There’s nothing judges love more than sparkling-clean choreography. Keeping competition routines in tip-top shape is always labor-intensive—but especially when the number is the work of a guest choreographer, who may have set it months ago and probably isn’t available to oversee the cleaning process. Here’s how to polish even the smallest details of a guest […]
David Roussève has spent the last 35 years creating dance theater work that’s both fiercely political and personal. He took on AIDS with The Whispers of Angels (1995), same-sex marriage with Jumping the Broom (2005) and the Twitter generation with Stardust (2014). Dance writer Deborah Jowitt characterizes his work as treading “a fine line…between gritty […]
In February, San Francisco Ballet principal Dores André will originate the 11th role of her 15-year professional career with Trey McIntyre’s highly anticipated new work, The Big Hunger. The work is inspired by the big hunger/little hunger philosophies of the bushmen in the Kalahari desert. “Little hunger” represents the superficial desires we focus on during […]
When Alicia Burghardt entered Dean College in Massachusetts as a freshman dance major, it hadn’t occurred to her that the Boston Celtics had a dance team. A competition kid with aspirations for Broadway, Burghardt never imagined herself as an NBA dancer. But by the time she was finishing her senior year, she’d not only joined […]
Tony Award–winning tapper Savion Glover is giving back to his hometown community in Newark, New Jersey, by directing and choreographing New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s revival of the Broadway hit that launched his career, The Tap Dance Kid. September 13–15, you can see the group of young dancers Glover handpicked from throughout the New Jersey […]
Self-choreographed solos are becoming increasingly popular on the competition circuit these days, leading dance teachers to incorporate more creative mentoring into their rehearsal and class schedules. In this new world of developing both technical training and choreographic prowess, finding the right balance of assisting without totally hijacking a student’s choreographic process can be difficult. To […]
Broadway choreographer Danny Daniels passed away on July 7 in Santa Monica, California, at age 92. Daniels was known for his choreography in musicals, such as Walking Happy, Annie Get Your Gun and The Tap Dance Kid, for which he won the 1984 Tony Award for best choreography. Daniels was born Daniel Giagni Jr. in […]
Music turns choreographers on. They listen all the time, looking for inspiration. From Bach to rap, there are more than enough choices to satisfy even the most particular. But it’s not simply a matter of choosing what they like. When selecting music for movement they have to find something that complements and enhances the work. […]