by Julia Rosica | Aug 21, 2019 | TBT
Updated on 8/5/2020 French ballerina Zizi Jeanmaire first gained fame when she premiered the titular title role in Roland Petit’s Carmen in 1949, opposite Petit as Carmen’s lover Don José. With her famously cropped hair (and cropped tutu!),...
by Julia Rosica | Jun 19, 2019 | TBT
Tetsuya Kumakawa, a former principal with The Royal Ballet and the founder and artistic director of K-Ballet in Tokyo, could make an audience gasp with his wildly powerful and inventive allegro. A boyish, dare-devil dancer, Kumakawa was a natural fit for roles like...
by Julia Rosica | Jun 5, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
Fairies crop up everywhere in classical ballet, from sylphs to dryads to, of course, the ranks of fairies who attend Aurora’s christening in The Sleeping Beauty. These delicate and mystical creatures stretch the reaches of ballet technique, forcing dancers to...
by Julia Rosica | May 15, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
The Soviet Union redefined standards in classical ballet in the 1960s, producing opulent story ballets and dancers with refined, yet daring technique. Dancers like Natalia Makarova and Valery Panov, who were among the leading performers with the Kirov Ballet (now the...
by Julia Rosica | Apr 17, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
In the early years of professional ballet in the United States, influential American dancers played key roles in changing perspectives of ballet as a strictly European art form. Maria Tallchief and Royes Fernandez were among those dancers who helped establish and...
by Chava Pearl Lansky | Apr 10, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
The Youth America Grand Prix New York Finals are starting up again this week, running April 12-19. This year, YAGP is celebrating its 20th anniversary. April 18-19 marks the competition’s annual Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow gala, featuring 13 pros...
by Julia Rosica | Apr 3, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
The Diana and Actaeon pas de deux, from the ballet La Esmeralda, is a bravura tableaux ideal for festivals and galas. In this clip, we see Viengsay Valdés and her frequent partner Romel Frometa perform the piece at Japan’s 2006 World Ballet Festival. Valdés,...
by Julia Rosica | Mar 20, 2019 | Profiles, TBT
Tamara Rojo joined the elite, though thankfully growing, roster of female ballet company directors seven years ago when she took the helm at English National Ballet. Since then she’s managed the even more uncommon feat of continuing to perform as a leading...