I'll Never Forget My First Pair of Flesh-Tone Tights

I remember when I encountered the color cinnamon. Such warmth and comfort instantly saturated my soul. It was the summer of 2015, a time I will never forget, and I was trying on my first pair of flesh-tone tights. The band fit perfectly on my waist with such a calm gentleness. They were tights that […]

News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in September 2020

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and departures, plus notable awards and accomplishments, from the last month. Comings & Goings At American Ballet Theatre , Joo Won Ahn, Aran Bell, Skylar Brandt, Thomas Forster, Calvin Royal III and Cassandra Trenary have been promoted to principal, Gabe Stone Shayer to soloist. At Pennsylvania Ballet, Jack Thomas […]

6 Pointe Shoe Manufacturers Commit to Offering More Diverse Shades

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 […]

How to Plan a Performance Season in the Midst of an Unpredictable Pandemic

One inescapable fact of trying to plan for anything during a pandemic is the need for backup plans—many of them. Planning a fall performance season—which usually happens months and sometimes even years in advance—while navigating state reopening guidelines and virus spikes falls somewhere between frustratingly difficult and impossible. To make sense of it, Ginger Farley, […]

Give, Take, Show: Remembering Arthur Mitchell

Last Wednesday, Dance Theatre of Harlem co-founder and ballet pioneer Arthur Mitchell died. He was 84 years old and, though vibrant and tenacious as ever, this past year the toll that illness and age were taking on him was visible. In October when he hosted “An Informal Performance on the Art of Dance” to celebrate the donation of […]

From the Stage to the Hospital: This DTH Dancer Doubles as Her Parents' Caretaker

Daphne Lee was dancing with Collage Dance Collective in Memphis, Tennessee, when she received two difficult pieces of news: Her mother had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer, and her father had Parkinson’s disease, affecting his mobility and mental faculties. The New Jersey native’s reaction: “I really need to move home.” Lee intended to freelance […]