Search results for: donald byrd

Celebrating our anniversary isn’t only about where we’ve come from, but where we’re heading. We asked some of the creative thinkers in our field to look into their crystal ball and predict the future of dance. Here they share their visions— some realistic, some utopian, and some tongue-in-cheek. Karole Armitage artistic director, Armitage Gone! Dance […]

I went to college eager to dance. I knew then that my body wasn’t built to do what it was asked to do in training—I didn’t have sufficient turnout, and my hips were tight, but I pushed myself physically to rise to every challenge. Years after I left Purchase College, I danced 10 seasons with […]

Since taking over the leadership of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peter Boal has heaped challenge upon challenge on the dancers. He has added new repertoire, more performances, and more touring. Rehearsals are now shorter and more intense, and company class is shaved by 15 minutes. He has introduced works by Jerome Robbins, Ulysees Dove, and Twyla […]

While tutu chic may be in vogue now—French designer Christian Lacroix’s latest made-to-measure gowns sport ostrich-trimmed hems and sparkly puffball skirts of organza and tulle—the archetypal ballerina costume wages war in the contemporary dance world with anther fashion contender, the skirt. Indeed, “to bare (the leg) or not to bare,” that is the question.   […]

Ballet dancers who call their own shots and carry their own bags.     Traveling by foot, train, and bus, Bonnie Pickard distinguishes herself from the average commuter by her swept-back hair, pointe shoes peaking from her dance bag, and street-meets-dancewear ensemble. In a single day, Pickard dances in three, sometimes four, different studios spread […]

In Portland, OR, the fall dance season begins outdoors with members of Streb leaping on a trampoline in Pioneer Square. In Berkeley, CA, activities start indoors at Zellerbach Hall with the National Ballet of China offering the West Coast premiere of Raise the Red Lantern. At New York’s Joyce Theater, Philadanco swings in for a […]

Sixty years ago Asian dance pioneer Michio Ito chose deportation back to Japan over detention in a U.S. internment camp. In 1942 Yuriko, later a Martha Graham legend, taught dance classes and staged the Nutcracker Suite in Lot 60 at the Gila River Relocation Center, where she was interned with 13,000 other American citizens. Sono […]

When I began studying dance in the 1970s I had never seen any Asian dancers and I didn’t know if I would have a future in dance. That began to change when I saw the Ailey company and their Asian dancers. When I joined the Martha Graham Company, Martha had a fascination with Asian people. […]