder image that DaSilva found provocative, a pair of red-painted hands and arms cover the eyes and throat of a black-painted figure. The way color informs how we see the world is one of the themes the artist is exploring in her latest ballet.

 

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A TV interview with Twyla Tharp.

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Tharp says she is about new work and doesn't like looking back, but Carlin took her down memory lane about moments that made dance history in the 1970s and 1980s, when she famously partnered with Mikhail Baryshnikov. He talked to Carlin about it late last month.

"She's fabulous... she was one of the first modern choreographers I worked with," Baryshnikov said. "It was challenging choreography."

"I'm glad he remembers me fondly," Tharp said. "He didn't speak English. I didn't speak Russian. So we're both cursing in different languages."