Wednesday, June 28

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Melanie Hamrick publishes an "erotic novel" titled First Position.

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The pair met at a concert in Tokyo in 2014, according to the Daily Mail, and Hamrick gave birth to Jagger’s eighth child when he was 73. So he was younger than Robert De Niro when he had his latest child, but he has more kids total than Bobby. Al Pacino has a mere four children, but was 83 when the latest was born just weeks ago. But who’s counting? It’s been a big few weeks for constant reminders that these guys keep on keeping on. 

 

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An Australian Ballet dancer speaks anonymously on why the dancers are protesting pay cuts.

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WSWS: Could you explain some of the financial stresses dancers have endured in the past period?

Dancer: “Over the last few years, we have faced huge disruption. For some dancers it just wiped out our savings. We have had dancers who have had to cancel health insurance, dancers who have had to sacrifice the quality of the food they’re eating just to be able to eat.

“For a time, our heads were just floating above water and then with inflation and prices rising, we are really feeling the financial strain, just like a lot of other people have.”

 

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A review of the Hungarian National Ballet by Ilona Landgraf in her blog, "Landgraf on Dance."

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One month after the Iván Nagy Ballet Gala, the Hungarian State Opera hosted another festive ballet evening – a birthday gala in honor of Ildikó Pongor, veteran artist of the company, who turned seventy earlier this June. Pongor spent almost her entire professional life at the Hungarian National Ballet, first as a dancer, then as artistic director, ballet master, and co-choreographer. She also worked internationally in Vienna and Stockholm, among others.

The brief compilation of archival videos and photos that opened the gala made it clear within seconds: Pongor has an effervescent energy whose positivity is infectious, even on celluloid. Regrettably, I don’t speak Hungarian and was unable to follow the round of talks. Her colleagues, Mária Aradi, Katalin Csarnóy, and Imre Dózsa, shared memories about Pongor’s career; the humor that sparkled in Pongor’s eyes while listening indicated that she was pleased.

 

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A review of American Ballet Theatre in "Like Water for Chocolate" by Robert Greskovic in  The Wall Street Journal.

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Ultimately, as a choreographic creation, the physical inventions of “Like Water” prove long on limber posturing and emotive gesturing, but short on artfully arranged and articulated steps to distinguish its performers. “Like Water” is more of an atmospheric event than a balletic one.

 

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A review of the National Ballet of Canada by Denise Sum for danceviewtimes.com.

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The last time Toronto audiences saw Alexei Ratmansky’s “Romeo and Juliet” was in March 2020. Just two days into the run, theatres in Toronto (and around the world) shut down when the pandemic hit. As the National Ballet of Canada gradually resumed live performances, the return to Ratmansky’s production marked a full circle moment. Dancers who have been preparing for “Romeo and Juliet” could at long last perform this dramatic ballet. The opening night cast featured a strong ensemble with great depth from the corps de ballet to the soloist and principal roles. 

 

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An interview with Virginia Johnson.
 

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Are you serious?

We would be in the airport and it’s like, are you guys the Harlem Globetrotters? So there was a lot of convincing. We had to band together. We had to be strong and we had to be excellent.

And Arthur Mitchell was a very tough taskmaster, and he drove us to become dancers that we may never have become without the imperative, you know: If you’re a Black person in America, you can’t be good. You’ve got to be better than the best because people are not going to accept you. And so he very much brought that idea into, okay, we’re in ballet and we’re not just being ballet dancers. We’re going to be the best ballet dancers.