Curtain Up
July 19, 2007
We celebrate the new year with three additions that we’re pretty excited about. First, we’re adding short previews at the back of the magazine, topping off the “Reviews” section. We’ll be highlighting new productions by current choreographers and major companies around the country. Second, we’re expanding our education department. In addition to a monthly feature, now called “Centerwork,” and “Teacher’s Wisdom,” our popular Q&A with a respected master teacher, it will include “Studio Talk,” addressing issues of special concern to educators, “Limelight,” a mini-profile on a teacher in the news, and “Across the Floor,” the inside track on school activities. We’re using “Teach-Learn Connection” as an umbrella term for the whole section because it reflects the reality that, not only do students learn from teachers, but teachers also learn from students. And finally, we offer “Quote of the Month,” which you’ll find in the “Letters” department. Each month we’ll choose something tasty from one of our articles or from books or speeches.
Also new this month is our Advisory Board. We’ve invited key people in our field to serve as resources for the magazine. Starting with this issue, you’ll see the names of well-known figures, drawn from a variety of dance genres, listed on our masthead.
Each January we bring you the “25 to Watch,” which is always packed with surprises. For our much-anticipated “Summer Study,” this year we went straight to some of the dance stars who have developed their own summer sessions, including Suzanne Farrell, Ethan Stiefel, and Damian Woetzel. And for something completely new, former dancer Lisa Kraus delves into the wild and woolly world of choreography for the camera.
This month we mark the 101st birthday of George Balanchine with several stories. We visit Balanchine protégé Ib Andersen in Phoenix, where he has revitalized Ballet Arizona. Elizabeth Kendall, contemplating two new biographies, offers poignant insights on Balanchine as a loner in “DM Recommends.” In our first feature of the new “Teach-Learn Connection,” Joseph Carman gets the lowdown on the Balanchine technique from some of his famous disciples, settling once and for all the question of whether the heels should touch the ground in jumps. For an extra treat we have Allegra Kent’s enchanting story of how a hair disaster onstage sparked a greater appreciation of Mr. B’s equanimity.
And we’ve got plans brewing for the rest of 2005 that I’m sure will keep you turning the pages. We’re itching to bring you stories that will intrigue, inspire, and stimulate you.
Happy new year!
Wendy Perron
Editor in Chief
