I recently ran across an old VHS recording I made of ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov on CNN’s Larry King Live (how many people know what a VHS tape is?). The interview was from May 2002 after publication of Joan Acocella’s …
Category: Ballet-General
What is Gender-Fluid Dancing?
Above photo from chittagongit.com The New York Times has a new term to describe a dancer’s style: gender-fluid. As a former dancer, I would take the description as an insult, but the Times uses it approvingly these days. An example …
Balletfocus 2018 Highlights
2018 has been an action packed year in the New York ballet scene. My highlights and lowlights: ABT Young Women Emerge American Ballet Theatre featured many great young women in 2018, particularly Christine Shevchenko, Devon Teuscher, Skylar Brandt, and Cassandra …
Story of the Nutcracker Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Top photo: Sabina Alvarez, Gelsey Kirkland Ballet Nutcracker, December 2015. One of my favorite YouTube channels is Polyphonic, which explores popular music. The videos by a Canadian music journalist are sometimes technical and always interesting. Examples include discussions of Freddie …
City Center Celebrates Balanchine Classics
New York City Center, as part of its 75th anniversary season, is presenting Balanchine: The City Center Years with works from eight leading companies, a sort of all-star production. New York City Ballet’s first performance was in 1948 at City …
ABT DVD Dry Spell Continues
Above photo: World Premier of Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade, my suggestion for an ABT DVD. Two years ago, I wrote an article on the distribution of the product of dance. I examined major ballet companies on their efforts to expand audiences through …