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REVIEW:   Royal Ballet
Rushes
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Cojocaru, Morera
by Clement Crisp
    "Acosta is caught in furious, impassioned dialogue with Morera (both artists grandly expressive) while there are appearances by Cojocaru as a compassionate 'other' woman. Brandstrup's writing is fluent, dark in tone for the Acosta/Morera partnership ..."
The Financial Times

REVIEW:   Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet triple bill
Serenade, Rushes, Homage to the Queen
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Cojocaru, Morera, Nunez
by Sanjoy Roy
    "Brandstrup's twisting, restless choreography works well on the corps, but is best in the partnerwork, particularly in the detail given to the women - fingers flick in annoyance, shoulders square up defensively or slouch in resignation."
The Guardian

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
Complicated Heroines, Puzzling Partnering
New Works Festival Program C: Thread, Ibsen's House, Double Evil
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Magierek, Smith
by Alastair Macaulay
    "After carrying on in this 'Aw, shucks, what is this ballet game anyway?' manner, Mr. Elo — of course — cashes in with a crude assortment of ballet clichés for wow effect, having his dancers do lots of the same few jumps and turns and rushes. As throughout this festival, the San Francisco dancers were exemplary in fulfilling his demands ..."
New York Times

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
'Double Evil' doubles thrills
New Works Festival Program C: Thread, Ibsen's House, Double Evil
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Altman, Blanc, Castilla, Elizabeth, Feijoo, Genshaft, Hohenstein, Magierek, Molat, Scribner, Smolen, Spaulding, Van Patten, Vilanoba
by Rachel Howard
    "The eight dancers relished every moment, corps member Pauli Magierek holding her own technically, Rory Hohenstein cracking his body like a whip, Jaime Garcia Castilla and Pascal Molat amping up the male contingent. I get the feeling that 'Double Evil' is only the start of what Elo could do with them."
San Francisco Chronicle

REVIEW:   National Ballet of Canada
Dancers provide an intoxicating ride
The Merry Widow
Canada, Ottawa, National Arts Centre
Dancers: Goh, Kish, Konvalina, Yu
by Natasha Gauthier
    "Goh's dancing is as weightless and delicate as gossamer she has to be one of the prettiest ballerinas on the planet. Konvalina is a marvellously generous and attentive partner, and he treats Goh like a piece of exquisite glass. The Merry Widow has dozens of moments of pure delight ..."
Ottawa Citizen

REVIEW:   Kansas City Ballet
Ballet’s ‘Romeo’ is solid story telling, with embellishments
Romeo and Juliet
USA, Kansas, Music Hall
Dancers: Barksdale, Cowen, Luzicka, Pachciarz, Powell, Wilcox
by Paul Horsley
    "Large ensembles show discipline and unfussiness. Luke Luzicka was a proud, solid presence as Romeo, and Chelsea Wilcox was a florid, ravishing Juliet. The final pas de deux at the beginning of Act 3 was pure passion, beautifully danced."
Kansas City Star

REVIEW:   Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
An Attempt to Bridge a Great Divide With a Climbing Wall and Bungee Cords
Glassy Essence
USA, New York, Cedar Lake
by Gia Kourlas
    "For all of the brittle danger proposed in Mr. Pouffer’s 'Glassy Essence,' the work is shapeless, just another nonadventure in the world of dance installation. This production barely scratches the surface."
The New York Times

REVIEW:   John Selya
Twists and Turns of a Final Phone Call
La Voix, Tweaker
USA, New York, Joyce SoHo
Dancers: Damon, Davis, Okamoto, Plantadit
by Jennifer Dunning
    "'La Voix' is a tour de force of acting. And in Karine Plantadit, a former Alvin Ailey dancer with Broadway experience that includes 'Movin’ Out,' Mr. Selya has found the perfect diva. Ms. Plantadit’s flamelike intensity and cool, clear French-accented voice are irresistible."
The New York Times

REVIEW:   Yasuko Yokoshi
Meditations on Live Art and the Woes of Teenagers
Reframe the Framework DDD
USA, New York, The Kitchen
Dancers: Setterfield
by Roslyn Sulcas
    "On paper, the concept of taking 'Framework,' a sophisticated piece about verbal and physical communication, and refashioning it with teenage performers from Brattleboro Union High School in Vermont might sound improbable. But in Ms. Yokoshi’s disciplined practice it works perfectly on its own terms ..."
New York Times

REVIEW:   Philadanco
Philadanco dancers perform at their best with energy, personality
In Between Time, Pulse, Philadelphia Experiment, Violin Concerto
USA, Albany, The Egg
Dancers: Barnett
by Wendy Liberatore
    "This one program demonstrated their strength and skill as the four works were diverse — balletic to hip-hop. And the choreographers who created the night’s offerings, which were all tailored to these dancers, showed the 13 performers at their best."
Daily Gazette

REVIEW:   Festival Ballet Providence
Beauty and romance meet effortlessly in Swan Lake
Swan Lake
USA, Providence, Veterans Memorial Auditorium
Dancers: Akulov, Martinez, Menger, Putrius, Andries, Chipp, Fraga
by Bryan Rourke
    "Festival has pared down the classic Swan Lake choreography of Marius Petipa, but still the production could be tighter, for those who like their storytelling direct. And for those who don’t, indulge in the dance."
Providence Journal

REVIEW:   Spectrum Dance Theater
Bumpy Spectrum Dance Theater show ends with bang
For Ruth, Human for Error, Scorched, Banghra Fever
USA, Clearwater, Ruth Eckerd Hall
by Marty Clear
    "'For Ruth' couldn't have been less remarkable. The music was pretty but sounded like the theme from a 1980s TV show. Byrd's choreography was similarly pleasant and unimpressive."
St Petersburg Times

REVIEW:   inkBoat
'C(H)ord' vague, hard to forget
c(H)ord
USA, San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Dancers: Chen, Iova-Koga, Ishide, Kaseki, Lee, Nukari, Rudstrom
by Mary Ellen Hunt
    "those fantastical scenes - the huddled clump of dancers that becomes a sea anemone, Ishide wandering lost among thunderheads, a parade of fools silhouetted against a night sky - will long linger in your mind."
San Francisco Chronicle

REVIEW:   Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey
Scofield and Shuey's dancers make more - much more - out of less
The Devil You Know Is Better Than the Devil You Don't
USA, Seattle, On the Boards Studio Theatre
Dancers: Axelsen, Dickinson, Melton, Van Dyck
by Regina Hackett
    "Choreographer Susan Marshall is master of narrative translated so completely into dance that it becomes sensation, not story ... From lesser dancers, it might have been a mess. Instead, it's a masterpiece. There isn't a better contemporary company in the region."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

REVIEW:   BOUND Contemporary Dance
'Bottle Night' at the Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar
Bottle Night: Pressed Up Against, Where Flowers Settled, Fix Me, Cork
USA, San Diego, Basic Urban Kitchen and Bar
Dancers: Chu, Keeney, Chu P, Hartley, Lane, Martin-Lamm
by Kris Eitland
    "The end of the show has become a tradition and is not to be missed. 'Cork' is Yolande Snaith's iconic bar dance where dancers throw bottles and create more tension and thrills than Alfred Hitchcock."
sandiego.com

Preview: Jerome Robbins festival at New York City Ballet
by Apollinaire Scherr
    "On the 10th anniversary of Robbins' death, New York City Ballet honors the choreographer with a celebration of some of his best work, presenting 33 ballets on 10 distinct programs through June."
Newsday

International Dance Festival Birmingham: April 28 - May 25
A world of dance on your doorstep
by Diane Parkes
One of the events is an outdoor performance choreographed by Hofesh Schechter.
    "Created by internationally renowned Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter, this free dance event is aiming to be something just a bit different. And Hofesh knows the production is a fantastic opportunity to introduce newcomers to dance."
Birmingham Mail

International Dance Festival Birmingham website

International Dance Festival just right for Birmingham
by Terry Grimley
    "Dance is the art form of the 21th century, I believe," he says. "It's young and physical and vibrant. Dance is unique in that respect, so I think it does brand the city in that way."
Birmingham Post

(UK) Culture chiefs plead for the art of giving
by Ben Hoyle
    "Potential donors were said to be held back by offputting tax laws, by ignorance of how to get involved and by an often “curmudgeonly” and suspicious attitude towards people who give to the arts. Rather than celebrating the gift, he said, people often think: 'What’s in it for them?'"
The Times

Preview: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Edinburgh
by Josie Balfour
    "While some of the ideas under-lying the story may introduce new concepts to conventional Western audiences, the mesmerising beauty of the group's performance is universal."
Edinburgh Evening News

Preview: Antony Hamilton's Blazeblue Oneline, Melbourne
Making their mark on dance
by Fiona Scott-Norman
    "There were two ideas. One was to generate choreography through visual art - use a line drawing to inspire the movement. The other was to do the opposite: create choreography and then map that with a line drawing, using a paintbrush or marker to see what trail the dance leaves behind."
The Age

Preview: Queensland Ballet's Vis-a-vis Studio Series
Artistic connections, vis-a-vis
by Katherine Feeney
    "Offering patrons a rare opportunity to go beyond the polished performances on cavernous stages, the Vis-a-vis series is staged in the intimate surrounds of the QB's home in the Thomas Dixon Centre. It explores the different aspects of dance through a collection of short works."
Brisbane Times

Preview: Houston Ballet's Madame Butterfly in Montreal
Madame Butterfly pirouettes into town with its creator
by Victor Swoboda
    "Australian Stanton Welch, Houston Ballet's artistic director for the past five years, was 25 in 1995 when he created the work for Australia Ballet. It was his first major work, but its combination of familiar soaring music, exotic setting and clearly defined choreography for both principal dancers and corps made it an irresistible candidate for the repertory of companies ... that mount evening-length works."
Montreal Gazette

Dancing with Parkinson's disease
With video
    " The class is taught by Mark Morris Dance Group faculty members and was initiated by Olie Westheimer, who founded the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. 'There is no mention of Parkinson's disease or problems in this class,' Olie Westheimer fro Brooklyn Parkinson Group said. 'It's just a dance class.'"
WABC

Gypsy dance in Jerusalem
Dancing for survival
by Leah P. Weis
    "As part of its many efforts to shed a positive light on a marginalized ethnic group, the Domari Society of Gypsies in Jerusalem is holding a two-day performance of Gypsy dance ..."
Jerusalem Post

Canadian eco-dance project
Dancers and ecologists unite to explore artists’ ways in ‘Somatic Scientific’
    "Bowen Island dancer/choreographer Gail Lotenberg wondered what would happen when six dancers and six ecologists explored the concerns and passions of behavioural ecology through the medium of dance."
Bowen Island Undercurrent

NY City Ballet sues UK firm over exercise videos
by Reuters
    "The New York City Ballet, flexing its legal muscles, sued a British production company on Friday, saying it owed the famed dance troupe some $600,000 in royalties for exercise DVDs."
International Business Times

Conga-ing in San Francisco for National Dance Week
S.F. conga line spices up Union Square area
by Steve Rubenstein
    "It was supposed to be the longest conga line on the West Coast, but it wasn't, because a conga line is only as long as the number of otherwise sensible people who can be conned into joining it. Only about three dozen people decided to join, making it one of the shortest conga lines on the West Coast, or any other coast."
San Francisco Chronicle

Cheerleaders aren't cricket
'Vulgar' cheerleaders face ban in India
by Rahul Bedi
    "'All the organizers are doing by making scantily clad white women dance in front of huge crowds is to stoke the base, voyeuristic and sexual insecurities of the Indian male. It's revolting and crude,' historian Ramachandra Guha said."
The Daily Telegraph

REVIEW:   Royal Ballet
Serenade, Rushes, Homage to the Queen
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Acosta, Cojocaru, Cuthbertson, Morera
by Jenny Gilbert
    "Subtlety is key. And if at first it seems mad to use dancers famous for their wow factor – sunny Carlos Acosta depressed and introspective; dazzling Alina Cojocaru dour and meek – the restraint of their physical powers pays off. When it does burst through the cracks, it's lethal ..."
Sunday Independent

The 10th anniversary of Jerome Robbins' death
Robbins’s Legacy of Anguish and Exuberance
by Alastair Macaulay
    "His onstage legacy remains colossal. Much of it will not need too much dusting off; few of City Ballet’s Robbins works have been out of repertory worldwide for more than a few seasons. Plenty of it will continue spreading in the years to come."
New York Times

Two in one from the Sunday Times

REVIEW:   Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
Moon Water
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
by David Jays
    "It sounds lovely, and visually, and no doubt spiritually, it is; but this is dance without edges, so placid it becomes infuriating. Eyes remain downcast, which makes the production an introverted exercise. Music and dance fit together almost too perfectly ..."
The Sunday Times

REVIEW:   Gravity and Levity
Shift
UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre
Dancers: Butcher
by David Jays
    "In its new piece, Shift, the tackle and sandbags are undisguised; we watch the cast clamber in and out of harnesses. They don’t fly high, but gestures and pragmatic details become absorbing. This is a piece that shows its workings."
The Sunday Times

REVIEW:   Ye-Gam Inc
Jump
UK, London, Peacock
Dancers: Byeon, Lee
by Clement Crisp
    "the skill, and it is a grand skill, is in the hair’s-breadth misses, the impeccable timing and, in the final firework display of acrobatic virtuosity, the verve and buoyant feats of derring-do. Great skill. Great fun."
The Financial Times

REVIEW:   Philadanco
Philadanco performance creates pefect worlds
In Between Time, Pulse, Philadelphia Experiment, Violin Concerto
USA, Albany, The Egg
by Tresca Weinstein
    "In movement languages that ranged from elegant to funky, from buoyant to magical, the dancers were consistently fluent and gorgeous."
Times Union

REVIEW:   Sarasota Ballet
Ballet filled with memorable images
Allegro Brillante, The Infernal Galop, Wolfgang for Webb
USA, Sarasota, FSU Center for the Performing Arts
Dancers: Honea, Mumme, Piquer
by Bill Hutchinson
    "Whatever the choreography threw their way — a little bit of everything by the end of the night — they nailed it, and they knew it."
Herald-Tribune

Book review: Sergey Prokofiev Diaries 1915-1923, translated by Anthony Phillips
by Hugh Canning
    "'Then,' Prokofiev writes in his diary entry for March 20-22, 1915, 'in the presence of the Futurists , we played the piano-duet version of The Rite of Spring. At this point I had heard the work only once...and had a less than clear understanding of it...I was extremely nervous as I knew that it was incredibly difficult.'"
The Sunday Times

Preview: BodyVox ties one on in new Horizontal Leanings
by Marty Hughley
    "The BodyVox style mixes balletic technique with a playful, occasionally antic sensibility rooted in Hampton's and Roland's experience in such pathbreaking contemporary dance companies as Pilobolus and Momix, topped off with a striking sense of visual design."
Oregon Live

Meryl Tankard's gloomy thoughts about the Australian dance scene
Dance star comes home to find an empty stage
by John Bailey
    "When Tankard was asked to choreograph the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics, it looked as if contemporary dance was finally earning a more central place in Australian culture. 'But then nothing came of it,' she says. 'You do that and it goes all around the world, but there's nothing actual that happens in Australia. Nothing develops.'"
The Age

Q & A: Rie Ichikawa, Boston Ballet
Dream job really keeps soloist on her toes
by Dina Rudick
    "A lot of little girls dream of being ballerinas. Does it live up to their dreams? It's a hard profession to be in but if you love it, you can survive. It's hard because you always have to push yourself every day."
Boston Globe

Ballet West adds half-dozen artists
by Scott Iwasaki
    "There have been some changes in the Ballet West dancer ranks, the company announced Saturday night. Eight promotions and six new faces will be part of the 2008-09 season."
Deseret News

Preview: Media City Ballet of Burbank perform Ballet Russe highlights
Performance pays tribute to Ballet Russe
by Carley Dryden
    "For Middleton, 'Ballet Russe Remembered' is more than a tribute to a great dance company. It's a way of honoring her family. Her grandmother, Elena Wortova, was a soloist in the original Ballet Russe ..."
Pasadena Star-News

Philippines' dancing jail; everyone wants to go inside
    "Byron Garcia, who oversees the jail and introduced the dance routines last year as a way of improving morale, said the prisoners were enjoying the switch from notoriety to celebrity."
Reuters

REVIEW:   Miami City Ballet
Bring It On: Feasting on Bonbons, Then Belting Down Scotch
Raymonda Variations, Sonatine, Tarantella, In the Upper Room
USA, New York, Tilles Center, Long Island University
Dancers: Baker, Bramaz, Catoya, Cox, Manning, Penteado, Spiridonakos, Wu, Knox, Zien
by Jennifer Dunning
    "the lead dancers, established the company style of classicism tempered with graciousness and warmth. Mr. Penteado stood out for his buoyancy and the way he seemed to have thought a great deal about the choreography and then just shrugged it off. This is a company that takes an infectious pleasure in dancing ..."
The New York Times

REVIEW:   Los Angeles Ballet
Los Angeles Ballet delivers a sizzling 'Evangelist'
The Evangelist, she said/he said, Allegro Brillante, Napoli
USA, Los Angeles, UCLA Freud Playhouse
Dancers: Barak, Gill, Johnson, Kheylik, Morgan, Richer, Sloan, Snow, Toole, Tovar, Pepin
by Victoria Looseleaf
    "this tiny jewel, inspired by magnetic preacher Aimee Semple McPherson, has lost none of its raw power and passion ... Barak, whether chest-thumping or beseeching with outstretched arms, brought ferocious life to the 1920s character, creating an electrifying chemistry with her cringing, quaking convert."
Los Angeles Times

REVIEW:   Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Humiliation and Death on a Fateful Journey
Zero Degrees
USA, New York, City Center
Dancers: Cherkaoui, Khan
by Gia Kourlas
    "At times his work feels cinematic and contrived, a bit like the Hollywood version of an independent film: full of significant moments, pregnant pauses and sweeping music in all the right places. Everything seems to work as it should, but it doesn’t really stick to the soul."
The New York Times

REVIEW:   Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
In master's footsteps, in step with the times
Lovd Stories, Reflections in D, Firebird, Revelations
USA, Philadelphia, Academy of Music
Dancers: Rushing
by Ellen Dunkel
    "the dancers were in full celebration mode Friday night at the Academy of Music, the 16th stop on a nationwide tour. They rocked the house."
Philly.com

REVIEW:   Leine and Roebana
Body Movement in a High-Tech Society, Seriously
Sporen
USA, New York, Danspace Project
by Claudia La Rocco
    "Their blank, attractive faces remained diligently at odds with the lines of energy that seemed to be pulling their limbs in opposite directions, and Sporen began to resemble a beautifully slick science-fiction movie that wants to mean more than it does."
New York Times

REVIEW:   Gravity and Levity
Shift
UK, London, Linbury Studio Theatre
Dancers: Adams, Butcher
by Zoe Anderson
    "you don't just see the dancers pulled off the ground, you see them scurrying about with sandbags and wires, pulling the practical set into new patterns. Though performances are fresh and appealing, the idea wears thin."
Independent

REVIEW:   Tulsa Ballet
Ballet hybrid gives off heat
About Tango: Blood Rush, Blood Cells in Drum, Tango Is-, This Is Your Life
USA, Tulsa, Studio K/Kivisto Hall
Dancers: Bergman, Cong, Edwards, Gonzalez, Graziano, Kazama, Martin, Trader, Van Der Wolde, Yi, Buson, Oderkirk
by James D. Watts
    "About Tango ... is a unique melding of tango - the dance form, the musical style, and all the emotions and ideas associated with it - and ballet. And it makes for one eye-opening night of entertainment, with three brand-new dance works, created especially for Tulsa Ballet, that are densely packed with incident and meaning, that run the emotional gamut from the serious to the sexy to the silly."
Tulsa World

REVIEW:   Dance for the Planet
Happy feet at Dance for the Planet
Dance for the Planet
USA, Dallas, Annette Strauss Artist Square
by Margaret Putnam
    "Hot dogs and ice-cream vendors were in full swing. Kids ran around with their faces painted. A ballet dancer in Don Quixote costume warmed up on hard concrete. Oh, that must mean it was Dance for the Planet."
Dallas Morning News

REVIEW:   Kiev Ballet
Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty
New Zealand, Auckland, Aotea Centre
Dancers: Domracheva, Ishchuk
by Bernadette Rae
    "Natalia Domracheva shares Ishchuk's gold-medal status as a rising star and they make a perfect pair. While her Odette did not immediately capture the usual vulnerability of the role, she shone as the animated and treacherous Odile and again as a most gorgeous Aurora, in Sleeping Beauty ...'
New Zealand Herald

For the Record: Dancers Debate the Body Politic, San Francisco

REVIEW:   Salt Farm
ODC puts politics into 'For the Record' dance
For the Record - Dancers Debate the Body Politic: Color Me America
USA, San Francisco, Project Artaud Theater
Dancers: Chua, Ledoh
by Rachel Howard
    "It speaks to our most intense emotional experiences because of the care Ledoh has taken in shaping every hunch of his shoulders and spiderlike curve of his fingers, the thought he's invested in the motivation of every motion. In his entrancing performance, the political was universal."
San Francisco Chronicle

REVIEW:   Flyaway Productions
ODC puts politics into 'For the Record' dance
For the Record - Dancers Debate the Body Politic: Lies You Can Dance To
USA, San Francisco, Project Artaud Theater
Dancers: Caywood, Kemp, Kreiter, Stroud
by Rachel Howard
    "It's as though, with her social messages as sole artistic justification and her aerial work as spectacle, she hasn't felt the need to create the personal physical language through which dance must really speak."
San Francisco Chronicle

REVIEW:   Meadows Dance Ensemble
Meadows Dance Ensemble on pointe with student, teacher work
Best of Dance: Diggin' on James Brown, Call It What Ya' Want, January 1987, Push/Pull, Excerpt from Loss, Let It Be
USA, Dallas, Bob Hope Theatre
Dancers: Johnson, Perry
by Margaret Putnam
    "students from the Meadows Dance Ensemble created 14 works that showed a level of sophistication that bodes well. Is there any surprise that the division is ranked up there with State University of New York Purchase College and Juilliard as one of the top three dance programs in the nation?"
Dallas Morning News

Preview: Australian Ballet's Robbins programme
Dance of the complicated storyteller
by Valerie Lawson
    "One of the most successful choreographers of all time, Robbins bridged the worlds of ballet and Broadway with ease. Money and fame did not buy him contentment, however, as Bart Cook knows only too well ..."
Sydney Morning Herald

Bart Cook and Jerome Robbins
Friends and influence
by Matthew Westwood
    "Jerry had a wonderful way of assuming credit for everything, and rightfully so, even if it weren't his idea," Cook says. "This was part of his less attractive side. Yet the original ideas are brilliant enough to allow him to get away with this kind of stuff."
The Australian

Robbins: interviews with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wendy Whelan, Damian Woetzel
by Apollinaire Scherr
    "To make a decision, he was torturing everyone else and himself until the very last second," says Mikhail Baryshnikov of his friend Jerome Robbins. "Which means there was probably no better choreographer in the history of Broadway."
Arts Journal

Jerome Robbins
Storyteller
by Joan Acocella
    "he always seemed torn between ballet’s abstraction and what was his own fundamental realism—his attachment to stories, feelings, current events."
The New Yorker

Preview: Breakin' Convention 08, Sadler's Wells
The ice breakers: B-boys are taking their craft into top theatres
by Ian Burrell
    "Sadly, hip-hop dancing or breaking is, along with graffiti and turntable scratching, one of the three original elements of the culture that has proved less lucrative than its tattooed, microphone-wielding cousin, rap."
The Independent

Viva La Diva returns
Our Man Says It With Chocolates
by Steve Hargrave
    "This time round Katherine's adding an Edith Piaf section to her repertoire, and Darcey's been working hard on a new ballet section, that's convinced her to pull on the point shoes once again."
Sky News

Preview: Cincinnati Ballet's 2008-09 season
Ballet season soars
by David Lyman
    "This is a season that has vampires and crooners. It has a boy who won't grow up. And a wooden soldier who comes to life. There are epics, too ..."
Cincinnati Enquirer

Alicia Alonso in Spain
Cuban National Ballet to celebrate in Valencia its 60th anniversary
    "The Cuban choreographer and dancer, Alicia Alonso assured in Valencia that in Spain 'people are asking at least for a national ballet company' due to the importance of this sort of show."
Cuba Headlines

Pony tale
No mere hoofer, Sasha finds her place in ballet
by Jim Walsh
    "Not all animals can walk on stage with a 60-piece orchestra, all those lights, dancers and an audience that applauds," says O'Neill, who notes Sasha's on stage for 10 to 15 minutes. "She's perfectly quiet. She just listens to the music as the dancers all dance around her."
Courier Post Online

I've searched the board and looks like we haven't seen this link yet.

Adam Cooper's diary entry

In there it says that they are expecting a baby in August.

Many congratulations!!!

Fish

(Not sure if this warrants a separate thread?)

Edited to fix link

Today is Jean-Georges Noverre's (291st) birthday, hence International Dance Day.

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
Bounty of ballet beauty
New Works Festival: Fusion, The Ruins Proclaim the Building Was Beautiful, Ibsen's House
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
Dancers: Altman, Boada, Chung, Feijoo, Nedvigin, Smolen, Tan, Vilanoba
by Janos Gereben
    "Kudelka is both neoclassical-lyrical and experimental in 'Ruins.' ... A swarm of ballerinas wearing beehive wigs swirl around the stage, led by Elana Altman and Frances Chung, evoking a feeling of looking through a kaleidoscope."
San Francisco Examiner

Blackpool's ambition to become the UK's dance capital
Come ballet dancing in Blackpool
by Sarah Wilkinson
    "If Blackpool succeeds in its latest attempt at regeneration, however, I could potentially find myself nipping to the arcades during the interval of La Bayadere and enjoying fish and chips on the pier as my post-performance meal."
Guardian blogs

New opera house for Manchester?
Opera house may be built on scrapped casino site
by Press Association
    "Talks are ongoing between Manchester City Council and the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden about whether a 'national opera centre' could be the answer to regenerating the east of the city. Any resulting project would include not just a performance space but a training venue for opera and ballet ..."
Fleetwood Today

REVIEW:   Daniel McCusker Dance Projects
The curatorial eye
THISTHAT show no. 1: Tidal/Perch, Tom's Wealth, Two Face Ed, Get Down Slow Down Stay Down, City of Heaven, how to stop time
USA, Boston, Green Street Studios
Dancers: Crabtree, Keilson, Morgan, Ward
by Debra Cash
    City of Heaven: "When she fell into a sudden lateral balance that brought her ear to the floor, it was as if she were listening to the heartbeat of the Earth. Never merely illustrative, their unity seemed like the very source of Heaven."
Boston Phoenix

REVIEW:   Daniel McCusker Dance Projects
Disparate works mesh in a satisfying, moving show
THISTHAT show no. 1: Tidal/Perch, how to stop time, Tom's Wealth - A Dance for the Masses, City of Heaven
USA, Boston, Green Street Studios
Dancers: Crabtree, Keilson, Morgan, Ward
by Karen Campbell
    "The veteran dancer/choreographer believes all the program's works share a common concern for 'structure combined with the intuitive,' and hopes THISTHAT inaugurates a series of showcases bringing together kindred artistic spirits. I hope so, too."
The Boston Globe

REVIEW:   John Selya
La Voix, Tweaker
USA, New York, Joyce SoHo
Dancers: Damon, Okamoto, Plantadit
by Hilary Ostlere
    "Selya has a good sense of light and shade but the bursting theatricality and use of high-flinging, volatile technique here looks overblown. It would probably read better on a larger stage."
Financial Times

REVIEW:   Sacramento Ballet
'Six Vignettes,' one evening of a ballet's intensity
Modern Masters: Six Vignettes, Just a Kovich, Le Baiser, end quote, Opus Romanza
USA, Sacramento, Sacramento Theatre Company Mainstage
Dancers: Bloom, Calka, Coleman, Cunningham, Goldman, Hansen, Haskins, Keener, Lulebas, Middlekauf, Miller, Pabst, Peet, Roethlisberger, Speed, Trerise, Vester, Williams, Zolker
by Jim Carnes
    "Many of the dances are more traditional than experimental, but there seems to be at least one each year that excites in an unconventional way ... This year, it was De Jesus' 'Six Vignettes,' danced to six separate but compatible music tracks by composers as varied as Antonio Vivaldi, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Philip Glass."
Sacramento Bee

REVIEW:   Dance for the Planet
Dance for the Planet
USA, Dallas, Annette Strauss Artist Square
by Mark-Brian Sonna
    "Ballet Frontier of Fort Worth was a joy to watch. They performed with much gusto. The choreography suited the event perfectly. The piece was a mash up of hip hop and tejano dance. Yes, an odd combination, but it worked wonderfully."
Pegasus News

Ailey troupe looks ahead
by Robert Johnson
    "This company has always been about past, present and future," says Jamison, 63. "It's about preserving what's already there, looking at it, being sharp about what is happening presently and then taking that leap of faith into the future - literally sometimes."
The Star-Ledger

Preview: Dance On Camera Film Series, Westchester NY
    "This year's series really does pay tribute to the special art form that marries dance and film, with guests from both artistic communities."
Westchester.com

Teen first to take GCSE in ballroom dancing
by Lewis Carter
    "I think it is superb. Doing a GCSE is another wonderful lift for dancing. For a 16-year-old to decide she wants to do ballroom dancing is really exciting. She has created a precedent."
Daily Telegraph

Dance and math
Creative calculations
by Marcus du Sautoy
    "Follow the lines drawn on the floor by a tango dancer and there are the arcs of circles and lines that the Ancient Greek geometers used. I found myself performing a tango-inspired dance to bring alive the mathematical construction of a perfect hexagon, surely a first in the history of mathematics and dance."
The Guardian

Facebook offers free way to reach ideal customers
    "Facebook points to The Royal Opera House (ROH) as an example of a larger events-based organisation using the site. It ran its first Facebook fan event at Easter, offering discounted tickets to see a ballet called Sylvia, which included a drinks reception during the interval."
Daily Telegraph

Nehemiah Kish leaving National Ballet
by Michael Crabb
    "Nehemiah Kish, one of the National Ballet of Canada's top dancers, is leaving Toronto for the Royal Danish Ballet."
National Post

Classical dance is as popular as ever (in India)
by Kasturi Dhmankar
    "With the skyrocketing popularity of dances such as salsa, jazz and ballroom dancing, one would expect that classical Indian dances — Odissi, Bhatarnatyam, et al — would suffer. "
DNA

Lester Horton Dance Awards announced
by Diane Haithman
    "The eclectic list of winners of this year's Lester Horton Dance Awards, announced Sunday, included achievement-in-performance nods to Patrick Damon Rago for his evening-length piece 'Manifold' and to Holly Johnston, choreographer and artistic director of the Ledges and Bones Dance Project, for 'experiment one.'"
Los Angeles Times

REVIEW:   Royal Danish Ballet
Onegin
Denmark, Copenhagen, Royal Theatre
Dancers: Blangstrup, Bojesen, Greve, Kupinski, Slot, Wei
by Janet McNulty
    "We had seen two terrific performances of my favourite ballet and I came away from both with mascara streaks on my face and more memories to add to my store."
Ballet.co Magazine

REVIEW:   Royal Danish Ballet
Don Quixote
Denmark, Copenhagen, Royal Theatre
Dancers: Kloborg, Watson, Wei, Carreno, Delgado
by Janet McNulty
    "This was a really enjoyable performance, full of joie-de-vivre. The entire audience was on its feet at the end, and all the dancers were applauding these two wonderful guest artists. We floated out of the theatre on a cloud of elation."
Ballet.co Postings Review

REVIEW:   Royal Ballet
Serenade, Rushes, Homage to the Queen
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Ansanelli, Galeazzi, Hristov, Lamb, Makhateli, McMeekan, Nunez, Rojo
by Carmela
    Rushes: "...to my surprise I thought the staging was very effective and original and worked very well, at least from the top of the house. I didn't find the choreography very memorable though, except from the last pdd which was very beautiful and touching."
Ballet.co Postings Review

REVIEW:   Royal Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty
UK, London, Covent Garden
Dancers: Cuthbertson, Lamb, McCulloch, Pennefather, Putrov
by Diandri
    "Did anyone else see Lauren Cuthbertson's lovely Aurora at the Saturday matinee? ...If she continues improving at her current rate, in a season or 2 she could be spectacular & up there with the best of them."
Ballet.co Postings Review

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
Many hippy returns
New Works Festival: Joyride, Within the Golden Hour, Changes, The Ruins Proclaim the Building Was Beautiful, A rose by any other name, Fusion, Naked
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
by Judith Mackrell
    "What does remain branded on the memory is the quality of the San Francisco dancers. Tomasson has made a leap of faith in commissioning so many new works, knowing they couldn't all be masterpieces, but his absolute trust in his company is entirely justified. Intelligent, versatile and brave, they can apparently dance whatever any choreographer gives them."
The Guardian

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
Kick-boxing en pointe
New Works Festival: Within the Golden Hour, Joy Ride, The Ruins Proclaim The Building Was Beautiful, Ibsen's Women, A rose by any other name, Naked, and others
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
by Alan Ulrich
    "Throughout, Tomasson's internationally recruited company danced with a sense of privilege, stylistic adaptability and genuine glamour. In those respects, the San Francisco Ballet need yield to no company. A London season is under discussion for 2009."
Financial Times

REVIEW:   San Francisco Ballet
Classical, remixed
A rose by any other name, Thread, Ibsen's House, Fusion
USA, San Francisco, War Memorial Opera House
by Rita Felciano
    "the originality of the concept and of its realization made Adam's 'A rose by any other name' the festival's winner for me. A sly yet ever-so-elegant take on the apogee of 19th-century classicism, 'The Sleeping Beauty,' A rose tweaked conventions thoughtfully and charmingly."
San Francisco Bay Area Guardian

REVIEW:   Phoenix Dance Theatre
Chaconne, The Moor's Pavane, Blue Roses, Paseillo
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Fracchiolla, Shelver, Darvill-Mills
by Debra Craine
    Chaconne: "Bradley Shelver ... presents the choreography's recurring motifs with enormous respect, elegant placement and a convincing emotional heft that make his performance a real showstopper."
The Times

REVIEW:   Phoenix Dance Theatre
4 stars
Chaconne, The Moor's Pavane, Blue Roses, Paseillo
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Shelver
by Judith Mackrell
    "Shelver's dancing is a masterclass in passionate musicality and focused power. It is all the inspiration Phoenix could require."
The Guardian

REVIEW:   Phoenix Dance Theatre
Frutos at his finest
Chaconne, The Moor's Pavane, Blue Roses, Paseillo
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Shelver
by Sarah Frater
    "Chaconne is possibly one of the best male solos ever made and is not so much set to Bach’s unaccompanied violin solo as it inhabits it. Bradley Shelver danced with considerable appeal, capturing the music’s sawing motion and low register, although his costume maker should be shot."
The Evening Standard

REVIEW:   Phoenix Dance Theatre
Fluent as water
Chaconne, The Moor's Pavane, Blue Roses, Paseillo
UK, London, Sadler's Wells
Dancers: Fracchiolla, Hutchins, Lee, Mack, Mills, Shelver, Sveass
by Sarah Crompton
    Paseillo: "It makes a stirring conclusion to a masterful bill. Clever de Frutos. No wonder his young fans cheered."
The Telegraph

Two in one from Deborah Jowitt

REVIEW:   Paradigm
The Sage Age
We're All That and Then Some, Stayin' Alive, Cocktails for Two, SRO (Single Room Occupancy), 3 Scenes From Archy Mehitabel
USA, New York, Symphony Space
Dancers: Blake, Sabado, Setterfield, Solomons, Van Hamel, Williams, Phifer
by Deborah Jowitt
    "The audience laughs from the moment they side-step onto the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre's tiny stage wearing hospital gowns and using IV stands for support. We know these three stellar performers can do more than tremble stiffly (Williams), play graciously dotty (Setterfield), and grin widely while the memory is clearly in mothballs (Solomons)."
The Village Voice

REVIEW:   Sean Curran
The Sage Age
Force of Circumstance, Aria/Apology, Fire Weather
USA, New York, Dance Theater Workshop
Dancers: Brickman, Copeland, Scarpin, Brown, Giron, Romo
by Deborah Jowitt
    "'Force of Circumstance,' unlooses six gifted performers in juicy, expansive movements. They catapult into the air, knees bent, like frogs startled from rest; plunge into one-armed handstands; splay into leaps; curl their arms through unresisting air."
The Village Voice

REVIEW:   inkBoat
Loss leader
c(H)ord
USA, San Francisco, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Dancers: Rudstrom
by Robert Avila
    "the sense of life's transitory, muddled magic was distilled so wonderfully here that for a time we glimpsed an aboriginal point of entry: when the first humans were a loose-knit tribe of sensuous, wondering wanderers arriving from nowhere."
San Francisco Bay Area Guardian

Studying drama and dance in the UK
    "There are a few misconceptions about studying drama or dance at degree level. The biggest one is that it's a soft option subject ..."
Guardian Education

Preview: dance at the Spoleto Festival (US)
'Rite of Spring' in new landscape
by Steven Brown
    "Maalem, a part-French native of Algeria, has marshaled 14 dancers from Mali, Benin, Nigeria and Senegal. His choreography and Stravinsky's music drive them into explosions of shaking, stamping and jumping ..."
Charlotte Observer

Jerome Robbins
A Brilliant Tyrant
by Rebecca Milzoff
    "At the end of the day, he kept you guessing. Did he like you? Did he like you more than the day before? Did he like you less? And I’ll tell you - I never knew."
New York Magazine

Joffrey's new home
Joffrey Ballet's MoMo brings some muscle to State Street
by Blair Kamin
    "Some day soon, you'll be able to stand at the corner of State and Randolph and see lithe ballet dancers pirouetting in the practice rooms of the new 31-story condo high-rise where the Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet will have its headquarters."
Chicago Tribune

Shen Wei to Choreograph Olympic Ceremony
    "The New York-based choreographer Shen Wei has been tapped to serve as a lead creative consultant and the principal choreographer for the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremonies."
New York Sun

Risk-takers rewarded by Isadora Duncan Awards
by Rachel Howard
    "One of the great strengths of the Bay Area's booming dance scene is its wild diversity, a spectacle the Bay Area Dance Awards captures in its striking spectrum of nominees."
San Francisco Chronicle

Preview: Sara Shelton Mann, San Francisco
by Rita Felciano
    "'For the Record' ... examines the relationship between the body dancing and the body politic with three separate programs. Few in the Bay Area dance world have examined this nexus more extensively than Sara Shelton Mann ..."
San Francisco Bay Guardian

Carlos Quenedit
Defecting Cuban dancer to perform here
by Jordan Levin
    "Another leading Cuban dancer has defected to the United States and will perform in South Florida next weekend, the fourth Cuban ballet performer to come to the United States in as many months."
Miami Herald

Australian Dance Awards 2008
    "The Australian Dance Awards Awards identify Australian dance professionals, both in Australia and overseas, who have distinguished themselves in performance, choreography, design, dance writing, teaching and the many other related professions inextricably woven into dance."
Australian Stage

Curtain rises on int'l dance festival in Birmingham (England)
    "The month-long festival, which began Monday with street performances, promises a world-class program across the city that encompasses all styles of dance catering to diverse audiences of all ages, from modern dance to ballet and Bollywood."
China View

Preview: Vandekeybus' Ultima Vez at UCLA
by Susan Josephs
    "I'm probably not going to read what you write," he (Vandekeybus) told this reporter. "The minute everyone says my work is fantastic, I start to feel paranoid. Occasionally, I find there's something to learn from a negative review, but for the most part, I'm not really interested in reading a description of how my dancers throw the bricks. I know how they throw the bricks."
Los Angeles Times

Preview: European Ballet's Sleeping Beauty in Littlehampton (UK)
    "Highly respected, award-winning dancers from Russia, Italy, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany and the UK will perform in this beautiful production."
Littlehampton Gazette

Mao's Last Dancer shooting begins in Sydney
    "At age 11, Li Cunxin was plucked from a poor Chinese village by the country's cultural delegates and taken to Beijing to study ballet."
ABC net

REVIEW:   New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet Opens Its Season
Jerome Robbins gala: Circus Polka, The Four Seasons, West Side Story Suite
USA, New York, State Theater
Dancers: Angle, Bouder, Carmena, Fairchild, Hendrickson, La Fosse, Mearns, Millepied, Neal, Rutherford, Ulbricht
by Joel Lobenthal
    "NYCB’s dancers, however, performed West Side Story Suit