An April Fools’ joke played by Steps on Broadway a couple months ago struck a nerve with its dance community – a nerve that the New York dance studio didn’t seem to be aware of. A “No Filming” announcement for all Steps classes, communicated via Instagram post, elicited a tidal wave of responses from dancers…
As I’ve been rediscovering as I return to dance, auditioning is an inherently vulnerable act. Even the most accomplished performers will tell you they hear “no” more often than they hear “yes.” When we get a callback or book a job, we are on top of the world. When we get cut, we are forced…
How do we respond to recurring accounts of an acclaimed choreographer’s damaging relationships with dancers, especially women? Recent podcasts (Erika Lantz’s The Turning: Room of Mirrors) and books (Alice Robb’s Don’t Think, Dear) have contributed to a narrative that’s been emerging for decades: Throughout his career, George Balanchine employed power dynamics that controlled and hindered…
It’s my personal belief that at the center of every electrifying dance performance is a story. Even the works that are supposedly plotless have something evocative going on behind the eyes—in the way the body floats, jabs, crumples, and reaches. Sure, dancers tell their own tales from time to time, but more often than not,…
We all know that scene in Center Stage: Juliette (Donna Murphy) finds Eva (Zoe Saldana) working alone in the studio late at night. She starts to coach her, and then comes that iconic line; she cups the barre with one hand and says, “It’s here.” She’s reminding her student that it all comes back to the…
A big leap, a multiple turn, an intricate phrase of choreography – and, pop. There goes an injury. Alternatively, other dancer injuries are quieter, yet no less debilitating — building up over time from misalignments or simply the physical demands of a certain style. Injuries have always been an unfortunate phenomenon in the dance field….
Some of my earliest memories from my formal dance education are of watching the “model” student stand in the front of the class and demonstrate how to execute (input said skill). Without realizing it at the time, this behavior, while attempting to support education and skill building, actually created an unhealthy atmosphere for comparison. I…
You’re sitting in a grand theater, watching your peers perform beautifully. Or maybe you’re scrolling Instagram and their opening night pictures fill your feed. You’re not with them – because you’re injured. All of you wants to dance, but it’s just not physically possible right now – or if you tried you could make your…
For 22 years, dance artist Brianna Mims and her family have believed that her uncle Ronald Coleman Jr. was wrongfully convicted of involvement in a murder. Coleman has been serving two life sentences plus 65 years and is currently in Calhoun State Prison in Morgan, Georgia. During this time the family has worked tirelessly on…
Recent ballets by choreographer Jennifer Archibald explore how dancing creates a distinct kind of remembrance, homage and hopefulness. This week, her unique combination of choreography and documentary brings together political history, a cinematic classic and Richmond Ballet. Entitled Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, her new ballet was inspired by the 1967 film of the same title that…