Search results for: helen pickett

It’s never too early to start preparing for audition season. Whether you’re looking to find a new company or land a short-term gig, an abundance of audition opportunities are headed your way in the next few months. Here are four of the most exciting ones on our radar so far: BalletX Chloe Felesina and Daniel […]

For years, we’ve been wrestling with the relative lack of female ballet directors. When women make up the majority of the companies’ dancers, why are they so underrepresented in the troupes’ leadership? Aside from a few longtime females at the helm—Richmond Ballet’s Stoner Winslett and Ballet Memphis’ Dorothy Gunther Pugh, for instance—there aren’t too many examples […]

College students tackle William Forsythe’s technique and rep. Forsythe teaching a ballet class at USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Photo by Rose Eichenbaum, Courtesy USC. Widely regarded as one of the most inventive choreographers of our time, William Forsythe creates movement that dancers long to perform. “It is extremely beneficial for young dancers to […]

New York City Ballet’s fall season opened last week with Peter Martins’ production of Swan Lake. The company is looking ahead to their gala tomorrow, followed by a month of works new and old. The marketing department seems particularly excited about its premieres, many of them created by new choreographers (perhaps part of their admirable […]

The twofold benefits of choreographic workshops for dancers   Jorma Elo with Ballet BC dancer Darren Devaney. Photo by Michael Slobodian, Courtesy Ballet BC. Christoph von Riedemann remembers feeling anxious when he walked into a studio with Jorma Elo. Then a student, it was his first Ballet BC Choreographic Workshop, and he was nervous about […]

  Ballet Hispanico in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Sombrerisimo. Photo by Paula Lobo, Courtesy Ballet Hispanico.   Anchored in the old, hungry for the new, contemporary ballet is a style that remains ambiguous. It allows the body to careen off balance and the stage relationships to shift. It’s less bent on creating masterworks, and more curious […]

  History.In.Motion NEW YORK CITY Over 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation; 20 years ago, Nelson Mandela helped end apartheid in South Africa. New York Live Arts resident artist Kyle Abraham will premiere three works—a feat that would exhaust even the most seasoned choreographers—inspired by both momentous events. The Watershed, an evening-length […]

Exploring the challenges—and benefits—of dancing without music   Helen Pickett leads class at The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Photo by Christopher Duggan, Courtesy Jacob’s Pillow. A dozen women enter the stage slowly, walking backward, defending their bodies with stiffly angled arms. For a full two minutes they take their own paths across the floor, stepping […]