Search results for: la la land

Dance Magazine‘s annual look at who’s new and breaking through in 2006.     Powerhouse Cricket Because he jumps higher and quicker than anyone alive, hip hop and underground house dancer James P. Colter is nicknamed “Cricket.” A fearless capoeirista, Cricket bounces across the stage, launching his small, compact body into flight and flipping off […]

The late Fernando Bujones’ account of the competition that made him a star.     Fernando Bujones was a spectacular bravura technician with superb partnering skills; his stage presence blended charm, courtesy, and an impish playfulness. Exceptionally clean and effortless in his approach, he influenced many of his peers, as well as students who saw […]

Five dancers on coming back from injury.     Injuries are the bane of a dancer’s existence. They are an occupational hazard, and in a long career, virtually every dancer will sustain an injury that threatens to keep them off the stage. With today’s finer diagnostic techniques, medical specialists, physical therapists, and alternative techniques, there’s […]

Humor in dance     Everything is beautiful at the ballet, A Chorus Line tells us—but we knew that already. The fairest girl with the best technique lands the handsome prince, or winds up as the soloist in the “Waltz of the Flowers.” But some of us are not the fairest. We started training too […]

Dancers and floors have an ambivalent relationship, but new technology is improving it.     A herd of thundering tappers stamps across the floor at Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Culver City, California. Leaping, spinning, and sliding, they are euphoric as they pound out complex rhythms on a surface that gives with each landing, responding […]

This director/choreographer/dancer mixes hip hop with concert dance, with electrifying effects.     A marvel of speed, precision, and invention, Victor Quijada is riveting as a performer. His movements coil tight and strong in the solar plexus, leaving the upper back and limbs free. As artistic director/choreographer of Montreal’s Rubber-bandance Group, he mixes hip hop […]

I’m at the advanced level in my dance school and want very much to be a professional dancer. I know I need to work hard to get a job in a dance company. How do I become special? I don’t want to be a mediocre dancer. —Determined, Cleveland, OH   Self-discipline, talent, good training and […]

Salt Lake City’s Repertory Dance Theatre has created a living museum of classic 20th century choreography.     When the Rockefeller Foundation approached Linda C. Smith about the possibility of establishing a modern dance company in Salt Lake City, she was stunned. The idea of Rockefeller seed money underwriting a salaried professional repertory ensemble seemed […]