Voice of Dance

"First lady Michelle Obama has announced that several of the world's best-known dance companies will perform in the White House East Room next week for the Obama administration's first event celebrating dance."

"On Oct. 4, Mikhail Baryshnikov will perform as part of a special benefit program to introduce a new collaboration between the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Baryshnikov Arts Center."

After the summer lull, the Bay Area dance scene shifts rapidly into fourth gear with a globe-spanning array of choreographers and companies who have transformed the way we think about movement.

"IMAGINE an alternative universe where dancers are treated like celebrities: recognized in public, lavished with gifts, fawned over by fans."

"So you think you can dance is heating up now that they are down to the top 3 finalist. "

"How can ballet reflect the world we know — and, in particular, how men and women relate to each other today?"

“Nacho Duato will be the first foreigner to lead a Russian ballet company in more than 100 years.”

“"Many Parkinson's patients will freeze. But if there's music playing with a constant steady beat, it's almost like a reminder to keep stepping," said Leilani Pearl, director of communications with the National Parkinson Foundation.”

“While the judges heaped praise and predicted that Lauren and Kent would make up the top two, I’m now a Billy believer: I hope he makes it to the finale.”

“News isn't much of a surprise to most legiters, who have watched the production's attendance erode throughout the summer.”

“The objective, instead, was to bring in choreographers who could play with a concept that Cunningham himself created for performances he called "events," in which he would take previously created choreography and reshape it for a new venue.”

“The Bolshoi Ballet's Giselle is a ropey production with an extraordinary heroine at its heart.”

“With the expiration of its lease in Chelsea approaching and a promised move to ground zero still remote, the group has been forced to consider alternative sites where it might have to move after 35 years on Eighth Avenue.”

“Dance and interpretation have rarely seemed prettier, more bewitching.”

““Chui Chai” is not principally about dance or theater; it’s an inconclusive, artistically tepid theory about the climate change in Thai culture.”

“New York City Center's seventh annual Fall for Dance Festival, running September 28 - October 9, will showcase 20 national and international companies and choreographers.”

“The show is least effective when the dancing gives way completely to vocal numbers, and at times it’s a bit too self-indulgent, as many autobiographical ventures tend to be.”

“The event is an offshoot of the bigger International Queer Tango Festival, which was launched in 2007 to increase interest in the dance among the gay community in the country, which became the first nation in Latin America to allow gay marriage this month.”

"'Dance choreography is fast becoming an attractive and lucrative career option, one that many students are turning to.'"

“There’s a constant contrast between the sleek lines of the shapes and lines he demonstrates and the gaunt, severe tension of his face and hands.”

“The very next thing you learn, fortunately, is that Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk also possess the true dancer’s intrinsic talents such as musicality and the glowing energy of artistry.”

“This is the final week for filming dance scenes in the psychological thriller Black Swan, opening later this year.”

“Tall, handsome and authoritative, Ms. Jacoby and Mr. Pronk take to the stage with the drop-dead cool of supermodels.”

“Anybody can try it,” said Talia Castro-Pozo, the chief instructor, who leads the lesson and often stays on to advise dancers on how to improve their performance or just to dance.”

“Their life is a series of overcoming language barriers, unpacking and re-packing suitcases, and passing through customs, and most of them say they wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“Is it just bad luck, or are the dancers perhaps being pushed too hard this season?”

“The Ailey School is mourning the loss of its director Denise Jefferson, who passed away Saturday after a battle with ovarian cancer.”

“Words, dance, translation, cultural commentary, lighting, music — all add discrete but overlapping zones of beauty, meaning, drama.”

“The City Ballet spokesman, Rob Daniels, confirmed the departure of Mr. Martins — the son of Peter Martins, the ballet master in chief — after the company’s brochure for next season appeared without the dancer’s name, although he is still listed on City Ballet’s Web site”

"It was inspired programming that gave rise to an evening of great charm and even revelation."

"While the work doesn’t herald a fresh choreographic voice within the Pilobolus family, the pairing of Mr. Zanes’s music and Liz Prince’s costumes lends a certain dreaminess to the production."

"His dream, though, is not to take over an established Cuban company, but to create a new one"

"The power to transform Spartacus from Soviet museum piece to living classic lies primarily in its lead dancer – and the Bolshoi's Ivan Vasiliev is beyond compelling."

“The arrival of the Bolshoi, who this week kick off their summer season at the Royal Opera House, has always been big news.”

“Though dance is certainly not the only art form to benefit from REDCAT's programming, Gamson thinks the NOW Festival and Studio, REDCAT's other new quarterly works program, "have a lot of significance to the dance community in L.A.”

“The three sold out performances drew record breaking crowds and raised $253,000 for Dancers Responding to AIDS.”

“The pot pourri also included a pas de deux from the company’s decidedly rum version of Spartacus over which it is best to draw a veil and the Legats’ Fairy Doll pas de trois, still inexplicably popular for all its tooth-rotting sweetness.”

“Taylor's greatest works put the primal forces -- fear, joy, procreation -- on a pedestal.”

“This was a performance of the highest standards, not least from the corps of Wilis, the souls of jilted brides dancing as one with impeccable style; such cohesion and engagement are rare indeed.”

"“Klunchun has a foot in the two worlds of khon and contemporary dance, and his goal seems to be to nudge the traditionalists to look outward and anew at their art, while showing off the exquisite qualities of his native dance to others.”

“Cast members, weighted in fussy costumes, shuffled the stage listlessly, their bodies exhibiting as much energy as Angelenos waiting at bus stops.”

“Instead of focusing on what Lincoln stood for — or truly questioning it — Mr. Jones’s production just contributes to the static.”

“At the start of the work, the audience is separated into four groups, with each group instructed to begin in a different room, where various parts of the performance are taking place.”

“Shechter adds winding Eastern lines, thunderous drums and electric guitar, but it's the drumbeat that powers this dance.”

“Saratoga Springs, Mount Tremper and Jacob’s Pillow, in Becket, Mass., are three of the summer’s most promising dance destinations.”

“For an hour within three colour-shifting walls, Teshigawara’s dancing slips from the palsied to the buttery, with patches of alert stillness, in which he assumes a sculptural pose.”

"But while he may look the part, Acosta is ballet's reluctant idol — astonishingly talented in an art form with which he has never felt fully comfortable and that he has long fantasized of abandoning."

"Maillot is not entirely successful, however, in updating Schéhérazade’s slightly tired images of sensuality."

"As Nigel Lythgoe noted halfway through Wednesday night’s episode, it was one of the more diverse installments of “So You Think You Can Dance,” and the slight changes of scenery paid off, despite the drama that last week brought."

"Britain's new dance culture has to fight, as well as have fun, if it's going to last longer than a summer."

"Yet ironically this Swan Lake, a revival of a 1956 production by the company’s distinguished Artistic Director, Mikhail Messerer, was characterized by its lack of showmanship: I mean that as a compliment."

"A colorful spectacle in two-dimensions can readily outshine a physical one in three when the former arises from a singular imagination while the latter settles for treading known waters."

"“2 kilos of sea” is itself a compressed chunk of layers — emotional, psychological, textural — activating and unsettling its urban setting."

"Dozens of people danced in the rain in front of City Hall Tuesday, all in support of Dance New Amsterdam, or DNA, which has been given an extra month and a half to renegotiate their lease."

"Even at these speeds, the image is sharp, the colours luscious."

"His muscular organization was astounding; Mr. Teshigawara didn’t so much lift an arm as allow it to drift higher, as if it were detached from the rest of the body."

"Among the memorable “unexpected” inspirations at Saturday night’s performance of Rosenthal’s all-improvisatory TOHUBOHU! Extreme Theatre Ensemble, was a non-human element: the beautiful white dog Sasha."

"The dance world will be poorer without her at the helm of Ballet Hispanico."

"Armitage gave an informal talk about the piece before this performance last month at the theater at Cedar Lake, but it could hardly prepare the audience for the engulfing experience of her sensual response to Brian Greene’s best-selling book “The Elegant Universe.""

"Her expressions are amazing; there is something of Bjork in her pert nose, impish smile and the way her eyes flicker from innocence to amusement in a matter of seconds."

"Even if you don't like her dances, it's hard not to recognize Halprin as an improvisational genius."

"This week at Jacob’s Pillow, choreographer Barak Marshall’s “MONGER’’ casts a wittily sinister eye on divisions of power and class in a dance theater piece about servants to an invisible, presumably filthy rich mistress."

"A little dated and a little convoluted, “A-C-E One” ends up in a vaguely unsatisfying place that wavers between comedy and tragedy."

"AileyCamp, founded in 1989 and now running in 10 cities, uses dance as a way to help at-risk middle-schoolers in underserved communities practice discipline, develop self-esteem and express their creativity."

"Heat pervaded the New York City Ballet’s opening night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Tuesday—not just the weather, but the sizzling dancing."

"Of course this is a very tough break for Alex and to a lesser extent for the viewers, as last week in his hip-hop routine with tWitch he gave us a taste of how he could really blossom in other genres, potentially establishing himself as one of the fans’ (and not just judges’) favorites."

"Netherlands Dans Theater’s first programme at Sadler's Wells this week proved an inevitably sleek and noirish affair."

"The performers danced two routines each — one with an all star and one with a fellow contestant."

"“With the high rent and the recession, we didn’t earn enough money to pay the rent,” Ms. Peila said in an interview."

"In his latest piece, "Estancia," choreographer Christopher Wheeldon directs members of the New York City Ballet to buck and bray like wild colts."

"Really, at its best MacMillan’s ballet has the feel of an opulent old film, wonky in parts but elsewhere rich in visual and emotional detail."

"Nine years after he officially retired, and 12 years since he last performed this particular work, Flatley is returning as Lord of the Dance, the high-energy, percussive leader of the Irish step dance show that made his fortune."

"Utilizing postmodern strategies, Phuon and the dancers enlighten us about the style, while investigating how private emotions and more relaxed contemporary customs might take it in new directions."

"Memories flow freely, and with laughter, from Mitchell, 76, visiting Los Angeles to mark the July 4 closing of California African American Museum’s “Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts.”"

"He created works for companies around the world and he taught and administered dance programs at colleges throughout the United States, most recently at UC Irvine, from which he retired in June as a professor of dance."

"What is striking is that this rising star of New York City’s hip downtown scene is somewhat old-fashioned: Brown is a storyteller, with many tales to tell."

"In general, however, this aim for longevity and proliferation is not how ballet works."

"Her work sounds radical but embraces concepts far more ancient than "traditional" dance, based on the ritualistic urge to move."

"But it's surface stuff, and if Colker's dancers have entrusted her with their most painful personal confidences, you wouldn't know it from the turgid amalgam of free-form self-expression and entry-level jazz-ballet that she gives them in return."

"The dancers of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, now performing at Jacob’s Pillow, must be a choreographer’s dream, because every single movement and moment feels true."

"In a scenario resembling a refined version of MTV's "The Real World," with fewer piercings and more pointe shoes, Mr. Dieck will share the house—complete with a backyard fire pit—with 11 other dancers, including some apprentices as young as 17."

"The two dancers were chosen from the school’s hundreds of students not only for their promise but because they lived in the favelas, Rio’s notorious slums, and faced extra challenges of class and race."

"Anticipation is high, for the new productions and for a fresh sight of one of the world's leading companies."

"Every spring American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet play opposite each other at Lincoln Center, naturally inviting the old essay command, compare and contrast."

"As Glover makes clear, such Pillow intensives aren’t summer camps, but “professional development" opportunities for experienced dancers."

"As a production, Tap Dogs is slick and effective, with its jungle-gym set and rock-gig ambience."

"The episode started strong and ended strong."

"The idea may have been excellent, but the resulting production, premiered in 2003, is almost fatally flawed."

"In the penultimate week of its season at the house, the company is shuffling seven one-act ballets and four pas de deux into different arrangements, and on Tuesday that meant “All-Classic Masters.”"

"When the government tourism authority asked the 43-year-old to invent a dance for the 2010 World Cup, he fused his influences: Jackson, soccer and an energetic township dance called pantsula."

"Besides the intimations of mortality, everything about how this person leaves reminds you of how he or she has danced."

" It aims to expose the less-than-glamorous world of “blood, sweat and secrets” that lurks behind ballet’s tinseled romance."

"Dancers from China, Portugal and South Korea received top awards Friday at the two-week USA International Ballet Competition in Mississippi."

"I am told today we will learn that Nitin Sawhney has accepted the role of one of three new associate directors at the free-thinking Sadler's Wells."

"A citywide celebration of dance will take place in the streets, courtyards and squares of London from July 3 to 11."

"Ballroom dancing has become all the rage, due largely to the popularity of the hit TV show Dancing With the Stars and complemented by the more contemporary dance program So You Think You Can Dance."

"Neither at Pilobolus nor anywhere else have I seen this kind of dizzying overlap of cartoon, film, silhouette theater, and live dance."

"Now, as part of this year’s Vision Festival, Mr. Jordan presents his own company in a series of dance installations called “Stations,” in which he attempts to capture the essence of human development."

"Now through October, Los Angeles' two major outdoor theaters — the Ford Amphitheatre and the Hollywood Bowl — will be showcasing 20 different dance companies, each customizing the space to match artistic vision and practicality."

"Amici has been in existence for 30 years now and its latest show, Tightrope, is a typically effusive production."

"You can find thrilling black dance companies in every part of the country, a fantastic improvement over the situation 50 years ago when dancers of color could hardly find a professional troupe to join."

"On Sunday afternoon, Darci Kistler will dance her final performance at NYCB, bringing her coltish energy and graceful presence to Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra – two of Mr. B's modern classics."

"Changing public perceptions about dancers was part of what Mr. Chu had in mind when he conceived the series."

"A Hampshire teenager has become the first British dancer to graduate from the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet academy in Moscow."

"Whatever your style, this list contains some ideas that will keep both your brain and body active in the off-months, while stretching, stimulating, or simply refreshing your spirit and frame of mind."

"The generous, two-hour-plus evening of dance served as a journey through dance history at the same time that it represented a lesson in the evolution of ballet into modern and contemporary dance while it also worked as a sampler of the types of dance that audiences will typically see over the course of a summer at Jacob’s Pillow."

"What happened on "So You Think You Can Dance" tonight?"

"The character Ren McCormack will now be played by Kenny Wormald, a 25-year-old dancer best known for his appearances on MTV reality show Dancelife."

"Tuesday night at the Metropolitan Opera House Ms. Vishneva reminded why she inspires enduring adoration, when she and David Hallberg offered a ravishing performance of “Swan Lake.”"

"Woodpeckers, electric drills and dental equipment seem amateurish beside the elaborately decorated, faster-than-fast trills of Mr. Glover’s feet."

"Sir Elton John has given his blessing to the Alberta Ballet to tour its acclaimed production Love Lies Bleeding, inspired by the legendary musician’s life and songs."

"Little is known of the original choreography for the “Danse Siamoise,” but, using old photographs and paintings, the Thai choreographer and dancer Pichet Klunchun has now created “Nijinsky Siam,” a 55-minute stage “dialogue” with Nijinsky, where Mr. Klunchun explores the Russian dancer’s understanding of Thai classical dance and responds to it."

"Even surrounded by so many members of this, one of the world’s gold-standard ballet companies, the boy with the perpetual grin and the piratski moustache stands out a mile."

"Although I listened to classic ballet scores from an early age, my cultural education was largely ballet-free, and the few dance performances that I did see caused discomfort: the movements of the dancers seemed at odds with the rhythm and the structure of the music."

"The afternoon belonged to Albert Evans, and he soaked in every inch of it."

"Based on the 10th-century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, the oldest surviving narrative in Japanese literature, this 1988 work impressively intertwines two theatrical traditions."

"Asians are dominating the stage as the USA International Ballet Competition heads into its final round, with nearly half the 34 finalists announced Monday hailing from Asian countries."

"Both these remarkable and strikingly youthful dancers are examples of the ballerina as waif."

"If you've ever had your heart broken, you'll be able to relate to this balletic retelling of Alexander Pushkin's 19th century Russian poem Eugene Onegin."

"Though this season's risks were noble, they were less than satisfying."

"With choreographer Michael Tracy and Pilobolus, the collaborative, playfully athletic company based here, [Art Spiegelman] is creating a multimedia homage to early-20th-century cartoons, complete with cartoon story line."

"The wacky hip-hop ballet opens with a haunting masked dance from a chorus of inmates – it leads us immediately into their world, and their talent is instantly impressive."

"Ballet Across America provides a singular chance to gain acquaintance with companies that move in different orbits."

"In Luce Nascosta, [Mauro Bigonzetti's] fourth ballet for the company, which is premiering on NYCB’s “Architecture of Dance” season, he redefines the Balanchine-bred bodies of both male and female."

"The company, which has been the dance-world guinea pig when it comes to grappling with the challenges of maintaining a company after a founding choreographer’s death, now wants audiences to see the troupe as a living “museum,” keeping the classics alive while also offering new works inspired by them."

"Jonathan Wolken, a nondancer who four decades ago helped found a dance troupe, named it after a fungus and watched gleefully as that troupe — Pilobolus Dance Theater — became one of the most popular modern-dance companies in the world, died on Sunday in Manhattan. "

"I look for a solid modern technique, but it's really important that dancers have ballet training, too. "

"I refer to just the second of the festival’s four weekend programs: a glorious achievement."

"American Ballet Theater’s production, staged by Kevin McKenzie, Gelsey Kirkland and Michael Chernov, which had its season opening at the Metropolitan Opera House on Monday night, is less of an unmitigated disaster than it was at its premiere in 2007. But it’s still a mess."

"That virtuosity was in particular evidence in the “Sinner Man” section of “Revelations” (danced by Jamar Roberts, a particularly brilliant Clifton Brown and Michael Francis McBride), but the work seemed competent and subtly under par. It didn’t matter to the audience, who stood to cheer, filled with the Ailey spirit."

"The movement cultures of nine countries furnished a couple of hours of abundant illumination and knockout entertainment during the first program of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival on Saturday afternoon at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre."

"This really is one of the most amazing adventures I've ever had," said Perloff. "I had sort of felt I knew how to do a piece like this. It's not like choreographing, or like writing and directing; you are conceiving it all on your feet to make it a theater piece and not a series of dance/character-driven theater pieces."

"After six seasons it's a little hard to find new and exciting things to say about the audition episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance," but that doesn't mean I'm not happy to see one of my favorite talent competitions back on the air. "

"A production of "Guys and Dolls" is only as good as its Adelaide, and Kimberly Jensen handles the playful numbers and comedy of the role pricelessly, well matched by Randy Nazarian as an amusingly Joe Pesci-esque Nathan Detroit. "

"Created and staged by Perloff and San Francisco Ballet choreographer Val Caniparoli, The Tosca Project brings together world-renowned dancers from San Francisco Ballet, including prima ballerina Sabina Allemann and Pascal Molat, with such acclaimed actors as The Overcoat’s Peter Anderson."

"Just as every ballet has a different flavor, the secret of a good program is harmony — with the right pinches of sweetness, tartness and spice."

"In this ballet women want nothing better than to be manhandled by men; and men think that to manhandle is their noblest task in life, even or especially when it leads to the death of women. "

The Mountain Play has been asked by another nonprofit to participate in and help coordinate an authorized Flash Mob on Sunday, June 6, 2010 in Marin County. Interested in participating? Email FlashMobMarin@gmail.com

"Good news for people who are afraid that somebody is being murdered each time Mary Murphy screams on "So You Think You Can Dance": In Season 7 she will no longer be sitting behind the judges' desk."

"The current Smuin program, given Friday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Novellus Theater, appreciably expands the company's repertoire with Jirí Kylián's 1991 "Petite Mort," a landmark both in the history of Eurodance and in the Czech choreographer's career."

"When it comes to women, Ballet Theater seems to agree with the first sentence of Arnold Haskell’s 1934 classic book, “Balletomania”: “It is my firm belief that human society is divided into three distinct castes: Russian dancers, dancers and very ordinary people.”

"Although the San Francisco Ballet has ventured some unusual casting this season, the company is relying on the tried, true and occasionally transcendent for the closing revival of artistic director Helgi Tomasson's "Romeo and Juliet," which began a 10-day run Saturday evening at the War Memorial Opera House with considerable style."

"Avenues, colonnades, arches and many more architectural features take shape without any scenery, built and rebuilt by dancers alone."

"In an interview Ms. Jamison said that what impressed her most was the “worldview” suggested by the range of choreographers, as yet unannounced, that he wants to bring to the company. "

"Choosing Robert Battle is the giant leap I want to take to ensure that this company stays vibrant in the future."

"With athletes, every day there's a dance going on, in the form of some kind of movement."

"As the New York dance world puzzled over the unusual prospect of a union between the downtown presenter Dance Theater Workshop and Bill T. Jones’s company — one surprised former staff member of the workshop likened it to a merger of a museum and an artist — new details have emerged about the proposal."

"More organizations should think like ODC, which capitalizes on the appeal of “Dancing With the Stars,” to create an event that makes dance accessible and unintimidating in an entertaining, competitive atmosphere."

"One of the responsibilities of any art form “is that it absolutely stops repeating patterns,” Mr. McGregor said after a long day in the studio, adding that ballet needed to honor other arts and contemporary dance as much as it venerated its past."

"The program — an entirely happy one, with music played live on piano — teaches us plenty about dance history."

"Packed with illuminating interviews and lyrical movement, “Breath Made Visible” portrays a woman with angels in her feet and innovation in her blood. Long may she rock."

ODC Dancers Go Toe To Toe with Cal Athletics--SF Chronicle Video from 2007. This year's Toe to Toe is scheduled for this Thursday, April 29th!

"The funny thing was the costume actually lit up — it was like work to put it on. I had battery packs strapped to me and it took me a really long time to get into it."

"Returning for its 12th year, this festival kicks off with a dancing flash-mob gathering in Union Square at noon Friday and offers hundreds of dance events - classical ballet, modern dance, belly dance, same-sex tango and more - throughout the Bay Area, most of them free."

"Is it possible that, within a single dance, you can experience a choreographer at both his most awkward and most inspired? Believe it. "

"And since the least popular people seem to be the best dancers, it is still anybody's game. "

Artists and arts organizations nationwide are getting help with creating projects and spaces for performance, exhibition and other purposes in culturally diverse neighborhoods through a 10-year, $100 million grant program announced Monday by the Ford Foundation.

"On the opening of John Neumeier's The Little Mermaid this past Saturday night, San Francisco Ballet received a roaring standing ovation. "

"The heroine may very well be the role of Yuan Yuan Tan's career."

"The inspiration for this merry morsel of dance theater is a French manual of etiquette for women published in 1963. "

"I believe dance is about the human being, not the human body. How interesting can physicality be when it has another dimension? Story and movement - the two things together for me have a power that's incredible."

"When Judith Jamison retires next year as artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, she will leave a company whose worldwide popularity is rivaled only by the magnificence of its dancing, now at its historic best."

"It tells us plenty about Mr. Taylor that at the time of the 2009 premiere of “Also Playing” (then called “Now Playing”), he said, in a public interview with Ms. Carbonneau, that his incentive came from the current economic climate and his awareness of how escapism had flourished in the popular entertainment of the Great Depression. "

"When we chatted with Zivolich recently at the ODC Dance Commons, the troupe had just returned from a four-week, four-nation State Department tour of Southeast Asia..."

"In this sequence of pictures below, taken by Erik Tomasson, you can see first-hand, how Richard has transformed me into the Charlatan, a very old, but dangerous man."

San Francisco Ballet names Building for Chris Hellman

"Obviously, there's been a huge turnaround in popularity and success (in U.S. ice dancing)," says White, a former hockey player with a head full of blond curls."

"This Belbin is ten lbs. heavier, and she couldn't be happier about that."

"The San Francisco dancers are a remarkably unmannered, elegant and grown-up company."

"The study also revealed that women would be more likely to continue dating a bad kisser who could dance, than a bad dancer who could kiss and that more women rated being able to dance well above being able to kiss well when asked about the skills they most rated in a prospective partner."

"The festival, which will run from July 27 to Aug. 10 under the direction of Damian Woetzel, will present 3 premieres and 11 performances. In addition there will be an artist in residence and a company residency."

"From ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ to ‘Dancing With The Stars’, America is in a love affair with dancing,” White said. “Hopefully that will lead to more American viewers getting into ice dance."

"It's something of an anomaly when a ballet fills you up with too much information."

"The threads that bind movement to music are nowhere more various or more subtle than in “The Sleeping Beauty.”

“Swan Lake,” at least the New York City Ballet way, is not a tale for those who relish happy endings, or even ambiguously happy endings. You won’t find such nonsense at this lakeside view."

"Very few ballet makers today create movement that is as completely dancy as Christopher Wheeldon does. “Ghosts,” his new creation for San Francisco Ballet, abounds in the felicities that for nine years have placed this still young choreographer in high national and international demand."

"In her first meeting with the director, Washington offered Cameron the "third eye" greeting, a light finger touch to the forehead by the Na'vis. Her familiarity with ritual got her the gig."

"Set tai chi to Bach, perform it on a stage sopped with water and lit with moonlight, and you have the singularly transporting experience of "Moon Water," performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan over the weekend at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater."

"On Thursday, you could argue that the company's success in the daunting Seasons divertissement at the end of Act 1 represented a new advance: evidence of the leadership of Ashley C. Wheater, the Joffrey's artistic director since 2007."

"I'm a musician," Morris said by phone from his company's Brooklyn headquarters, "and my medium is dancing."

"They, and prisoners who have been previously interviewed, say the programme has been a huge success, with fighting among inmates down markedly since the dancing was introduced."

He then separates the dancers by gender, lines them up and asks each to perform a pair of ballet moves - a double pirouette and an arabesque that take just seconds to complete. Instantly, more than half of the would-be performers are eliminated.

"Swan Lake" may be about beautiful, pedigreed classical dancing, but it is also about the human condition, about taking responsibilities for our actions, even if they spell tragedy in the end."

"If there was ever any doubt that plotless dances are a myth, that every gesture can abound in meaning and unveil a universe of associations, they were eradicated by the exceptional pas de deux at the heart of Christopher Wheeldon's "Rhapsody Fantaisie," the concluding work on the West Coast debut program of Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company on Friday evening at Stanford University's Memorial Auditorium."

...And now there's ABBAWORLD — a new museum-cum-theme park in London with enough music, mementoes and memory-lane appeal to satisfy even the most fervent ABBA fan."

"Probably the elders in the bush would be laughing because they would be saying, 'Look how stupid these fellas are,' "

"It's always tricky when you mess with a ballet that many consider iconic, and it takes a steady hand to tackle the complexities of Igor Stravinsky, as the Savage Jazz Dance Company did with its premiere of "Agon," in the Laney College Theater on Thursday night."

"But there was also a hearty streak of defiance, sometimes even anger, running through the erotically charged program, which featured Ms. Zollar’s early investigations (largely from 1985 to 1995) into female sexuality."

"The 25th anniversary of Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson's union with the San Francisco Ballet was marked with a Silver Celebration gala fit for a Nordic king, or at least a fellow from Iceland, which he is."

"Arthur Mitchell, founding artistic director of Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York, has been chosen as the honorary chairman of the USA International Ballet Competition."

"It feels like an episode of Glee, the popular TV show that overnight made it socially acceptable and even sexy to sing in the high school show chorus."

"The New York Times is reportedly getting ready to charge readers for access to the venerable newspaper's online content."

"Our friends at the 24 Frames blog have notified us that producers of the upcoming Oscars telecast will be holding open auditions for dancers on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23, at CenterStaging in Burbank."

"He (Helgi Tomasson) has made the San Francisco Ballet a mecca for innovative choreography and a home for some of the finest dancers of their generation. He has brightened our evenings and stirred our souls more than anyone could have imagined."

"Per Kirkeby’s striking visual designs for Peter Martins’s “Romeo + Juliet” are neither pretty nor opulent, two things that sadly seem to have become prerequisites for big narrative ballets."

"Mr. Wheeldon gives us percussive Spanish footwork and a phalanx of dancers, but the number is not a big deal: ballet abounds in “Spanish” numbers more exciting than this. This is, nonetheless, the production’s finest dance."

Beautiful Slide Show of Dance in 2009.

"Hours after each performance of all these five dances I found that their choreography and music — even more than these dancers — were happily haunting me."

"Creating more than 120 dances since the early 1980s — for the barefoot artists of his Mark Morris Dance Group as well as pointe shoe-clad primas — Morris has brought the scores of composers in virtually every style vividly to life onstage."

"Here's one New York City tween who doesn't spend her free time obsessing about headbands and Robert Pattinson: Maria Gorokhov, the 11-year-old girl in the role of Marie in the New York City Ballet's production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker."

"The worst part is that Mr. Thomas may well feel he is bringing ballet to the people. But he isn’t; he is bringing dance porn (sexed-up, personality-free virtuosity, numbing, then boring) to the Joyce."

"Yes, 2009 has brought us great losses. Yet how striking that Mr. Taylor, as he approaches 80, is the dance artist working hardest to extend his expressive range. Nothing in dance today is more encouraging."

"Creating a dance involves much more than inventing steps for dancers. It needs a judicious eye for visual and spatial effect, a sense of timing and an instinct for building attention, for varying the mood and creating an overall theatrical arc that draws an audience into the world of the dance."

"Twenty-year-old Boston krumper Russell Ferguson emerged as America's top dancer Wedesday night in the two-hour finale of "So You Think You Can Dance"

Lots of hot dance going on in New York City this holiday season!

"Oh, wow. I just finished watching the performance show of the So You Think You Can Dance finale and I am blown away."

"Does anybody still believe that there's no audience for nonholiday dance fare at this time of the year? If you produce it, they will come."

"So, my favorite dance of the night, not surprisingly, was the Dwight Rhoden / Desmond Richardson-choreographed contemporary routine for Jakob and Kathryn."

"But just as important, there's a different feel to this "Nutcracker," one of showmanship and neovaudevillian razzle-dazzle, which is Webre's specialty and his gift. To wit: A kid slings a dead rat across the parlor and the butler traps it in a chafing dish."

"If you still haven't realized that social media is the way to go to enhance your studio's online presence, increase your studio enrollment, and develop stronger communication amongst your parents and students, then do a little investigating. Ask around and find out how many of your students, parents, and staff, have Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or YouTube pages, and make your own assessment."

Uhh, what? It's the finale already? What? Really? Already? Now?

"During the two decades that Judith Jamison has run the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, it has grown into possibly the most successful modern-dance company on the planet."

"Under the artistic direction of Robert Mills, this year’s edition of "The Nutcracker” is the best production of the ballet to grace the Civic Center Music Hall stage in many years."

"Dancing is said to be a young person's art, but the self-possession and expressive richness of mature ballerinas turned the second program of the New York City Ballet's Kennedy Center engagement into an event Friday."

"In a season of firsts for So You Think You Can Dance (first fall season, first krumping finalist, first married couple finalists), it's hardly surprising — and perhaps fitting — the Fox hit heads into Tuesday's Season 6 finale with its first-ever final six contestants, two more than the usual four."

"Let this ballerina promenade on pointe (in the famous celesta-dominated variation in the grand pas de deux), and she gives the impression of treading on fine crystal, which does not yield to her gossamer touch. From such moments are ballet fans made for life."

"A new report released by the National Endowment for the Arts said that the number of American adults attending arts and cultural events has sunk to its lowest level since 1982, which was when the NEA began conducting the poll."

"As NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports, more than a third of Americans make art in their free time, but they are spending less time and money going to watch the professionals."

Americans who participate in the arts are more active in community life than those who do not.

"Duggan Hill has known for many years what viewers of “So You Think You Can Dance’’ are just discovering: Russell Ferguson is a mean dancer."

"The contestants at this point I'd have the easiest time letting go are Mollee, Jakob and Ashleigh, not because I dislike any of them but just because I haven't gotten to the point where I root for them as people and as well as dancers."

"A dance-off between Madonna and Lady Gaga would be one of the more exhilarating events to take place in the world of pop music — and according to Madge herself, it actually went down a couple of weeks back."

"With that, Mr. Houston-Jones removed the dressing gown he was wearing, and proceeded with his introduction in nothing but an undershirt and socks."

"What we do is so demanding, so if you have a cold you can't dance. You don't feel like it and doing a performance with a runny nose is not possible."

"La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet," Frederick Wiseman's astoundingly beautiful documentary, has sumptuous delights to satisfy every balletomane.

"The dancers ended on their knees, the audience surged to its feet."

"'The Creative Habit' is basically about how you work alone, how you survive as a solitary artist," she said. "'The Collaborative Habit' is obviously about surviving with other people."

"Besides traditional ballet, the “Urban Nutcracker’’ this year features hip-hop, tap, swing dance, Chinese dancers, and an African-American step team from Boston Latin School. The “Urban Nutcracker’’ is the brainchild of Tony Williams, who was the first black dancer with the Boston Ballet."

"The good news, if there is any, is that this season must be strong if there are so many dancers whom I can't imagine not being in the competition."

"Most of all we are with Wiseman as he fixes his camera on the extraordinary wealth of dancing talent assembled by the company. The instruction is meticulous, vivid and sophisticated; you get the impression that these dancers can do virtually anything."

New York City Ballet "Nutcracker", Ballet Hispanico, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, “Chestnuts Roasting On The Flaming Idiots”

Help decide the best Nutcracker production in the country for the 2009 holiday season.

"Everything about the show was amazing. Costumes, choreography, sets, dancers, musicians — I was even impressed with the crowd."

"I am enjoying this season greatly, but the judges need to quit being so anxious to show their approval for this round of dancers -- how many dream teams, favorite dances and power couples can there be? "

Our favorite is the Year of the Rat!

"Every year the PNC Financial Services Group puts out the PNC Christmas Price Index to let us know the exactly financial cost of that familiar Christmas tune, "The 12 Days of Christmas." The cost of some items has increased and some have gone down. The price on dancing ladies has gone up 15 percent from last year. "

"I felt like I danced my life out and I wasn't expecting to get cut. It is what it is. One door closes and another one opens. I had a great experience and if I had to go, I'm glad that I left on that note."

"The pleasure of “La Danse” resides solely in watching exceptional performers practice their craft."

"Being tired isn’t the same thing as being rich*, but most times it’s close enough" - Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Annika Dreams of San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker!

"From the first scene, as the children peer eagerly at the Christmas tree through a keyhole, to the intricately constructed activities of the party, Marie’s dream and the voyage to the lands of snow and sweets, Balanchine keeps us in the enchanted world of warmth and light, innocence and benevolence, order and magic, conjured by Tchaikovsky’s score."

A fun collection of videos to watch of Dancing With The Stars Winner Donny Osmond.

"The second glory of “Fela!” is the dancing, created by Bill T. Jones. It’s hard to make West African dance look bad—this is one of the great dance cultures of the world—but oh, how good Jones and the dancers, more than half of them American-born (the others are African or Caribbean), have made it look."

"I want to win this mirrorball so badly," Donny said Monday. "Because if you had a sister named Marie and she was going to rub it in your face your whole life, you'd want to win, too."

"And though it’s pretty clear that Kelly doesn’t really come close to some of the other dancers technically, Monday night’s performances emphasized why the Princess of Darkness has made it this far in the competition: The girl’s a hoot and half to have around."

"Donny Osmond is truly talented. At 51, he is competing in the ever popular ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) beating performers half is age."

"Jenny from the block landed on her famous rear during an ambitious performance of her new single "Louboutins" - and she couldn't even blame the famous red-soled high heels of the song's title."

"She changed the settings on her gun to paint in the shadows of muscles. Six-pack abs, defined cheekbones and sculpted arms appeared almost instantly. Each 10-week season, the cast goes through more than six gallons of spray-tan liquid, or juice as it is known in the industry."

"But the kinetic thrills and sensory overload of “Genus” leave you feeling that ballet, almost despite itself, is moving on."

Now, 15 years later, the company, formed by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, two former Alvin Ailey dancers, is still thrashing, spinning and kicking along its merry way.

"So now we’re left with the Entertainer, the Wild Child and the Dance Machine. "

"Julian Goins, the 15-year-old leader of the Ranger$, a five-member jerking crew, hops onto the tips of his sneakers — the Tippy Toe — and then swivels his body ground-ward, legs crossed at the ankle. He pops up like a jack-in-the-box, spins and bounces, gliding backward in the Reject, a move that resembles nothing so much as the Running Man, an ’80s dance-floor step but in reverse."

"In the U.K. next month, a dance artist who has epilepsy will attempt to induce a seizure on stage. Rita Marcalo has stopped taking her medication ahead of the event at the Bradford Playhouse, according to the BBC News. "If she has a seizure, an alarm will sound and the audience will be invited to film on their mobile phones," said the report."

"Last year, Allan Ulrich at "Voice of Dance" wrote, "If the kids in your neighborhood are trading their pointe shoes for high tops, or abandoning tutus for Tupac, or jettisoning tiaras for hoodies, perhaps Micaya is to blame."

"You might not expect a project subtitled “A multi-media dance drama based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead” to generate laughter. But, then, you may not know about Krissy Keefer, the local dancer/choreographer/producer/feminist/activist/provocateur who operates out of San Francisco’s Dance Mission Theater."

"While yoga and Pilates will remain strong, dance-based classes were all the rage this year. Zumba, a fitness program inspired by Latin dance, combines South American rhythms with cardiovascular exercise. Bollywood, ballroom, Afro-Cuban and other exotic dance styles grew in popularity thanks to shows such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance."

"Variety reported that although Lady Gaga (whose real name is Stefani Germanotta) has sold more than 1.5 million copies of her debut album, “The Fame,” her song “Just Dance” was nominated in the best dance recording category at this year’s Grammys, making her ineligible for new artist next year, according to the award’s regulations."

It's the charmers versus the swans as we get down to the last four couples twirling on "Dancing With the Stars."

“The important thing was to have the finance, administration, marketing — all of those things — managed full time by a professional that did not report to or through Peter in order for him to focus all of his time on the artistic aspects,” Mr. Vogelstein said."

"Can Donny Osmond demonstrate that being age 52 isn't a handicap and surprise us with the needed endurance to get through 3 tough performances?"

"Now the torch has been passed to the Trisha Brown Dance Company, which, over the weekend, presented a sharply edited program of Ms. Brown’s early works (pieces created between 1968 and 1975) that took audiences on a fast-paced trip through seven galleries. "

"Having danced for 13 years, it makes sense why Hutman isn't afraid of turkey — er, chickening out."

New York City Ballet spends over $500,000 a year on pointe shoes! Each dancer goes through a pair a day on average.

We could all use a little help this time of year. Here are Self's list of foods that actually help you lose weight.

"Based on tonight's performances I would say Mollee and Nathan (should go home), but I am also old and crabby -- not their target audience. "

In his most famous utterance, he said that dancing “gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.”

"All of these slippery subjects are the matter of Bill T. Jones’s “Serenade/The Proposition,” an hourlong work that reaffirms this artist’s gift for creating powerful theater but reveals little of sustained choreographic interest."

"It now seems like such a brilliant idea that it is a surprise no one had thought of it before: pairing figure skaters with hockey players for ice dancing routines in the ultimate ice rink reality show."

"In an earlier era, Axis was, understandably, set on justifying its existence. Today, the quality of the dancing takes your breath away. "

"Lady Gaga, the pop star known as much for her baroque wardrobe as for her music, will be performing with dancers from the Bolshoi Ballet in a new work that will be presented at gala for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles."

"From American Idol" producers FremantleMedia North America, the show features stars competing for charity as they pay homage to some of the most famousmovie, musical and pop video dance routines of all time, the network said in a release."

"This film records three days of rehearsals by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, Calif., an extraordinary space overlooking San Francisco Bay and the hills beyond."

"Dallas Cowboy great Michael Irvin and "Iron Chef" host Mark Dacascos were each sent home Tuesday night in the second double elimination on "Dancing With the Stars."

"I had a feeling that a certain group would be a quick casualty of the show, and I was right. That group of course is: the tappers. "

"Here is not a sick and drugged man forcing himself through grueling rehearsals, but a spirit embodied by music. Michael Jackson was something else."

"It took death to restore his standing as one-of-a-kind entertainer — to bring him back to life. Jackson is hot again."

"To say that the film, sumptuous in its length and graceful in its rhythm, is a feast for ballet lovers is to state the obvious and also to sell Mr. Wiseman’s achievement a bit short. Yes, this is one of the finest dance films ever made, but there’s more to it than that."

"In addition to everyone’s individual dances, this week also marked the epic group dance battle of the season: Team Tango versus Team Paso."

"Still, for a documentary of any kind to open at number one is quite remarkable."

"Death returned Michael Jackson’s humanity, and in a curious, tentative way so too does Michael Jackson’s This Is It."

"Paula, who has also been linked to Australian Idol since quitting the American version of the show, said she "might need a break from judging for a while".

"While I wish I had learned why the judges chose who they did, I didn't disagree with their results."

"The gold medal of this clip went to Bill Walton, for being able to say “that Mirrorball trophy is going to take everything” with both a straight face and conviction."

"Highlights from the evening were: Ryan Di Lello and Ellenore Scott, who danced a contemporary jazz piece about fallen angels by the incredibly imaginative Sonya Tayeh. "

“Women’s biological clocks have a parallel journey that starts to clash horribly with the their creative journey around age 35."

"Whether presented in stripped-down sequences or as part of developing spectacles that might have been truly magical — a thrilling The Way You Make Me Feel is a standout — the songs remind us that early this summer, the world lost a genuine, if genuinely troubled, star."

One of the greatest dancers and performers who ever lived!

"Airing on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET, MTV's special will showcase inside stories you've never heard before about MJ and his planned concerts. "

..."we asked Michael Jackson's own dancers — the talented men and women working alongside the King of Pop as they rehearsed for his "This Is It" concert series — if they could give us tutorials about Jackson's iconic dance moves. Even if you can't nail 'em all, you'll have a pretty good time trying."

Watch the Pasadena Zombies and others do "Thriller"

“La Danse,” which opens at Film Forum in Manhattan on Nov. 4, is Mr. Wiseman’s second ballet documentary; he observed the American Ballet Theater in rehearsal and on tour for “Ballet” (1995). But he cautioned against thinking of the new movie as a sequel."

“I intend to give it everything I’ve got,” he said. “But I have to be realistic. I don’t know whether we will make it.”

"The company sets out to rouse spectators through a program of nonstop visual astonishment, and the biggest affront wouldn’t be boos but the reverential silence of a ballet recital."

"There are a number of videos from different parts of the globe documenting the so-called “Thrill the World” dancers."

"The pros (including ones already eliminated this season) will also unite to perform an all-out tribute to the late pop/dance icon, Michael Jackson. "

We've reached the halfway point in the competition, ballroom fans ... the "double dance extravaganza," in which contestants performed their first group dance of the season (the Hustle!) along with either the Argentine tango or the paso doble.

New York City Ballet, the Joyce Theater Foundation and the New School are among the 18 cultural organizations that have won the Rockefeller Foundation’s annual New York City Cultural Innovation Fund competition, the foundation said on Wednesday.

Stephen Hanna, the former New York City Ballet dancer who portrays the role of Billy’s older self in that musical, will rejoin the company of City Ballet as a guest artist for its coming 2009-2010 winter season.

Alastair Macaulay writes: "The audience was near fever pitch throughout Tuesday evening at City Center for the first night of the annual Fall for Dance programs."

" Audiences don't want to see the kind of self-indulgent, boring dance that is so prevalent today."

"The segment will pay tribute with a medley of three Jackson songs spanning his career."

"The prognosis for the Oakland Ballet Company looked grim in April when founding Artistic Director Ronn Guidi suddenly resigned (for the second time in a decade). "

"He has no clue what he is talking about," said Chmerkovskiy.

"Heads up!" came the shout, as a guy walking his dog strode unconcernedly through the space, as if dance like this happened every day on the bridge.

"There are a lot of dancers who don't think of themselves as artists, so they come prepared to take dictation. But what I want is to give the dancers straw and have them turn it into gold. I want to give them sentences and have them structure it into poetry."

"Under the discouraging circumstances, ABT used its ingenuity, and commissioned a program of site-specific dances by Alexei Ratmansky (formerly the director of the Bolshoi Ballet, now ABT's Artist in Residence and already a favorite with American dance fans), and Benjamin Millepied and Aszure Barton, whose careers are conspicuously on the rise."

"But before we look forward, I'd like to look back and share with you my five favorite pieces from Mia's five magical years on the show."

"The app is a one-stop-shop for fans who can now use their iPhone or iPod touch for deeper access to the hit show, complete with the latest elimination updates, video clips and other fun, interactive features."

"DWTS" is what it is - a dance competition show with very good production values. No change this season in that regard. Therefore, what’s happening is subtle."

"Aaron appeared as though he was about to toss his cookies by hour's end. Anna, however, looked like she was over it every time the camera panned her way (which was only slightly better than Lacey’s oddly-pursed fish lips), so maybe it was good that she and Chuck were put of their misery."

"You can take any concept and make it good or make it bad. You have to be very careful about how you tell the story with dance -- if it's too literal, it's too corny."

"With their lithe, gravity-defying bodies and their wordless presence, ballet dancers often seem so otherworldly and ethereal that it's a shock to see them looking and acting like the rest of us normal slobs."

"Bollywood is coming to the Palace. Tonight, for one performance only, the world of the Bollywood dance routine — the swirling saris, the gyrating girls, the handsome couples who never quite kiss — will be invading the staid surroundings of Buckingham Palace."

"PETA cited concerns about how great apes are separated from their mothers, beaten and shocked in training, and discarded once they become too large to handle safely. PETA also sent Green this short video, narrated by Anjelica Huston, which illustrates the many problems associated with using great apes on TV and in film."

"With his crowd-pleasing choreography, Chase Brock, at just 26, has set his sights firmly on Broadway. "

"The stars are still dancing on ABC this season, but the crowd cheering them on has thinned a bit."

"Tom DeLay, who performed his samba with stress fractures, announced that he was withdrawing from the competition on the account of his bum feet. Bummer. "

"Forsythe returns with Decreation, a work that challenges our notions of dance in the 21st century and asserts his place as one of the world's most innovative choreographers."

"Lincoln was the only white man I was allowed to love unconditionally growing up..."

"Dancing with stress fractures on both feet, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay did a red, white and blue samba that earned him a score of just 15 Monday night on "Dancing With The Stars."

Watch the video and judge for yourself

"As the numbers of subscribers and ticket buyers decline, dance groups are looking for enticements, beyond actual performances, to get audiences to queue up at the box office."

"It is Jenkins' particular genius that even on the crowded stage, she leaves a kind of mental space for our minds, for viewers to fill in the interstices with our own memories, experiences, impressions."

"Now, Jenkins, the doyenne of Bay Area modern dance, has returned with another crosscultural project, this one with members of China’s Guangdong Modern Dance Company, fashioned here and in Asia over the past couple of years. "

"I wouldn’t say the remake and I are close, and it’s almost fatally modest. But it has a sweet spirit, and it offers only one true moment of inadvertent camp: a (lame) finale featuring an African dance routine completely at odds with all the white bread we’ve just been served."

Former political friends and foes weigh in on Tom Delay's performance on "Dancing With The Stars."

“One thing I wasn’t prepared for in learning to dance was getting in touch with my feminine side.” We weren't prepared for that either."

"Here’s something else I never would have guessed. That Kelly Osbourne tied for second!"

"Last night Tom DeLay made his comeback, and truly, it was a low moment in our nation’s long and stormy history, by which we mean it was totally and completely awesome in every imaginable way."

"First up: the men. And Macho Monday did not disappoint."

"ABC's decision to invite disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to participate in "Dancing with the Stars" may have backfired."

3 hour live episode starts tonight!

"We're energizing our base. We're using all the technology that we can — Twitter, Facebook and websites tracking stuff, gathering emails."

"On to the show. "America's Best Dance Crew" moved into the final phase of the show's fourth season with five dances that should lead to one winner in next week's live finale on Sunday."

“It's very athletic,” she said. “Everybody was into aerobics then. So there's a lot of shuffling and jogging; it's an endurance challenge.”

"From the opening fanfare to the closing processional “Défilé,’’ Boston Ballet’s “Night of Stars’’ was a rousing celebration of the company’s official move to its new home, the Boston Opera House."

Veteran choreographer Margaret Jenkins and her dancers join forces with China's Guangdong Modern Dance Company for "Other Suns," an intersection of cultures and ideas, which premieres Thursday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

"How great was it to have the choreographer (Mia Michaels) back on the panel last night in Phoenix?"

"Turning 50 this year, the National Ballet of China is showing its range with a slew of imported and original performances such as "Swan Lake" and "Raise the Red Lantern," but what audiences crave are the ballets born during the company's heady first decade, when in the name of revolution, ballerinas with rifles pirouetted across dirt stages."

"He was known for his acting, but it's Patrick Swayze's talent for dancing that's being recognized by a TV show he played a small part in."

"What a thrill that was to actually dance with him! He is a marquee of my childhood memories and I send positive love and energy to his angel."

"Taking class with out a dress-code and getting paid weekly are two things I am really liking about the company life."

"It's both powerfully romantic and deeply sexy, and Swayze clinches it not because of his acting but because he learned dance partnering."

"Fox has announced film director and choreographer Adam Shankman will be added as a new judge on "So You Think You Can Dance" starting Oct. 27."

"The dancers in front of the videos gave the show a mufti-dimensional effect that was smashing."

"I'm interested in the ways we do — and do not — communicate with other cultures, and in what we think we have the right to assume about what people feel," Jenkins says. "I want to create situations in which I'm vulnerable to new ways of thinking and learning."

"Patrick Swayze, the actor and classically trained dancer whose role in the enduringly popular "Dirty Dancing" made him a movie star, one who struggled with the alienation of fame and against being typecast as a leading man, died Monday."

"Hell, anyway, is more or less the subject of “Press,” the hourlong solo that Mr. Rigal is presenting at the Baryshnikov Arts Center this week."

"It's too early to judge, of course, but this season seems to be off to a very promising start."

Why "So You Think You Can Dance" is the top of the heap of dance shows.

"It turns out the tribute will involve 20 backup dancers and Janet Jackson doing a dance tribute to Michael, and will apparently be some kind of monster medley of his hits."

"So the self-professed dance lover pulled out the stops for her season premiere, inviting the Top 10 finalists from last season's So You Think You Can Dance? to perform in a fully choreographed production number with her on the show."

“It’s about artistry,” Ms. Bar said. “You want to carve out your own space, but you’re always building on the people that came before you.”

"Dancing at 61 a contemporary program titled “Three Solos and a Duet,” Mikhail Baryshnikov doesn't make it easy on himself -- or his audience."

"A difficult choreographer with a popular following, a minimalist with a tendency to dramatise, a reticent person with a lot to say … Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker is a fascinating contradiction."

"A 43-year-old wardrobe designer from Las Vegas was crowned the winner of Oxygen's competition series, "Dance Your Ass Off.""

"Off Kilter will showcase the country's (Scotland's) eclectic dance traditions, and will include new work by choreographers Mark Morris and Ashley Page."

“Arlene has managed to get City Center back to a place dance audiences want to go,” said Alistair Spalding, the artistic director and chief executive of Sadler’s Wells."

"Flash mobs are a group of 10 to 300 people who gather in a crowded, public place and suddenly start dancing, usually a coordinated routine, to music. "

"We came here to dance and enjoy ourselves, without thinking we would win or achieve anything big," said Hiroshi Yamao, 36, after Saturday night's final"

"...more than 12,000 people came together in downtown Mexico City to shake it to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on the day that he would have celebrated his 51st birthday."

"If you’re interested in the dance theater of Mark Morris, then the fragmentary dramas of his two new pieces, “Visitation” and “Empire Garden,” are strange and fascinating; they show him moving in unfamiliar directions."

"The piece was inspired by some poetry that I was reading by a couple different poets, but they were all about people’s memories and the types of flashbacks you get with memory that don’t have anything to do with the moment you’re living in"

"Rehearsals are now underway for all 16 couples, who will hit the ballroom on Sept. 21 for Dancing’s season 9 premiere on ABC."

“For the first time ever, fans will see Michael as they have never seen him before — this great artist at work. "

“Headed to the studio for my first rehearsal and to meet my partner. Hope it’s not Nancy Pelosi :),”

"Not only would these amateur dancers -- some of them in their 80s -- perform for tens of thousands of rowdy NBA fans, but the NETSationals were to be a hip-hop dance team."

"Led by Mexican Jackson impersonator "Héctor Jackson" (pictured) and choreographer Adolfo Chávez, the group was preparing for an Aug. 29 event in which an estimated 11,000 people in Mexico City will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the biggest mass "Thriller" dance."

"...Then Cunningham did something really radical, he added performances… dozens of smaller ones at the Mondavi Center, McClatchy high, in art galleries and mostly in the Ballet’s home studios. The revamped season was a gamble. For the dancers, it was grueling."

"We wanted someone sort of iconic and who the audience would have strong feelings about." That would appear not to be a problem, given DeLay's outspokenness on abortion, religion and the environment over the years.

"Shows like ABC's "Dancing with the Stars," Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance," MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" and Oxygen's "Dance Your Ass Off" are drawing millions of viewers and helping expose audiences to the art of dance."

"Watching Balanchine’s Stravinsky Violin Concerto, I couldn’t help wondering how Chinese audiences, many members of which may be exposed to the choreographer’s angular, hip-jutting vocabulary will respond to the work. "

"exciting for the crews to realize that Beyoncé knows who they are."

After leaving Idol, Paula Abdul is looking at her options coming in.

"As my companion remarked, the first half felt like a Martha Wainwright concert with some dances tacked on. The second half, however, became more substantial in terms of both dance and Ms. Wainwright’s music."

"It’s not yet a culture war, but the sniping at Rocco Landesman, the newly confirmed chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, has begun."

"My chief objection to these visions of ballroom is not moral. (These people choose to do it.) What makes me wretched is that all these stunts, acrobatics, point-scoring and flashy displays of sexual availability are what matter. Musicality, phrasing, intimacy and actual sensuousness are what don’t."

"He's Cuba's second most famous son, but when principal dancer Carlos Acosta brought the Royal Ballet home, there was a shock in store for Havana's classical dance lovers."

"Since 1964, New York City Ballet has called Lincoln Center home. In honor of the campus’s 50th anniversary, the ballet company will present a yearlong retrospective of its repertory."

"The contestants for Season Nine of Dancing With the Stars will be revealed on Good Morning America on August 17, but as usual, casting rumors are fast and furious, with virtually every person who has ever been famous and is currently a bit underemployed being mentioned."

"State government doesn’t normally shut down for ballet, but you wouldn’t have believed it judging by the dignitaries who spilled into the Joyce Theater on Monday night."

"So You Think You Can Dance winner Jeanine Mason knows she can dance — so what's she going to do about it? With her talent confirmed by her win last week, the 18-year-old Miami native has two big plans ahead: touring for the show, and starting college at UCLA."

"Speaking with reporters at the annual Television Critics Association press tour, ABC President Stephen McPherson said that Abdul, who shocked fans last week by announcing that she would not be returning to 'Idol,' would be a welcome addition to the cast of 'Dancing With the Stars,' in one form or another."

"On Thursday and Friday nights the Vail International Dance Festival looked both forward and back. An UpClose evening on Thursday, at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek, was called 'Wendy Whelan: Dancer and Muse.'"

"A great start to the new season! We are Heroes and Rhythm City seem to be the top two crews after this introductory episode. Unlike almost all previous seasons, where there were always a couple of crews that rose high above the others, anyone can get in this to win."

"a characteristic Cunningham arrangement — was poignant, frustrating and thrilling. " The week following his death, his company performs in New York.

" In June, at a point when Cunningham was still working, the foundation unveiled a "Living Legacy Plan," which broke the difficult news that the dance company and the school would shut down (after one international farewell tour) following Cunningham's death."

"The weekend engagement, scheduled as a regular part of the Evening Stars series in the River to River Festival in New York, will now function as a tribute to Cunningham, who died peacefully at his home on Sunday, at age 90. Shortly before his passing, the choreographer gave instructions for how to assemble the three 'Events' that the company will perform."

"So next week we'll see the top four: Brandon, Evan, Jeanine Mason and Kayla will battle it out for America's favorite dancer. For some reason I think Jeanine will win, but perhaps Wednesday night's performances will change that."

"Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal eschews its native language this week with an all-Italian program at Jacob's Pillow that is as sunny and sensual as a Tuscan summer."

"Since the company has grown in stature and size into a world-class arts organization, so have the artistic responsibilities. For example, right now we have renowned choreographer John Neumeier here, staging his beautiful, dramatic version of the Hans Christian Andersen story, 'The Little Mermaid.'"

"One of the final works by the choreographer Merce Cunningham, who died on Sunday, was a site-specific piece created for Rockefeller Park, where it will be performed on Saturday and Sunday as part of the River to River Festival."

"The effect of Merce's profound creativity will remain as a beacon throughout all of the arts. He was a warm and kind collaborator with a special appreciation for music and musicians. He was constantly working on new ideas and gave so many people the courage to explore."

"After performing in more than 30 countries, ballroom dance company 'Burn The Floor' debuts on Broadway on Sunday."

"Miami City Ballet will make its Vail, Colorado debut Saturday at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater with a program of masterpieces by George Balanchine."

"While some are amusing, some attempt to take themselves too seriously. Still others fail to provide enough dancing, and some have taken on a life of their own through the passage of time and nostalgia."

"It was an innovative move in a career marked by innovation. But with Cunningham’s death Sunday, his foundation finds itself in the difficult position of having to fund the $8-million plan as it simultaneously goes into effect."

"Leading the country's third-largest ballet company requires serious backup. Now instead of one right-hand man, San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson has two."

"Singer said the idea to send supplies, announced last year, came from board members of the academy who wanted to help the struggling school, which was bombed several years ago."

"In bowing to a mentor, Ananiashvili was honoring the foundation of ballet, the handing down of technique and experience over the generations...While watching, I began to wonder how often ordinary women are rewarded in such palpable ways as this extravagant exchange."

"No question about it, dance audiences in Manhattan are spoiled. The city offers a cornucopia of free events for dance-o-philes each summer, and some of these freebies include premieres by major artists."

"Merce Cunningham, the American choreographer who was among a handful of 20th-century figures to make dance a major art and a major form of theater, died Sunday night at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.

"Cunningham once typed in his notes that dancing 'is not for unsteady souls.' His soul was supremely steady, but primed to embrace risk and make new discoveries. He woke up our eyes to see dancing for itself—as complex, fleeting, and often irrational as life. I will write at more length when I’ve accustomed myself to his absence."

"Though I’ve had moments recently where I’ve decided to take class on a whim or choreographed a solo for myself, I have never treated dance as something in which I can plainly dabble. For when you immerse yourself so completely in something from the age of eleven it’s nearly impossible to take a step backwards and look at it differently."

"Okay, so Katie Holmes' big 'So You Think You Can Dance' Judy Garland tribute was a big fat mess. Yes, she was lip-synching. And yes, her dancing was just a couple steps up from sitting. You could practically hear the Internet snickering around 8:47 p.m. last night."

"America’s oldest dance festival remains proudly international in outlook. This weekend Merce Cunningham Dance Company honors its founder’s 90th birthday with three unusual works."

"Choreographer Angel Corella has announced the U.S. debut of Corella Ballet Castilla y León, March 17 - 20 at New York City Center."

"Lythgoe said he is excited about the special 100th episode, which, in addition to the best routines from all the previous seasons, will feature a pre-recorded performance by Katie Holmes doing an 'homage to Judy Garland in that iconic outfit from 'Summer Stock' where she did 'Get Happy.'"

"The layoffs have produced a complicated set of responses among these dancers, who, since childhood, have endured grueling hours of cloistered study to achieve a remarkable level of artistry."

"In a news release, producers for the show, which was adapted from the 2000 Stephen Daldry film, said that the tour would begin at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts in Chicago in March. Casting for the touring company was not announced."

"Family will be the focus for the Vail International Dance Festival's opening night as tap dancer extraordinaire Savion Glover makes his triumphant return to Vail July 27-28 for two action-packed performances."

"Wim Wenders has decided to forge ahead with Pina, his 3D dance film about legendary choreographer Pina Bausch, who died last month...At the time, Wenders put the project on hold, subject to consultation with Bausch's company, Tanztheater Wuppertal. Today, both sides confirmed that they would carry on the collaboration, citing letters from the public urging them to do so."

"Broadway-bound dance-a-thon 'Burn the Floor' has added Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on ABC's 'Dancing With the Stars,' to its producing team. The show, which features Latin and ballroom moves, begins previews Saturday at the Longacre Theater and is set to open Aug. 2."

"Dandelion Dancetheater’s 'MUTT' is mad and maddening, a wild whirl of song, text, visual design and movement whose anarchic energies sometimes seem shot straight out of Dada."

"Five members of Britain's Royal Ballet came down with the H1N1 swine flu virus during their just-ended visit to Cuba, but all have recovered, a spokeswoman for the dance company said on Monday."

"Jessica Miller Tomlinson is kind of choreographer du jour after winning last month's feisty competition, 'The A.W.A.R.D Show,' at the Dance Center of Columbia College. Her new work, 'Architecture: Splintered and Cracked,' unveiled over the weekend as part of Thodos Dance Chicago's "New Dances 2009," suggests that success is no fluke."

"In June, Weeks won a silver medal at the prestigious Helsinki International Ballet Competition in Finland. The competition is considered the Olympics of ballet, and past-winners include Mikhail Baryshnikov."

"To me, there was only one reason to tune in other than the results, and that was the opening dance, a striking performance heavily influenced by Asian culture choreographed by Wade and Amanda Robson."

"Summerdanz (Friday and Saturday) This festival of contemporary dance at Dance Theater Workshop ends with ColleenThomasDance and a program featuring collaborative work by Ms. Thomas and the composer Chris Lancaster."

"The choreographer Jean-Claude Gallotta, no fool apparently, gives the film center stage for several minutes during “Des Gens Qui Dansent,” which had its United States premiere on Wednesday night at Jacob’s Pillow, performed by his troupe, Groupe Émile Dubois, in its first appearance in this country in 20 years."

"Artscape is raising the barre this year, by scheduling more dance performances than ever before in the 28-year history of Baltimore's free summer celebration of the arts."

"'Most of the world believes we are terrorists,' says Ayman Meghames. 'The media is closed to us, so we get our message out through Hip-Hop.'"

"There's nothing like the bustle of Saratoga Springs in the summer, and if there was any fear the recession would put a damper on the atmosphere of indulgence the season normally brings, some preliminary reports show there may not be much reason to worry."

"Emanuel Gat Dance returned to the Lincoln Center Festival with 'Winter Variations' and 'Silent Ballet.' Once again Mr. Gat offered a middling vision of choreography: not too cold and not too hot, his work falls somewhere in the land of tepid."

"Oddly, one of the weekend's best dance performances came from an actress who barely moved. In 'Cover Me With Humanness,' Gwen Grastorf portrays Degas' iconic statue the 'Little Dancer.' The play is about, among other things, what compels people to watch dance."

"LeWitt occasionally froze the action, and when an immense image of Childs appears for the 20-minute solo that separates Dance's first and last parts, it looks like a still shot. Until she blinks. Glamorous, with beauty so severe that she makes Garbo at her stoniest look approachable, the Childs of 30 years ago made it clear that she was not out to seduce an audience, but to present intriguing equations."

"A longtime union lawyer was arrested and charged on Tuesday with embezzling approximately $150,000 from a union representing dancers and stage managers at American Ballet Theater, federal prosecutors said. "

"London's Royal Ballet will devote on Wednesday its second performance in this capital to Prima Ballerina Assoluta Alicia Alonso, and first Cuban National Ballet (BNC) figures will join this homage."

"John Goding, 50, a founding member, ballet master and former principal dancer for the Washington Ballet, whose career with the company spanned more than 30 years, died July 10 at his vacation home in Cape Coral, Fla., after suffering a pulmonary embolism."

"The usual flips and somersaults were ever present as Pilobolus Dance Theater performed to a sold-out crowd at the Joyce Theater on Monday night, but the main attraction was a bit of shadow play."

"Queen Margrethe unveiled the colorful costumes Wednesday for 'The Swineherd,' a ballet based on a story by Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen."

"'It's an antiquated ordinance that doesn't help anybody,' said Matt McIver, artistic director of the social club, adding that he was elated with the council's decision. The ordinance, which dates to at least 1942, bans public dancing between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday through Saturday."

"Though the phenomenon feels new, it is of course part of one of the oldest trends in human history. People have been congregating to dance since civilization began. The digital means of dissemination are recent, but the act itself is as ancient as eating and sleeping."

"Alexander Vedernikov, who has fought for eight years to revive the fortunes of the renowned opera and ballet house, told the Financial Times on Tuesday he was quitting because of clashes over the theatre’s direction."

"'Dog•id,' which will open at the Joyce Theater this week as part of Pilobolus’s month-long run there, is its most elaborate and longest shadow work yet. And it bears the hallmarks of one of its most unusual collaborators: Steven Banks, the head writer of 'SpongeBob SquarePants.'"

"The sudden death of the German choreographer Pina Bausch last month left a wrenching hole in the lives of the dancers who dedicated themselves to her work in Wuppertal, a small city east of Düsseldorf. And it raised an essential question for all dance companies that exist to serve a lone creative voice: What happens when that voice is silenced?"

"If good design equals the sum of its parts, it’s no question that 30 years later 'Dance' endures."

"After years of teetering on the brink of financial disaster, Ballet Florida filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in West Palm Beach on Friday."

"The Royal Ballet of London is making its first ever appearance in Cuba for a tribute to Cuba's National Ballet and its founder, renowned ballerina Alicia Alonso."

"The 2009 'So You Think You Can Dance' nationwide tour kicks off Sept. 20 in Manchester, N.H. Tickets go on sale July 25.

"It boasts a good, fresh lineup that showcases quality artists who represent the richness that is Bay Area dance. Including world premieres by experienced artists is always a good programming decision, and these are judiciously chosen."

"Expectation and fulfillment can make uneasy bedfellows: 'Orbo Novo' is not, unfortunately, a dazzler. Hints that it wouldn’t be, at least for the cynically inclined, could be found in the overly stuffed program notes..."

"Aficionados of dance music are used to waiting until the wee hours to catch top-of-the-line talent. But especially in summer an array of early parties, some outdoors, offer a respite from late nights and expensive clubs, allowing people with day jobs the opportunity to hear the latest in experimental beats and still be at the office on time in the morning."

"The summer calendar has been marked for dancing since 1933 when American dance pioneer Ted Shawn and his company of Men Dancers gave their first performances at Jacob's Pillow, his 163-acre farm in Becket, Mass."

"New York City Ballet is back at its summer home, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. And though the company’s stay will be shortened to a mere two weeks, its 44th season here is not short on terrific dance and music."

"There's a certain unfettered joy, a cinematic moment when your dancing under the stars at Lincoln Center. The music is often timeless and the groups that attend come from various backgrounds and age groups. Its always a sizable, fervent crowd but never over-crowded."