by Sarah McKenna Barry | Dec 14, 2023 | Everything "Nutcracker", The Latest
As we inch closer to the holidays, ballet schools and companies around the world are gearing up for performances of Nutcracker. For many young dancers, this is their entry point into live performance. And, for a number of children in elite ballet schools, the next few...
by Kyra Laubacher | Sep 19, 2023 | News, Onstage, The Latest
Seven years ago, world-renowned choreographers Vasily Medvedev and Stanislav Fečo founded the Petipa Heritage Foundation. Their goal: to preserve, restore, and enhance the works of Marius Petipa, the father of classical ballet. Together, Medvedev and Fečo have...
by Lydia Murray | Aug 16, 2022 | Black History Month, Dance History, Profiles
History’s rare gems often languish in the shadows of what might have been, and ballet is no exception. Those credited with shaping the artform—usually choreographers, principal dancers and impresarios—become legends, while corps de ballet members mostly go...
by Steve Sucato | Mar 30, 2022 | Onstage, The Latest
On April 3, Dutch National Ballet presents the crown jewel in its 60th-anniversary season: a new, full-length production of Raymonda, the company’s first. “Raymonda is one of the greatest classical ballets,” says DNB artistic director Ted Brandsen. “It is...
by Julia Rosica | Aug 4, 2020 | Dance History, Instagram, The Latest, Training
Pointe shoes, with their ability to elevate a dancer both literally and metaphorically to a superhuman realm, are the ultimate symbol of a ballerina’s ethereality and hard work. For students, receiving a first pair of pointe shoes is a rite of passage. The shoes...
by Amy Brandt | May 10, 2020 | News, The Latest
Here’s something new to add to your quarantine watch list: Marius Petipa: The French Master of Russian Ballet, a new documentary by Icarus Films. Directed by Denis Sneguirev, the doc (which will be available for streaming and on DVD starting May 12) explores the...
by Joseph Carman | Jun 10, 2018 | Career, Dance History
Two hundred is the new 30. Or at least it seems so for Marius Petipa, whose ballets are as active as ever as we celebrate his 200th birthday this year. Nearly all major ballet companies dance Petipa’s iconic ballets, which reflect his prolific creative output....
by Marina Harss | Nov 24, 2015 | Career, Dance History
This story originally appeared in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of Pointe. It’s a truth often repeated about ballet that it is an art with a strong oral tradition, handed down from generation to generation. Aspiring dancers learn the same steps that their...