As dancers, we are experts on our bodies. We can identify the tiniest amount of tightness in a hip flexor or predict a head cold when our balance is off. But are we really in-tune with what our bodies are telling us when it comes to managing the mental challenges of performance? The growing field […]

Last year, Kensington MacMillen auditioned for summer programs away from home for the first time. A longtime Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet student, MacMillen had spent previous summers at her home studio, but now she was ready to branch out. After auditioning for three programs, her first response was a rejection from Miami City Ballet. “A […]

There are lots of gift guides floating around the internet this time of year. But the end of the decade has us thinking about more than presents. As much as the dance world has evolved over the past 10 years, there’s still a lot of work to do. So we started pondering: If we could […]

A recent trip I took to Nashville coincided with the NFL draft. As we drove into town, my Uber driver was a fount of information on the subject. I learned that there are 32 NFL teams and that the draft takes place over seven rounds. That the team that did the poorest during the previous […]

The Rockettes are officially looking for some fresh faces. For the first time in almost a decade, the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall is expanding its yearly open call in New York City to add audition locations in Chicago and Atlanta. The creative team wants to widen the pool and reach even more […]

Today, Anne Souder, Xin Ying and Marzia Memoli are all members of the Martha Graham Dance Company, but their journeys there couldn’t have been more different. Each of them shared how they landed a contract with their dream company. Anne Souder, soloist Souder in Graham’s Ekstasis Hibbard Nash, Courtesy MGDC The Graham company had been […]

Dear Editor, There has been much discussion lately about the practice of professional arts organizations charging fees for performers to audition. Sara Bibik’s letter to Dance Magazine brought that conversation to the forefront of the dance community and gave me—and hopefully many others—an opportunity to revisit and reflect on something that’s commonplace in our industry. […]

I write this letter knowing full well and first-hand the financial challenges of running an arts organization. I also write this letter on behalf of dancers auditioning for your companies. Lastly, I write this letter as a member of society at large and as someone who cares deeply about the culture we are leading and […]