Saturday, April 8

[dirac]

An interview with Jonathan Stafford.

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“It’s my artistic vision, layered on top of the training, the coaching and new people we are bringing into the company. At this point I feel like I’m seeing the results of that vision come through at both the school and the company — the things I put into motion,” said Stafford, who also acts as SAB’s artistic director — meaning that he manages the company’s full pipeline of dancers, from their schooling up until their retirement.

 

[dirac]

A story on Alice Robb's "Don't Think, Dear: On Loving and Leaving Ballet."

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“What had become of the ambitious girls in my SAB class? How had they coped with the disappointment of not making it?”

She would find out.

Meiying Thai, who had starred as Marie in Lincoln Center’s “The Nutcracker” at 8 years old, spiraled into a years-long depression when her teachers said her feet were too flat and her neck too short to become a prima ballerina.

Another, Emily, endured “fat talks” until, at 13, she lost 15 pounds in two weeks due to a hospitalization.

 

[dirac]

A review of the Royal Ballet in Ashton's "Cinderella" by Rupert Christiansen in The Spectator.

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 But the choreography is honoured, and crisply rehearsed. I can report on two casts. Marianela Nunez made an impeccable Cinderella, offering diamantine footwork and elegant line, even if neither she nor her prince Vadim Muntagirov communicated any discernible emotion. Yasmine Naghdi brought more thrilling grandeur to the central pas de deux, strongly partnered by the highly intelligent Matthew Ball, who managed to make the Prince a little more real than Muntagirov’s cardboard cutout.