One of ballet’s most in-demand male dancers, Jeffrey Cirio could pass for a model off-duty thanks to his simplified, yet designer-savvy approach to fashion. So when the former Boston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre principal hopped the pond in 2018 to join English National Ballet as a lead principal, the biggest challenge, he jokes, “was […]

While you might think of dance as a primarily visual art form, performances engage us on multiple levels. Our ears take in the score, the artists’ breathing patterns, fellow audience members’ reactions, and the physical percussion made by the dancers’ footfalls and partnering. All of this information is available to audience members with limited to […]

Last week, I attended a show I’d been eagerly anticipating: Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed, a brand-new performance venue in New York City. Not only was I looking forward to Akram Khan’s choreography (not to mention a sword-wielding PeiJu Chien-Pott and remixes of Sia’s music), but I was anxious to get a taste […]

Akram Khan loves to dive into genres he is unfamiliar with. While his own movement vocabulary is a hybrid of kathak and contemporary dance, he has choreographed a new Giselle for English National Ballet, collaborated with flamenco artist Israel Galván and made a dance theater duet with film star Juliette Binoche. Now, in between touring […]

In the six years since taking over as artistic director at English National Ballet, Tamara Rojo, 44, has been lauded for revitalizing the company. She has presented classics danced with gusto alongside contemporary commissions, including a radical reworking of Giselle by contemporary/kathak choreographer Akram Khan, setting the story in a community of migrant factory workers. […]

When dancers kick their legs, they typically try to avoid hitting their colleagues. But the performers in the upcoming show Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, choreographed by Akram Khan, have had to train to do just the opposite. “It’s not a grand battement. You’re kicking someone’s face. It has to have intention,” says Martha Graham Dance […]

Dance Magazine editors and writers chose their favorite dance happenings of the year. Here are the moves, moments and makers that grabbed us: Most Heartbreaking History Lesson: THEM Ishmael Houston-Jones (left) and dancers in THEM. Photo by Rachel Papo, courtesy Blake Zidell & Associates Originally performed in 1986 at the height of the AIDS epidemic, THEM […]

We might have gotten a little bit carried away with this year’s “Season Preview”—but with the 2018–19 season packing so many buzzy shows, how could we not? Here are over two dozen tours, premieres and revivals that have us drooling. A Night of Natalia Osipova—With David Hallberg David Hallberg and Natalia Osipova have a rare, […]