New York City Center just announced programming for the 2018-19 season, and we’re frantically marking our calendars for all the must-see dance. This year is the venue’s 75th anniversary, and they’re pulling out all the stops—from the reliable fan favorite Fall for Dance to the most epic Balanchine celebration and more: A Balanchine Festival Will […]

The first week of San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound: A Festival of New Works was all about new ballets, with 12 world premieres by the likes of Justin Peck, Dwight Rhoden and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. The second weekend provided time to reflect, as artists and influencers gathered for “Boundless: A Symposium on Ballet’s Future.” Dance Magazine […]

The ballet world will converge on San Francisco this month for San Francisco Ballet’s Unbound: A Festival of New Works, a 17-day event featuring 12 world premieres, a symposium, original dance films and pop-up events. “Ballet is going through changes,” says artistic director Helgi Tomasson. “I thought, What would it be like to bring all […]

You might feel like the second choice when you look at the casting sheet, but understudies are necessary, valued team members who are regularly called off the bench to perform—even with very little prep time. “It is like the ultimate trust exercise with your director,” says Mia J. Chong, who understudied many roles in ODC/Dance’s […]

Since the beginning, when I first started dancing at 6 years old, I loved it. I never really thought of the hard work and long hours as a sacrifice because ballet always brought me joy and happiness. In 2013, a bunion injury left me unable to dance for a year and three months. There was […]

When conveying a story onstage, portraying a character convincingly is just as important as nailing the steps. But that’s often easier said than done. We talked to Anita Paciotti, ballet master at San Francisco Ballet, about the biggest acting mistakes she sees dancers making: 1. Being shy about eye contact. These National Ballet of Canada […]

The encounter with man-eating female creatures in Jerome Robbins’ The Cage never fails to shock audiences. As this tribe of insects initiates the newly-born Novice into their community and prepares her for the attack of the male Intruders, the ballet draws us into a world of survival and instinct. This year celebrates the 100th anniversary […]

From the over-the-top antics of Fancy Free to the stylized realism of West Side Story, the discomfiting world of The Cage to the poignant humanity of Dances at a Gathering, the work of Jerome Robbins redefined what American dance could be. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, ballet companies across the country are […]