By Walter Rutledge
Arthur Mitchell, dancer, teacher, choreographer, social activist and founding director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem passed on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at age 84 from complications of heart failure. Mitchell’s career can only be described as trailblazing. In 1956 he crossed what E.B. Debois referred to as the “color line” to become the first ballet dancer of African decent to join the international renowned New York City Ballet.
Promethean Fire (2002) is my favorable Paul Taylor work and a fitting tribute to the genius of modern dance’s Gentle Giant. Continue reading
Le Jeune Homme et La Mort was choreographed by Roland Petit choreographed in 1946 to Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, with a one-act libretto by Jean Cocteau. It tells the story of a Young Man driven to suicide by his faithless lover. Sets were by George Wakhevitch and costumes variously reported as being by Karinska or Cocteau. Continue reading
Short profile of Olga Smirnova a rising star in the Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow. Continue reading
Balcony scene from John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet featuring Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun with music by Sergei Prokofiev. Continue reading
In 1961, on tour in Paris, Rudolf Nureyev- the Kirov Ballet’s star made a historic dash from his KGB bodyguards into the arms of French police. Was there more to his defection than meets the eye? Continue reading
Natalia Makaova, and one of her favorite partners, Ivan Nagy, dancing the White Swan Pas de Deux from “Swan Lake.” They are accompanied on-stage by violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Lynn Harrell. Continue reading
Loretta Thomas performs Mother featuring choreography by Isadora Duncan (c. 1923) with music by Alexander Scriabin. Duncan bore two children, both out of wedlock. The first, Deirdre Beatrice (born September 24, 1906), by theatre designer Gordon Craig and the second, Patrick Augustus (born May 1, 1910),by Paris Singer, one of the many sons of sewing machine magnate Isaac Singer. Both children drowned in the care of their nanny in 1913 when their runaway car went into the Seine River in Paris.
Mother (Isadora Duncan c. 1923)
In her autobiography, Duncan relates that she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor Romano Romanelli, to sleep with her because she was desperate for another baby. She became pregnant by him, and gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914; the infant died shortly after birth.
Maya Plisetskaya, Prima Ballerina Assoluta of the Bolshoi Ballet, danced Maurice Bejart’s Bolero set to the famous Ravel score in 1975. Plisetskaya created a stunning theatrical experience. What makes the piece so compelling is that although Plisetskaya may be accompanied by dozens of other dancers mirroring her movement, the first and only focus is on the prima ballerina herself. Continue reading
George Balanchine’s fun romp set to the music of George Gershwin performed by Het Nationale Ballet. Continue reading
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid 
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid 