Dancing back into the spotlight
The nonprofit New Mexico Dance Coalition’s board decided to proceed with this year’s festival, so a call went out in a group email in May. The response was tepid, says Jasmine Quinsier, who helps organize the event. “I was freaking out. I thought, ‘I’d better be brushing up on my own dancing.’” Then, after vaccination rates increased to the point that the Governor opened things up in July, everything changed. “All of a sudden, wham, everybody starting coming out of the woodwork,” she says. “I had to
‘I want to be a professional dancer,’ 12-year-old shares lifelong love of performing
CHICOPEE, Mass. - London Stinson, 12, has been dancing pretty much his entire life. "When I started dancing, I was like 2," Stinson said. "I want to be a professional dancer, but I have to practice a lot, like a lot." He spends about three days a week at the Dance Center in Chicopee. The studio is owned by his mother. "I do hip hop, acro, ballet, lyrical, modern," Stinson said. "I do a lot, basically all of it." Read more @ https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2021/08/05/12-year-old-dancer-chicopee
Northrop announces 2021-22 ‘collage season’ of in-person performances, music and films
Every arts organization that stayed active during COVID had to adapt to strange, shifting realities: no live performances, no live audiences, evolving safety protocols and no end in sight. Seasons were announced, revised and announced again. For Northrop, which presents a dance season and a music season each year, COVID meant canceling big-name events at the end of 2019-20, delaying its 2020-21 announcement, moving several previously scheduled events from stage to screens and lighting a fire under a commissioning program. Because we’re writing this during the Olympics, an image
Bhangra: A journey from India’s wheat fields to the US White House
The Indian dance form is now taught in several studios in the West and it's become all the rage in colleges and universities, too. Lithe and graceful Manpreet Toor, who lives in the Bay Area in the US, is a famous figure in the South Asian dance scene. She fuses Bhangra, Bollywood, hip hop and giddha- which is the female counterpart of the Bhangra- a folk dance for women in Punjab, India. Bhangra has come a long way from its humble, rural beginnings. Bhangra has been a traditional male dance performed
Dance Review: Evocative tribute to Odissi dance in Apsaras Arts’ showcase
A careful curation of space and shadow elements in the opening segment of the showcase created an ethereal effect when light reflected off dancer Kalaivani Kumaresan's ornate silver jewellery and headgear - both trademark elements of Odissi dance. The artistes chose an interesting focal point - the Puri Jagannath Temple - for the four-part performance. An important centre of social and artistic exchange, the mediaeval temple in Odisha has survived till the present day. Apsaras' revamped filming space at Goodman Arts Centre - coined Avai (congregation of the like-minded
Buffalo’s Dance Community: Reimaging, Restoring, Celebrating
Buffalo, New York has a celebrated history for its repertoire of outstanding music and musicians, visual arts and artists, and superb theater. But, it’s important not to overlook dance and dancers in the Queen City. Over the years many of you may have heard folks talking about Buffalo City Ballet, Gemini Dance Company, Empire State Ballet, Pick of the Crop Dance, Festival Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, Miss Barbara’s School of Dance, Matthew Clark’s Dance Academy, Buffalo Ballet Theater, Neglia Ballet, and Floorplay, among others. Then, beginning
Dancing away the blues
A choreographer, performer and a dance teacher. in addition to these roles, Odissi exponent Mahika Sampat is now taking online workshops on Odissi in a bid to popularise the dance form. Through the eight-day (45 minutes per day) workshop, Sampat throws light on the history and evolution of this dance form, and keeps the last day for fun quizzes and mini dance shows by students. “Odissi is culturally as rich as Kathak and Bharatanatayam, but it is comparatively under-rated; not many talk about it. I want to motivate
Contemporary, African dancers get kids involved with dance at Joy Park
An interactive dance event at Akron's Joy Park Community Center was all about building bridges Wednesday as Inlet Dance Theatre and the West African dance company from Djapo Cultural Arts Institute got kids involved with dance. Twelve children watched performances by the dance companies, some shouting out in wonder as two male contemporary dancers from Inlet performed "Equals," a superhuman balancing act reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil. The program ranged from the upbeat USO-themed "War Effort Eves" dance by Inlet to a fierce war dance performed by Christian Mintah and El-drick Aboagye, who
All about Bharatanatyam’s adavus
For a beginner, adavus are the most boring part of Bharatanatyam. The drudgery of repetition can have a robotic effect. Leela Samson’s ‘Aesthetics in the Adavu’ for the Indian Performing Arts Convention Australia 2021, earlier known as Dance India Asia Pacific, broke these stereotypes to throw new light on the humble adavu. IPAC 21, a digital version of the 10th annual festival, was curated by Aravinth Kumarasamy, artistic director, Apsaras Arts, Singapore, in collaboration with Monash University and Academy of Indian Music, Australia, along with creative collaborator, Aalaap. Leela
Nurses surprise 5-year-old dancer who missed recital due to hospital visit
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - An unexpected hospital visit almost made a little girl miss her first dance recital in Evansville. 5-year-old Ruby Miller came down with an ear infection and was going to be in the hospital the night of the recital. Once the nurses at Ascension St. Vincent heard the news, they quickly put together a stage so Miller could have her big day. With that stage, Miller was able to perform for her family and hospital staff. 14 News is happy to report that Miller is doing better