Tuesday, April 30

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Karen Valby writes about her experience working with the subjects of "The Swans of Harlem."

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I think part of the reason the women trusted me with their memories was because of their investment in my daughters’ wellbeing. These women well understood the value of a Black dance institution, and how it can keep the soul of a young person healthy and whole. The Dance Theatre of Harlem was like a lighthouse to these women in the 1960s and 70s, when ballet companies typically wouldn’t even let a Black person audition.

 

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A review of the Staatsballett Berlin by for Bachtrack.

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The lofty topics, the endless cycle of development and destruction of society, and the terrestrial and celestial nature of the universe of which we are a reflection of, could not materialise more differently on stage. An aesthetically pleasing yet dramaturgically uneven bill, it was a feast for experimental enthusiasts.

 

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John Lam calls it quits after twenty years with Boston Ballet.

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Lam grew up in central California and started ballet at age four.  

He met Mikko Nissinen, who had just become artistic director at Marin Ballet.

 

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Ballet Quad Cities receives a $100,000 donation to fund its building renovations.

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BQC purchased the property at 1611 5th Avenue, in October 2022 and has been working on a capital campaign, “Building Ballet Quad Cities Better” to raise funds for the building’s renovation.

 

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Smuin Contemporary Ballet announces its 2024-25 season.

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Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s first season under incoming artistic director Amy Seiwert includes plans for two world premieres, including one by Seiwert herself, and the acquisition of acclaimed pop ballets by nationally heralded choreographers Trey McIntyre and Matthew Neenan.  

 

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New name and logo at the Royal Opera House.

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London’s most iconic Covent Garden theatre will now be known as the ‘Royal Ballet and Opera’, in a major change to the venue known for 130 years as the Royal Opera House.

Related.

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For the Christmas season, Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella and Antony McDonald’s Humperdinck opera adaptation of Hansel and Gretel are billed to draw in the festive crowds.

 

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The Royal Ballet announces its 2024-25 season.

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The Royal Ballet 2024/25 season is full of gems which will showcase the versatility and pure quality of its dancers, be it in traditional repertoire works, contemporary dances with more than a touch of hip hop or the very best of Broadway.

 

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An interview with Alex Beard.

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Since the word “royal” is still loyally retained, however, isn’t it time that the opera house’s grand red curtains proclaimed the change of monarch? Nearly 20 months after Queen Elizabeth’s death, they are still emblazoned with “E II R”. “The King’s view is that these things should be done organically, not immediately,” Beard says. “So when the time comes to replace the curtains we will proudly display C III R. That will be quite soon, because they date from the 1999 refurbishment of the theatre. After 25 years of being pulled up and down twice daily there’s quite a bit of wear and tear.”

 

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Karen Valby, the author of "The Swans of Harlem," writes about the history of painting toe shoes to match skin color.

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Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerina Llanchie Stevenson first sparked the change. While dancing in the corps in the National Ballet, she’d taken to dying the straps of her tutu brown so the pale slashes of fabric wouldn’t interfere with the line of her neck and shoulders. Now with Mitchell’s approval, she took further charge of her line by layering brown tights with the feet cut off on top of her ballet pinks at the start of company class. “Wait, now my arms match my legs!” Stevenson told me, describing the psychological joy of finally seeing her body in the studio mirrors as one precious whole. “All of the sudden, I’m connected. I’m one body, instead of halves. Soon I couldn’t rehearse without them. I couldn’t do three pirouettes on pointe if I wasn’t in my brown tights.”