In her early teens, Devon Teuscher performed the male jumping variation from Harald Lander’s Études for her home studio, Vermont Ballet Theater and School. Her teacher, Alexander Nagiba, hadn’t told her it was a men’s variation, and Teuscher launched into the jetés with gusto and dedication. That, in short, represents the essence of Teuscher’s spirit. […]

Seo as Tatiana in Cranko’s  Onegin at ABT. Photo by Nathan Sayers.     At the American Ballet Theatre studios in downtown Manhattan, Hee Seo explodes through the air in a jeté, eyes flashing, energy shooting through her luxuriously arched feet. Rippling her arms from her lithe back, her Odile gleefully seduces soloist Alexandre Hammoudi’s Prince Siegfried, […]

It’s become famously difficult for a female soloist at American Ballet Theatre to rise to principal. Some of the best dancers in New York are at the soloist level. But ABT imports spectacular guest artists from abroad (which is great for box office and buzz) with such regularity that it creates a ceiling beyond which […]

Flying High at 10 Donald Byrd’s 10th season at Spectrum Dance Theater has been chock-full: a national tour of his Theater of Needless Talents, Byrd’s homage to artists who perished in the Holocaust; the premiere of A Meeting Place last winter; and a DanceMotion USA goodwill trip to Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. This month, […]

Training the youngsters in ABT’s Nutcracker     Franco De Vita (left) and Alexei Ratmansky audition dancers for The Nutcracker. Photo by Gene Schiavone, Courtesy ABT.   There are many memorable moments in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker—from a baby mouse wreaking havoc in the Stahlbaums’ kitchen to Clara and her Nutcracker Prince meeting their adult […]