Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable in Kenneth MacMillan's 'Romeo & Juliet'. (Photo: ROH/Roy Round.)

A Great Ballerina Speaks Her Mind

June 18, 2012

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Creativity and the creative process have always been a chaotic, troublesome, gloriously messy business, and creative people are very often quite a handful. It’s not difficult to see why it might seem [..]

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Video still from Portland performance artist Miranda July's short film 'Nest of Tens'.

SOS to my readers: provocative art urgently needed

March 15, 2012

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A reader, Ben F., condemned my position on funding for the arts. He claims that America, outside of San Francisco, L.A. and New York, is at heart "a deeply conservative country and uncomfortable with provocative art." As a foreigner I'm far from an authoritative voice on the subject, but here is my initial round-up of other American cities which have embraced provocative art. Will the rest of my [..]

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The Royal Ballet's Akane Takada in Live Fire Exercise. Choreography: Wayne MacGregor. Photo: Bill Cooper, courtesy Royal Opera House.

Hurtling toward the abyss, some more slowly than others

March 3, 2012

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Dance companies worldwide – but above all in the U.S. – have taken a hard hit since the last recession. Large or small, no company has escaped the economic hammering. Some, like Ballet Florida, have collapsed under a mountain of debt. Some, like New York City Ballet, have had to lay off dancers. Many have had to make deep programming cuts, and some have had their dirty laundry publicly aired i [..]

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The inspiring Kino MacGregor. Photo: http://kinoyoga.com

Yoga-bashing; is ballet next?

January 20, 2012

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The yogis have emerged from their meditations to lodge passionate protests. The fitness buffs who’ve turned yoga into a competitive sport and a $6 billion industry in America are dividing into two camps: whistle-blowers and defenders of the faith. [caption id="attachment_800" align="aligncenter" width="584" caption="The inspiring Kino MacGregor (http://kinoyoga.com). Photo: Tom Rosenthal (http: [..]

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The Never-Ending Scandal of the Tutu

December 27, 2011

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Cleaning out her closet, Ballet to the People unearthed these exquisite vintage tutus from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. Their tags reveal that they were made by Grace Costumes and Barbara Matera, leading costumers for ballet, theatre, opera and film for over five decades, for renowned ballerinas including Cynthia Gregory and Cheryl Yeager. Handmade, these tutus boast construction and embro [..]

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Sexy F-35 fighter

Dance in Scotland: Braveheart, Stealth Fighter Jets, and Why We Love Rahm Emanuel

September 24, 2011

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Scot Ansgeulaiche of the Walking Theatre Company strikes a pose reminiscent of the opening section of Alvin Ailey’s ballet Revelations against the backdrop of the ruins of Urquhart Castle in the Scottish Highlands, the scene of centuries of bloody carnage in the conflict between the Scots and the English. Revelations is a stirring expression of the impact of slavery on the African-American ex [..]

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How to write an Oscar acceptance speech

July 18, 2011

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Don’t deny you have had this daydream in which you imagine yourself dashing up to the stage at the Kodak Theatre in your perilously high Christian Louboutins, nervously clutching a little slip of paper. Even without the cheat sheet, we all know that we must thank the director, the screenwriter, cinematographer, costume designer, make-up artist, hair stylist, our co-stars, agent, teachers, pare [..]

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