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“I don’t want to enroll my son in dance class because I’m scared/worried/convinced it will make him gay.” We’ve all heard some variation on this one, right? Someone we’d never expect to hear it from: television personality and Hollywood gossip columnist Perez Hilton. Wait, you might be saying. Isn’t he gay? Yes. Which makes this […]
Choreographer Travis Wall recently shared a video he directed and produced about the struggle of dealing with homophobia. The Shaping Sound artistic director, who is openly gay, pairs his contemporary style with an acoustic cover of “This Is Me” from the Grammy-nominated musical The Greatest Showman, performed by Broadway’s Shoshana Bean, and the result is […]
As hundreds of thousands of students across the country participated in school walkouts and marches over the past few weeks, protesting school shootings and gun violence in America, one group of young comp kids decided to take a stand through dance. And the resulting video is truly powerful. Choreographed and directed by Chelsea Jennings, the […]
When someone tells you dance class isn’t as important as say, algebra class, there’s now solid evidence to prove he or she wrong. Sir Ken Robinson, an advisor on education in the arts to government, recently made a case on Ted.com that dance education should be treated as equal, if not more important, due to […]
In a windowless subterranean studio under the New York State Theater, I pulled back an imaginary arrow and let it fly. “Good!” said ballet master Tommy Abbott. “I think you’re ready. Tomorrow you rehearse with Mr. Robbins.” I was slated to play Cupid in Jerome Robbins’ compilation of fairy tales called Mother Goose. It was […]
Today in Ballet Dancers Are Actual Superheroes news: You’ve no doubt heard that the fabulous Alicia Vikander is playing Lara Croft in the newest iteration of Tomb Raider, which hits movie theaters this Friday. But while her training for the high-octane action role was crazy tough, she says, studying at the Royal Swedish Ballet Schoolwas […]
Once Adriana Pierce caught the choreography bug as a teenager, dancemaking came naturally. More difficult was navigating the tricky situations that would arise when choreographing on classmates and friends. “If a rehearsal didn’t go well, I’d worry that people didn’t respect me or didn’t like my work,” says Pierce, who went on to participate in […]
While teaching a modern class during a two-week residency at The Debbie Allen Dance Academy in Los Angeles, choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie captured a bit of magic. Twelve-year-old C’Mora Magee was singled out by Moultrie, who’s choreographed for Beyoncé and Dance Theatre of Harlem, to perform the combination to “Lost Boys,” by Crystal Monee Hall, […]
Depending upon whom you ask, there are different approaches to mastering the art of turning. Whether it’s fouetté turns or a single pirouette, every teacher tends to have their own unique way to break down the physics of pulling off balance, strong arms and quick spotting to students. And here’s one more visual to consider, […]
The double time-step is a foundational tap step that Denise Caston says often pops up in Broadway auditions. In fact, auditionees are frequently asked to demonstrate the time-step one by one. “Choreographers want to know: Can you learn it quickly? Can you keep time? Can you stylize it while doing both of those things? And […]