Monday, April 22

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A preview of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's final program of the season.

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T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods — which makes its world première at the Centennial Concert Hall Thursday to Sunday alongside Carmina Burana — is an evening-length ballet based on the oral history of elder Elsie Paul, a knowledge keeper of the Tla’amin First Nation on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.

 

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Tampa City Ballet presents a ballet inspired by Frida Kahlo.

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Drawing on her personal diaries, Núñez aims to capture Kahlo’s complex emotions, which oscillate between physical pain and vibrant exuberance, through a series of dance performances as vivid and revealing as Kahlo's own paintings.

 

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A preview of this year's Dancing in the Park program in The San Francisco Chronicle.

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Performing at this free 3½-hour showcase are leading troupes like ODC/Dance, Robert Moses’ Kin, and Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, whose founder and director Patrick Makuakane won a MacArthur Fellowship genius grant last year. Right alongside these established powerhouses, young dancers from the Alonzo King Lines Ballet Training Program will take the stage, along with the ODC Dance Jam for teenage artists and the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Conservatory Dance Department. 

 

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A look at the cultural trope of the "dangerous ballerina" by Margaret Fuhrer in The New York Times.

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“I don’t think anyone is going to see ‘Abigail’ for the dancing,” said Adrienne McLean, a professor of film studies at the University of Texas, Dallas, and the author of “Dying Swans and Madmen: Ballet, the Body, and Narrative Cinema.” “What they’re going to see it for, without necessarily being aware of it, is this pop culture idea of the dangerous ballerina.”

 

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Ballet dancers opine on balletcore.

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Houston Ballet first soloist Harper Watters sees it both ways. “I have spent the majority of my career trying to shift people’s perception of what a ballet dancer looks like, who they are, and what interests them,” he says. “So when it comes to this cookie-cutter idea of ballet being pink, it’s frustrating since we all know there is so much more complexity and dimension to our world, and to our fashion.”

 

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A story on the leadership transition at Smuin Ballet.

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For anyone familiar with the dance landscape in America, particularly here in the Bay Area, Seiwert's appointment to the position was a welcome if not totally unexpected surprise. A nationally prominent choreographer who has created works for companies across the country, Seiwert danced with Smuin Ballet for nine years and was the company's Choreographer in Residence from 2008-2018.

 

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Bejart Ballet Lausanne visits China.

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After a remarkable 13-year hiatus, the renowned Bejart Ballet Lausanne made a triumphant return to the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, captivating audiences with a series of performances from April 19 to 21. The company, founded by choreographer Maurice Bejart in 1987, showcased four timeless classics, marking a momentous occasion in the world of dance.

 

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Nominations are announced for this year's National Dance Awards.

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Graham Watts, dance writer, critic and chair of the National Dance Awards, said: "This is the best year yet for the diversity of nominations across the dance sector with a rich list from flamenco, South Asian dance, dance and musical theatre as well as the usual plethora of nominees from ballet and contemporary dance – all spread over a record number of companies."