As she was stepping into her new role as artistic director of The Washington Ballet this July, ballet icon Julie Kent made a natural fit for the cover of our first-ever Feminist Issue. At the time, she was still just starting to get her feet wet. Writer Marina Harss’ profile of Kent covered some of her dreams for the troupe, like […]

After dying for the last time on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House, body limp on a cold slab of marble beside her Romeo, Julie Kent rose as she had countless times before to receive the audience’s acclaim. As she stood there, surrounded by tearful colleagues and looking impossibly young in Juliet’s wispy sheath, […]

Major changes are afoot at The Washington Ballet. Although former American Ballet Theatre star Julie Kent doesn’t officially step into her role as the company’s artistic director until July, she’s already making moves in preparation for the 2016–17 season. This afternoon, she announced that another former ABT principal will be joining the team: Xiomara Reyes will head The Washington School of Ballet, […]

As a reigning ballerina of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ashley Murphy put in her time. A dancer of razor-sharp technique and plush musicality, she first joined the company before its 2004 disbanding—when Arthur Mitchell was in charge—and continued during its rebirth under Virginia Johnson. Murphy served as a bridge between the old and the new. […]

Misty Copeland’s well-chronicled journey to becoming the first female African American principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre has helped jumpstart conversations about racial representation in ballet companies. But how Copeland’s success may influence ballet training still remains to be seen. Of course, she’s already helped launch ABT’s Project Plié, which seeks to boost racial and […]

    From All the Earth’s Corners EDINBURGH The global reach of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival is awe-inspiring. At the top of the dance agenda is the beguiling union of kathak/postmodern wizard Akram Khan and powerful Taiwanese modern dancer Fang-Yi Sheu. Their collaboration Gnosis is based on an ancient story about a blind king […]

Alison Roper, Paul DeStrooper, and Damian Drake of Oregon Ballet Theatre in Kudelka’s Almost Mozart. Photo by Blaine Truitt Covert, Courtesy Kennedy Center.   In the five years since the Kennedy Center launched its Ballet Across America celebration, the focus has shifted from larger companies to those smaller in size, but large in impact. In this […]