Manpower. (Starting Here).A letter arrived a few weeks ago that accused me of being a "human-elitist." I filed it with other letters I had received in the past, some calling me racist, ageist, sexist, biased-for-ballet, biased-against-ballet, and so forth. I'm none of those labels, nor is DANCE MAGAZINE. But I must admit to being pro-human even though I have enjoyed many years of loyal companionship from some four-footed creatures. What I mean is, I would go back to save a dog or cat off a burning deck (but not goldfish or pet pythons)--but only after the humans had been rescued. And I never shed a tear when I pull a screaming carrot from the garden and pop it into a hungry stew pot. Life is a continuum, and everybody draws the line somewhere. Mine favors humans and, among those, dancers. This issue I anticipate being criticized for being "male-dancer-elitist." While current conventional wisdom emphasizes dance as woman's work, give it a reality check. One-half of most pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or is male, as are many or most of the top artistic directors and administrators in professional dance companies, most name choreographers and master teachers, etcetera, etcetera. Now look at the manpower in these pages! There's the athletic starburst StarBurst - An active DBMS from IBM Almaden Research Center. of John Selya John Selya is a professional dancer on Broadway where he stars in The Times They Are A-Changin' (2006). He played the character Eddie in the show Movin' Out for which he received the 2003 Tony and Drama Desk nominations for Best Male Dancer and a lead actor in a , dancing at his peak in Twyla Tharp's highly touted Movin' Out on Broadway (see page 47). Many opportunities to emulate his success are listed in our 2003 Guide to Auditions (see pages 77-119). The PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, series Great Performances: Dance in America celebrates a crowning thirtieth-anniversary season (see page 30) with the magnificent broadcast of Lar Lubovitch's Othello, by San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet, or SFB, is a San Francisco, USA based ballet company, founded in 1933 as part of San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, where it is directed by Helgi Tomasson. , and you readers get a sneak peek at the personality and profile of Desmond Richardson Desmond Richardson is co-founder and co-artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He has mastered a wide range of dance forms including classical, modern, and contemporary. Biography Mr. , who created the title role at American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre, one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and Rich Pleasant. and dances it in SFB's filmed production. In an embarrassment of riches An embarrassment of riches is an idiom that means an overabundance of something, or too much of a good thing, that originated in 1738 as John Ozell's translation of a French play, L'Embarras des richesses (1726). , we also get a preview of Dance in America's "Born to Be Wild: The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre," featuring four of today's most prominent male ballet dancers, which is scheduled to air first on February 3, 2003--but call your local PBS station because their dates may vary slightly (see story on page 28). This up-close-and-personal look at how Jose Manuel Carreno, Angel Corella Ángel Corella (born 1975) is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Raised in Madrid, Spain, he trained with Karemia Moreno and Víctor Ullate and began winning dance awards at a young age, including the First Prize in the National Ballet Competition of Spain and three , Vladimir Malakhov, and Ethan Stiefel came to be dancers--from their very different surroundings and circumstances--is fascinating and inspiring. The program is a significant bow by Dance in America--not just to a single performance or season but to examples of lifetimes spent building and achieving great performances by these men. And, not incidentally, to the thirty years of television programming in dance, led by Executive Producer Jac Venza, for millions of American home viewers. The first Dance Magazine Awards, presented in 1954, were for pioneer programming of dance on TV--Adventure (CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. ), Tony Charmoli (NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. ), Max Liebman (NBC), and Omnibus (CBS)--because they showed dance and dancers to a broader audience than the concert hall. And in those early years, Ann Barzel wrote a column, "Looking at Television," that reported and reviewed dance in this new medium. But it really wasn't until the PBS Great Performances series began that viewers could rely on a regular season of superior performances of dance in America in all its guises. A toast to GP:DIA and a wish for many more anniversaries. If you are a regular reader, this is your second look at our newly designed DANCE MAGAZINE--logo, concept, and content--which takes into account time-constrained multitaskers as well as patient, focused readers but still stands for our chosen time-honored values. If you are one of those single-copy impulse buyers, this may be your reintroduction to DANCE MAGAZINE--and surprise, it's new now. Look carefully. I'd like to know how you feel about it--what engages you for a moment, what holds your interest, what gives pleasure, what you find missing that would give you inspiration. We're still in the refining process, so now it's up to you to vote with your pens or keyboards. Tell me, please. K.C. Patrick, Editor in Chief |
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