Misty Copeland in Swan Lake. Photo by Darren Thomas/QPAC Misty Copeland’s rise to principal status and stardom this year has thankfully prompted conversations about race and ballet. It’s also prompted excitement around the idea of “firsts,” though often mistakenly. Misty is the first African American female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, and this is […]
I guess my list is pretty long. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself; there were so many performances and artists that ranked high in my personal accounting. Best new choreography • Faye Driscoll’s Thank You For Coming at Danspace: She broke not only the fourth wall but the floor too, making the audience part of […]
The ranks of New York City Ballet are a veritable breeding ground for great choreographers: Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied and Justin Peck all launched their choreography careers while dancers in Balanchine’s company. The latest talent to keep an eye on is Silas Farley. He just joined the corps in August, but he’s been choreographing since […]
The New York City Ballet gala last week saw a huge improvement in the fashion department. Ballet lovers cringed last year at the over-the-top ruffley gowns and bulbous tutus by Valentino. This year, two of the three chosen designers gave their choreographers a welcome gift that helped the audiences see the movement. (The third designer, […]
We may find an array of answers to this question when Ballet v6.0 starts tomorrow at the Joyce. This mini-festival brings together six small ballet companies, mostly from outside New York. They are tiny compared to the companies that do Swan Lake and Bayadère, but they show a curiosity for presenting ballet in a more […]
Justin Peck’s In Creases for New York City Ballet makes its highly anticipated NYC premiere tonight. The ballet, which bowed in Saratoga Springs last summer, was his first for the company—the fact that it’s his third debut in less than a year is a testament to his runaway success. (We pegged him as an emerging […]
Imagine: A dancer who has done a role countless times, for years, suddenly transforms, elevating their performance to previously unimaginable heights. That breakthrough moment is one of the most exciting things to witness, period. And it happened, last night, at New York City Ballet’s spring gala—to Andrew Veyette in Stars and Stripes. From his […]
A former soloist and ballet mistress with Houston Ballet, Martine Harley has been appointed the artistic director of California’s Westside School of Ballet and its pre-professional company, Westside Ballet of Santa Monica. Harley is replacing the school’s late founding artistic director, Yvonne Mounsey, a former New York City Ballet principal who established Westside in 1967 […]
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