Friday, May 19

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A review of Northern Ballet in "The Great Gatsby" by Graham Watts for Bachtrack.

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The complexity of relationships and the subtle symbolism of Fitzgerald’s prose is a big ask to convey in dance, but Nixon’s choreographic sketch is enough to satisfy the novel’s aficionados (who clearly made up a sizeable proportion of the audience). Those unfamiliar with the great American story will need to read the extensive synopsis in the programme to keep up with the whizz-bang comings and goings on stage!

 

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San Francisco Ballet presents its Spring Festival.

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Gailliard is among dozens of S.F. Ballet School students whose yearlong work culminates in this year's 30th Spring Festival.

It will be the final performance for S.F. Ballet School and trainee program director Patrick Armand, who started with the company in 2010. In 2012, he became the school's associate director.  

 

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A look at Los Angeles' First Negro Ballet Company, founded in 1946.

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Since 2015, Misty Copeland has been the principal dancer for the revered American Ballet Theater, the first African American woman to achieve that status in the company’s history. Janet Collins took her star turn as the first black prima ballerina at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York City back in 1951. But even before that, barriers in ballet were being broken right here in Los Angeles with the founding of the First Negro Classic Ballet company in 1946.

 

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Misty Copeland receives an honorary degree.

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In a post on Instagram, Copeland shared how excited she was to be receiving this honor.

“Congratulations to all of the 2023 NYU graduates!” she wrote. “The events of last night and today, and receiving a Doctorate of Fine Arts from NYU has been beyond my wildest dreams and it’s incredibly humbling to be included among an incredible group of Honorary Degree Recipients.”

 

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The Dutch National Ballet will perform at Jacob's Pillow.

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But no choreographer is more revered by the company than Hans van Manen, the 90-year-old Dutch choreographer recognized around the world as one of the grand masters of contemporary ballet. Creator of more than 150 works and counting, Van Manen had his first great international successes with the Dutch National Ballet, and the company has access to all the choreographer’s work, calling it “the backbone” of its repertoire. Two of Van Manen’s works bookend each Pillow concert — ”Variations for Two Couples” and “Five Tangos,” set to the music of Astor Piazzolla. “Both are demanding, beautiful works that really show off the dancers,” Tatge says.

 

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The chief operating officer of Birmingham Royal Ballet is stepping down after almost thirty years on the job.

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Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta added, “I’m so grateful to Anna for all her support since I started at BRB in 2020. I’m particularly grateful to her for enabling BRB to be the first company to present a new fully staged work to live audiences in the pandemic, and to commission a £1 million production of Don Quixote at the height of lockdown. I can’t thank her enough for all she’s done for BRB and for me personally.”

Christopher Rodriquez has been appointed director of finance and resources. He will join BRB from One Dane UK where he is deputy chief executive and finance director. He will start his new role in late June.

 

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The New Jersey Ballet Company presents its final program of the season.

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Saturday's performance will also include a piece called “Purcell Suite”, which was choreographed by former New York City ballet artist Harrison Ball.

The upcoming performances will also mark the culmination of artistic director Maria Kowroski's first season at New Jersey Ballet.