The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Misty Copeland

As the face of brands like Dr. Pepper and Under Armour, Misty Copeland has shown the world what dancers already knew: Ballet is supremely athletic. And if anyone can bring more awareness to the art form’s diversity problem, it’s her. She’s the ballerina of our generation. Read the rest of Dance Magazine‘s list of the […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today

For Dance Magazine‘s 90th anniversary issue, we wanted to celebrate the movers, shakers and changemakers who are having the biggest impact on our field right now. There were so many to choose from! But with the help of dozens of writers, artists and administrators working in dance, the Dance Magazine staff whittled the list down […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Chief of program and pedagogy at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Q: How has your role evolved since joining YBCA five years ago? “I bring a social practice ethic to performance. You could call me the architect of a program that connects communities to the work that we present.” Q: The Bay Area […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Liz Lerman

Pioneer Liz Lerman has reframed how dance can have meaning in the world. After exploring politics, the defense budget and her Russian Jewish heritage, Lerman became one of the first American choreographers to work directly with scientists and the first invited to CERN. As the founder of the Dance Exchange, Lerman helped lay the groundwork […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Monica Bill Barnes

When it feels like everything’s already been done, Monica Bill Barnes still pushes boundaries. Her hit collaboration with “This American Life” host Ira Glass mixed dance with radio-style storytelling, and her Happy Hour series embraced the idea of an office-party-meets-karaoke-meets-dance experience. And although plenty of choreographers are setting site-specific work in museums these days, Barnes […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Justin Peck

Since creating his first work for New York City Ballet in 2012, 29-year-old Justin Peck has catapulted into a dancemaking career that spans ballet and contemporary companies across the world. His spellbinding formations, unusual partnering and impossibly fast petit allégro—along with his hipster-cool collaborations with trendsetters like alt-rocker Sufjan Stevens and fashion label Opening Ceremony—give […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Linda Shelton

The Joyce Theater remains a second home for mainstream dance lovers in New York City, and executive director Linda Shelton’s choices of whom to present (made along with director of programming Martin Wechsler) hold remarkable power. Saying your company has landed a week at The Joyce is basically another way of saying you’ve “made it.” […]

The Most Influential People in Dance Today: Alastair Macaulay

If you had a dollar for every cup of coffee spilt over an Alastair Macaulay review, you could put a down payment on a Brooklyn studio. The British-born Macaulay became The New York Times‘ chief dance critic in 2007. Since then his reviews, often personal in tone, filled with reminiscences as well as dance history, […]