When Pointe featured Romi Beppu in its Spring 2003 issue, the young dancer had just performed her first principal role with Boston Ballet: the lead in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly. “That was an exhilarating time for me, and the article was such a confidence booster,” she recalls. “I was so excited to be in the […]
A roundup of recent honors in the ballet world Muriel Maffre, a former principal with San Francisco Ballet who now performs as a guest artist with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, was named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. In October, Pacific Northwest Ballet principal Olivier Wevers received […]
It was Tulsa Ballet Artistic Director Marcello Angelini’s dream to build a world-class company from the moment he decided to give up his career as a dancer and take artistic control of TB in 1995. Some would say that he has succeeded, and perhaps because he’s still a dancer at heart, his company is one […]
When Angel Corella walks into Cafe Mozart near Lincoln Center for his interview in mid-May, it’s a blustery, rain-soaked afternoon that has kept most New Yorkers inside. But one look at the American Ballet Theatre superstar, and you’d think it was a perfect spring day. In person, Corella bursts with the same effervescent sparkle he […]
During Nutcracker season, when Christopher Ruud was a young student at the San Francisco Ballet School, he often eluded his chaperone to lead his fellow boy party guests through the catacombs and across the catwalks of the War Memorial Opera House. This historic theater was a backdrop to Ruud’s childhood even before his formal training […]
MYTH: The guys in ballet are all gay. “Let’s just say guys in ballet are guys. And some are gay, and they’re great; some aren’t, and they’re great. They’re all just humans, like the rest of us.” —Peter Boal, artistic director, Pacific Northwest Ballet “San Francisco is known for its gay community, but there are […]
The transition from one artistic director to another is a time of change, especially for dancers, who often must adapt to a new style almost as quickly as they learn their next roles. Sometimes audiences feel a strain, too. In 2003, when Houston Ballet Artistic Director Emeritus Ben Stevenson stepped down and Stanton Welch, former […]
Forget the dinky rubber snake prop that “bites” Nikiya in traditional productions of La Bayadère: Stanton Welch’s re-imagination of the classic ballet, which Houston Ballet will premiere this February, features not one but five varieties of live (non-venomous) snakes! “Snakes are so provocative and full of innuendo,” says Welch of his unorthodox choice. Splashy […]