Ask a hundred people what musicality is, and you’re likely to get a hundred different answers. “Musicality is where an artist’s personality shines brightest,” says Smuin Contemporary Ballet member Ben Needham-Wood. For American Ballet Theatre soloist Skylar Brandt, “it’s what distinguishes one dancer from another. It helps me express myself more vividly and emotionally.” Teachers […]
One of the most inspiring things to witness over the past couple of months has been the incredible displays of solidarity among dancers and dance companies. None have been left untouched by this crisis, and so many have banned together to help each other out. American Ballet Theatre’s Misty Copeland and her former colleague Joseph […]
One of the unfortunate consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is that most upcoming ballet competitions have been cancelled or postponed. But the world’s largest scholarship competition, Youth America Grand Prix, is finding another way to reach out to its community. Following in the footsteps of a number of major dancers and platforms, YAGP is now […]
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve rounded up some highlights. These 11 Companies Are Celebrating Valentine’s Day With Romantic Story Ballets Valentine’s Day creates the perfect opportunity for companies to share romantic story ballets with their audiences. Below, check out 11 companies presenting the classics this week. (We’ll pretend most of them […]
Erica Lall, a member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet, accomplished an impressive feat this spring: she danced in every single one of ABT’s spring Metropolitan Opera House season performances. That’s 64 shows—actually, as Lall notes, “it would technically be 69 shows at the Met,” since she performed in all of the ABTKids performances […]
Being coached by a treasure like former Kirov prima Irina Kolpakova is an experience most dancers only dream of. But company members at American Ballet Theatre have been the lucky beneficiaries of her wisdom since 1990. Thanks to Instagram, where pros like Gillian Murphy and James Whiteside share snippets of their sessions with Kolpakova, any […]
Story ballets that debut during American Ballet Theatre’s spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House are always the subject of much curiosity—and, sometimes, much debate. Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre was no different. The ballet follows the eponymous heroine of Charlotte Brönte’s novel as she grows from a willful orphan to a self-possessed governess, charting her […]
Choosing music for your first-ever choreography commission can feel daunting enough. But when you’re asked to create a ballet using the vast discography of the Rolling Stones—and you happen to be dating Stones frontman Mick Jagger—the stakes are even higher. So it’s understandable that as of Monday, American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet dancer Melanie […]