Curtain Up
Our cover story this month is on two lavishly talented dancers who work together as a single organism. With their monster technique and utterly contemporary look, Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk have the savvy to highlight their strengths, blazing a path that is unique to them. They are not quite a company and not quite a duet act; their style is flashier than concert dance yet more artistic than commercial dance. However you categorize Jacoby & Pronk, what’s undeniable is that they are exciting to watch. In “Otherworldly,” our new assistant editor Kina Poon traces the road they’ve taken to get where they are and their plans to cross barriers in the future.
Another group, more familiar to us, also forged a new path back when they started 39 years ago—and continue to straddle the definitions. Not a single-choreographer company and not truly a collective anymore, Pilobolus has fascinated audiences for decades. They have not only survived but thrived with a ridiculous level of success all these years. How do they do it? What do they do to keep their creative juices flowing? Read Emily Macel’s “Tangled Up in You.”
What these two groups have in common is an enterprising spirit. Both Pilobolus and Jacoby & Pronk had the gumption to say, We have something going on here that needs a new form. No existing form can contain our experience.
That kind of spirit can be applied to getting a dance education, as well. These hard times call for unusual solutions. Whether you’re trying to subsidize your classes at a dance school, a conservatory, or a college, you have to keep all options open. Reading Abigail Rasminsky’s “Finance Your Fouettés, Pay for Your Passés,” you’ll meet some highly resourceful young hopefuls. Many students are working side jobs, taking out student loans, or applying for additional financial aid (check out our “Scholarship Guide” this month). And some are doing all three!
One thing I can tell you, though: It’s worth it. If you have the passion to dance, you owe it to yourself to get the best training you can. You will never regret it!
