Cedar Lake shut down, and suddenly its dancers were thrust back into the job hunt. Cedar Lake in Richard Siegal’s My Generation. Photo by Julieta Cervantes, courtesy BAM. The dance world lost a cherished company when Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet took its final bow at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in June. Just two months prior, […]

After spending years in the studio honing your ability to express yourself with your body, movement can come to feel like the most natural method of communication. Yet in today’s contemporary dance field, speaking has become a necessary performance skill: More and more, choreographers are asking dancers to double as actors, spoken-word artists and onstage […]

Repertory workshops give dancers a chance to experience a choreographer’s process.     Alexandra Damiani rehearsing with dancers during Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet’s repertory workshop. Photo by Ally Duffy, Courtesy Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet.   Although master classes and summer intensives can be a great way to hone technique, many dancers are hungry to grasp […]

The former ballet master is now artistic director of Cedar Lake.   Cedar Lake in Crystal Pite’s Grace Engine. Photo by Julieta Cervantes, Courtesy BAM. When Benoit-Swan Pouffer resigned as artistic director of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet in May 2013, ballet master Alexandra Damiani filled his spot in the interim. This April, in the midst […]

Not many grown men can say “Catch the butterfly” and still maintain their street cred. Yet Akram Khan effortlessly balances guru-like sincerity with gritty downtown coolness. “Catch the butterfly, turn it around, pop the chest,” he calls in his soft London accent, demonstrating with tightly coiled energy. A few dancers try to imitate him, but […]