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INTERVIEWS | By Apollinaire Scherr

In the Studio with Jerome Robbins

“Fiddler on the Roof” returned to Broadway this month, with London-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter maintaining most of the original steps but relaxing the dancers’ postures and loosening the dances’ spacing for an effect of chaotic feeling erupting at ritual moments that I suspect Robbins would have loved. In any case, it seemed like a good moment to reprint a short Newsday feature as well as uncut interviews with some of Robbins’ favorite dancers, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wendy Whelan and Damian Woetzel, conducted on the occasion of an exhilarating and comprehensive Robbins Celebration at New York City Ballet in 2008. All three of these brilliant...

REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

A New Nutcracker

It’s no secret that “The Nutcracker,” a children’s book written by E.T.A. Hoffman and originally choreographed in 1892 by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to the glorious music of Tchaikovsky, has been a cash cow for ballet troupes worldwide—at least since George Balanchine created his beloved version in 1954 for New York City Ballet, with other major (and minor) companies following suit.

REVIEWS | By Claudia Lawson

New Breed

“New Breed” is the brain child of Sydney Dance Company's artistic director Rafael Bonachela. Now in its second year, the “New Breed” programme gives four up-and-coming choreographers the opportunity to create works on the dancers of the Sydney Dance Company. For these chosen four, “New Breed”provides a springboard to transition from dancer to choreographer. The initiative comes with all the creative support and infrastructure of the Sydney Dance Company—the choreographers have access to dancers, studios, costume and lighting design, and all four works premiere at Sydney’s Carriageworks theatre. The concept is beautifully simple, but still astonishingly rare in performing arts.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Dancing in the Light

“Conceal | Reveal” marks the twentieth anniversary of the collaboration between choreographer Russell Maliphant and lighting designer Michael Hulls. The programme featured two new works alongside their past work, “Broken Fall” originally performed by Sylvie Guillem and BalletBoyz. Bayerisches Staatsballett also makes a guest appearance with “Spiral Pass,” a work Maliphant was commissioned to create on the company in 2014.

REVIEWS | By Claudia Lawson

Ochres

“Ochres” was a watershed production for Bangarra Dance Theatre, Australia’s first Indigenous dance company. First performed in 1994, it was a defining moment for the then fledgling company, leading to sell-out shows and critical acclaim. At the time, the work was a bold statement, blending traditional and contemporary dance, while bravely highlighting modern day struggles overlaid on a rich cultural history. Two decades later, and the company’s artistic director, the indomitable Stephen Page, has revived the iconic work in to mark both the production and the company’s 21-year milestone.

REVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Social Dance

Small but mighty is an apt description for the spitfire dancer/choreographer, Camille A. Brown, whose latest work made its West Coast debut last weekend in the City of Angels. (The piece, currently on a 10-city tour, bowed in September at New York’s Joyce Theater to kick off that venue’s fall season.) Drawing upon childhood games, nursery rhymes and call-and-response chants, as well as being inspired by Kyra D. Gaunt’s book, The Games Black Girls Play, Brown, who also directed the cast of six women, explores black female identity and empowerment.

INTERVIEWS | By Victoria Looseleaf

Dare to Dance

“I'm interested in the democratization of dance and theater, and redefining what constitutes a stage—both aesthetically and socially.” That’s Sarah Elgart speaking, a force of nature who has been at the forefront of dance in L.A. as a choreographer, director and producer for more than three decades. Still model-thin with blue eyes and long blonde hair, Elgart has not only engaged audiences with site-specific projects that have transformed bus terminals, airports and museums into veritable action paintings, but she’s also choreographed for film, commercials and television, working with high-profile directors that include Catherine Hardwicke, David Lynch and J. J. Abrams.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

A Passing Cloud

Royal New Zealand Ballet returned in November to the UK for the first time in four years with a mixed programme celebrating New Zealand’s heritage and culture. The four works switch effortlessly between contemporary and classical dance showcasing the versatility of this young and energetic company of dancers.

REVIEWS | By Sara Veale

Womanpower

Together self-declared “dance artists” Eleanor Sikorski and Flora Wellesley Wesley are Nora, a spirited double act with a deliciously irreverent feminist streak. The pair studied together at London Contemporary Dance School and recently premiered their first evening-length programme, a triple bill of duets they conceived in conjunction with four guest choreographers: Jonathan Burrows, Matteo Fargion, Simon Tanguy and Liz Aggiss.

REVIEWS | By Apollinaire Scherr

The intrigues of Brian Reeder

When American Ballet Theatre principal Michele Wiles founded BalletNext with New York City Ballet alum Charles Askegard shortly after decamping from ABT in 2011, the plan seemed to be the usual ballet-star vanity project: gala fare alternating with good to terrible contemporary vehicles for the dancer-directors and their guests. This proved true for the first season. But by 2014 Wiles, now alone at the helm, had largely given up on other choreographers, taking on the job herself with an assist from Brooklyn flexmeister Jay Donn in a cartoonish play of opposites.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Subtle Shifts

Christian Rizzo’s “d’après une histoire vraie” is based on Rizzo’s personal memories of a Turkish folk dance he saw at a festival in Istanbul. These memories are carried into the steps of his dance and captured in the informal, communal spirit between the dancers on stage.

REVIEWS | By Rachel Elderkin

Dance Lab

Phoenix Dance Theatre returned for the fourth time to the Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House London with a triple bill of new and recently commissioned works. Phoenix is a company with a diverse repertoire and while a programme will always exhibit the technical strength of their dancers, it’s a pleasure to not quite know what to expect.

Featured Reads

REVIEWS | Lorna Irvine

Teenage Angst and Institutions

Watching Matthew Bourne's reworked version of the “star-cross'd lovers,” I was briefly reminded of Veronica, played by Winona Ryder, in the dark 1988 comedy by Daniel Waters and Michael Lehmann, Heathers, and her line, “my teen angst bullshit has a body count.” Yes, this is the darker side of Bourne's repertoire,...

INTERVIEWS | Marina Harss

The Me of Today

The choreographer Alexei Ratmansky reflects on the war in Ukraine, the connection between geopolitics and ballet, and joining the house of Balanchine.

REVIEWS | Rachel Howard

Starry Nights

Beneath blue California skies, manicured trees, and the occasional hum of an overhead airplane, Tamara Rojo took the Frost Amphitheater stage at Stanford University to introduce herself as the new artistic director of San Francisco Ballet.

REVIEWS | Faye Arthurs

America, F**K Yeah

After a week of the well-balanced meal that is “Jewels”—the nutritive, potentially tedious, leafy greens of “Emeralds,” the gamy, carnivorous “Rubies,” and the decadent, shiny white mountains of meringue in “Diamonds”—the New York City Ballet continued its 75th Anniversary All-Balanchine Fall Season with rather more dyspeptic fare.

REVIEWS | Emily May

Acosta Danza’s Choreographic Soup

An “Ajiaco” is a type of soup common to Colombia, Cuba, and Peru that combines a variety of different vegetables, spices, and meats.