KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville dancer isn't letting disabilities stop her from doing what she loves. In fact, 18-year-old Becca Jones embraces her differences on the dance floor. Inside Royal Youth Dance Ensemble, Jones may move with her feet, but she dances with her heart. "Dance means freedom," Jones said. "It's a chance to be myself and express my emotions." Not only that, but she's able to share her story. In one of her most recent choreographed dances to "Lost Boy" by Ruth B., she dances with a prop: part

No one but her puppy, Alfie, was with Ayla Ciccone-Burton when she heard the good news from her agent. “I got up at the dog park in front of all these people that I don’t know,” she said. “I’m just running around, full screaming, telling my dog that I’m going to be on Broadway.” “He didn’t care,” she added, and laughed an effervescent laugh. She loves him anyway. Like most performers, Ciccone-Burton won’t be playing a starring role in her show. She’ll be singing and dancing in the ensemble —

There’s an old saying that dancers should be seen and not heard. James LaRose, who is slated at age 27 to be the new artistic director for La Mesa-based Kidz Danz Kompany, supports an opposing idea. “We give our children a voice and we listen to what they have to say,” he said after a recent rehearsal for the upcoming production of “Cinderella and Cinderfella.” “We take into consideration their thoughts and feelings and what they are going through.” Read more @ https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/story/2021-08-29/dancer-steps-up-with-a-bold-vision-for-his-health-for-his-soul-for-the-kids

Along Main Street, Wiscasset Thursday night, dancers’ feet were leaving the ground and coming back down, and a towering bird was walking around without touching the ground. Dance Maineia from Waldoboro and the stilt walker from Connecticut-based Mortal Beasts and Deities were part of Wiscasset Art Walk. So were a Boothbay man and his guitar, and a Bowdoin College student with a book he wrote. Boothbay’s Rick Turcotte played on his jumbo, handmade Collings guitar he said is like the old Gibsons, and is the best thing he has ever owned. He

Before stepping on the dance floor, actress and YouTube personality JoJo Siwa is already making history — as the first Dancing with the Stars contestant to be matched with a same-sex partner. "I am so excited to be a part of 'Dancing With the Stars,' Season 30, and to be dancing with a girl," Siwa said in a tweet. "I think it's so cool." Siwa's partner will be introduced on the season premiere airing on Sept. 20. "I think it's cool. I think it breaks a wall that's never been done before," Siwa

In spring, Siara Fuller, the artistic director of Charlotte Performing Arts Academy in North Carolina, brought a group of students to a dance competition in Fort Mill, S.C. It was, in many ways, an ordinary weekend within the extraordinary world of competitive dance: Hundreds of young dancers assembled at a convention center, donned glittery costumes and giant false lashes, and presented spit-polished routines for a panel of judges. (Because of Covid-19, the dancers accessorized with face masks.) Read more @ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/arts/dance/competitive-dance.html

“Pivot”, in the metaphorical sense of shifting course to adapt — it’s become a bit of a dance world cliché over the course of COVID (and yes, there’s a sort of obvious pun there, too). All humor aside, Nozama Dance Collective’s N2 made me think of that sense of pivoting. For one, it’s the Boston-based company’s first program since leadership shifted hands — to the new Artistic Director Dana Alsamsam. For two, the performance was to take place outdoors — in a park, lush with summer growth — but Mother

A group of ballet schools is to abolish leotards and tights to make transgender performers more comfortable. Loose-fitting clothing will instead be promoted to accommodate transgender dancers who may be self-conscious about their bodies. New guidelines have been adopted by the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, whose member schools include the London Contemporary Dance School, Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the Rambert School and the Central School of Ballet. Read more @ https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ballet-leotards-ditched-to-help-transgender-dancers-pn2mbbrsf