Eight women pose together in what seems to be an abandoned warehouse, each draped with silver or gold netting that variously covers their faces, necks, torsos, and/or legs. Closest to the camera, one woman leans back with her eyes closed, head carefully cradled in the hands of the woman sitting behind her. Another woman, features invisible beneath the mesh, reclines on a green block of fabric. The others pose further back, in pairs and solo, attitudes differing but all gazing intensely beyond the camera.

At a Transitional Point in Urban Bush Women’s History, Its Leaders Are Both Preserving a Legacy and Pursuing New Experiments

This year, Urban Bush Women celebrates four decades of creating and touring new works internationally, sharing its creative process and strategies for collaborating with communities, and cultivating the next generations of women+ of color performers, makers, facilitators, and producers. What does it mean to sustain a Black-woman–led dance company for 40 years?

From Urban Bush Women to Robots: Meet Grisha Coleman

I first ran into Grisha Coleman in Dayton, Ohio, some 20 years ago, when she was touring with the Urban Bush Women. Even within a company of brilliant dancers, she was a technically inimitable, radiant performer. Since her time at UBW, her cerebral, dancerly ferocity (and choreographic kick-assery) landed her a Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellowship […]

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 […]

How to Create Outreach Projects that Are Actually Meaningful

There’s a big difference between one-size-fits-all outreach projects that exist to check a box on a grant application and work that has a lasting impact. As more dance companies incorporate engagement efforts into their seasons, they’re finding that truly purposeful projects require careful consideration of the communities they serve. Focus On Meeting Needs Taking the […]

News of Note: What You May Have Missed in July 2019

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and transfers, plus notable awards and accomplishments from the last month. Comings & Goings Tigran Mkrtchyan has joined Boston Ballet as a soloist, Chisako Oga as a second soloist. At English National Ballet, Aitor Arrieta, Katja Khaniukova and Ken Saruhashi have been promoted to first soloist, Julia Conway, Daniel […]

6 Shows This Month Worth Braving the Cold to See

Unexpected collaborations, celebrations of culture, literary classics that take a turn for the tragic—it might be freezing outside, but the new season is just heating up. Here are six shows we’d happily brave the winter weather for this month. Criss-Crossing Culture Zones Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Colin Dunne. Photo by Koen Broos, Courtesy Eastman RENNES, […]

What It Takes To Warm Up For & Wind Down From Tough Performances

For demanding, vulnerable performances, the mental warm-up and wind-down is unique to each artist. Three dancers share how they get in the zone, and come back to normal life afterward: Erina Takahashi, English National Ballet Principal On performance days, Erina Takahashi (here in Akram Khan’s Giselle) doesn’t think about her character until she’s putting on […]

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