Thursday, November 16

[dirac]

The co-founders of Cleveland Ballet are suspended pending an investigation regarding a dance instructor whose contract was allegedly not renewed because of her weight.

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“[Gladisa] told me that she could not release the newsletter I had been working on, that the mockup was no good. She simply said, ‘the tendu picture,’ and I knew what she was gunning for at that point,” Becker said.  “I even asked the Artistic Director, ‘It seems like you're insinuating that someone's size or body weight would somehow be able to disqualify them,’ and before I could even finish my sentence, she's just nodding. I was told that this fine teacher did not have the physical aesthetic required to teach tendu and pliés to the Boys and Girls Club children.”

 

[dirac]

A review of New York City Ballet by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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The final performance of “Symphony in C” was made up of shuffled casting that resulted in a few strong individual moments in a matrix of shaky ones. In the reprise, the dancers seemed at sixes and sevens. Most everyone lost their spot in turns at some point; Phelan got dizzy in the pas de bourrées en tournant. But Tiler Peck, after bowing out of “Theme and Variations” on Thursday, was clean and secure in first movement, albeit with a low arabesque. Chun Wai Chan, swapped into this part for Jovani Furlan, made his tours, but was off. Everyone felt slightly surprised.

 

[dirac]

The Northwest Ballet Company presents its Nutcracker.

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The Northwest Ballet Company will be making that happen for the 35th production of this holiday tradition on Thanksgiving weekend at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Marisa Roth. 

 

[dirac]

An interview with Suzanne Farrell in the Florida State University News.

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“Dance is a young profession; we retire at a young age because the body has to stop,” she said. “Therefore, you have to positively profit from everything you do and every moment you do it. You can’t say, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ because before you know it, it’s time to retire.”

Farrell explained, “In ballet, we are our own technology. It’s not like sending someone a text and it’s done — it’s a constant evolution of getting the choreography to where it should be.”