In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, online pressure brought an ongoing issue with dancewear brands to an inflection point. For too long, the very color of the tools of the craft—in particular, pointe shoes—spoke to exclusion, with color offerings overwhelmingly geared […]

Implicit bias and racial stereotyping are rampant in the dance world . That’s a fact dancers of color have always known. But the anti-racism protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd—protests whose effects have reverberated through a myriad of industries—are bringing new attention to the problem. Though dance has been heavily influenced by Black […]

Launching a dancewear line seems like a great way for professional dancers to flex new artistic muscles and make side money. Several direct-to-consumer brands founded by current or former professional dancers, like Elevé and Luckleo, currently compete with bigger retailers, like Capezio. But turning your brand into the next Yumiko is more challenging than some […]

What’s better than a competition that gives promising choreographers a whole bunch of funding? How about a competition that also puts on a must-see show as part of the process? That’s the genius model of the Capezio A.C.E. Awards. Every year since 2009, the contest has brought upwards of a dozen finalists, selected from a […]

When Rachel Hamrick was in the corps of Universal Ballet in Seoul, her determination to strengthen her flexibility turned into a side hobby that would eventually land her a new career. “I was in La Bayadere for the first time, and I was the first girl out for that arabesque sequence in The Kingdom of […]

Oh, socks: What are we gonna do with you? Many dancers—ourselves definitely included—have a love-hate relationship with this unassuming member of the footwear family. On the one hand, they feel oh-so-essential for pulling off endless turns in contemporary class. On the other hand, we’ve heard our fair share of horror stories from fellow dancers of […]