By Walter Rutledge
Jamal Rashann Callender has been a member of Ballet Hispanico since 2010. He was part of the new wave of dancers recruited at the start of Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro incumbency. Over the past three seasons Callender has distinguished himself with the company. His clean execution, artistic commitment to the roles, and fashion model good looks have made him a company standout. Continue reading
Vaslav Nijinsky himself did the choreography for Afternoon of a Faun, using the music of Claude Debussy. In this interpretation, Bakst’s scenery and costumes have been stunningly reconstructed by Ralph Holmes. The original choreography, designed to evoke the two-dimensional flatness of a Greek frieze, was reconstructed by Elizabeth Schooling and William Chappel. Continue reading
The pas de deux from Le Corsaire, is an excerpt from the ballet created by Marius Petipa, in Saint Petersburg in 1899. Based on a poem by Byron, and was one of Rudolf ’s first successes. Once in the West, Nureyev danced this pyrotechnic pas de deux from Le Corsaire many times, always setting off wild enthusiasm. It was one of his bravura numbers. We find him, splendidly barbaric, erotic and feline with Margot Fonteyn as his partner, in a film from 1963. In general, the applause and the curtain calls lasted longer that the performance itself. Continue reading
Rudolph Nureyev as Valentino. A biographical drama film very loosely based on the life of Rudolph Valentino, directed by Ken Russell in 1977. In this scene former dance hall performer Rudolpho Valentino dances a tango with dance legend Ballet Russe star Vaslav Nijinsky. Continue reading
Le Spectre de la rose (English: The Spirit of the Rose) about a young girl who dreams of dancing with the spirit of a souvenir rose from her first ball. Jean-Louis Vaudoyer wrote the ballet story. He based it on a verse by Theophile Gautier. The dances were designed by Michel Fokine. The music is Hector Berlioz’s 1841 orchestration by Carl Maria von Weber’s piano music Afforderung zum Tanz (English: Invitation to the Dance). Leon Bakst designed the original sets and costume. The ballet was first presented in Monte Carlo on 19 April 1911. Nijinsky danced The Rose and Tamara Karsavina danced The Young Girl. Continue reading
Untitled (How Does It Feel) created a music video scandal. The music video helped boost D’Angelo’s visibility and the song’s public appeal. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge 
Paris-born choreographer Benoit-Swan Pouffer and Ailey II dancer David Freeland discuss the creative process following a rehearsal of Rusty prior to the Ailey II New York season April 2 through April 14 at the Ailey Citgroup Theater. 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
By Walter Rutledge
The recent all too-short season of the Martha Graham Dance Company at New York City Center was a resounding artistic success. The company performed two programs of Graham classics and stunning new works by Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis. The Saturday March 22 evening program included two Graham classics Appalachian Spring (1944) and Rite of Spring (1984). Both works reinforced the fact that Graham was not only as a master craftsman, but also as an artist with a strong sense of classic form, structure and design. Continue reading
Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dance the Balcony scene from The Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet, choreography by Kenneth MacMillan, 1966. 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 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 