Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) transformed ballet training, melding French Romanticism and Italian strength and athleticism with Russian expressivity. The publication of her book, Basic Principles of Classical Ballet, systemized her technique that is now the foundation for ballet schools all over the world. Vaganova was born in St. Petersburg with ballet already in her blood: Her father was an usher at the Mariinsky Theatre. At the age of 10, she entered what was then called the Imperial Ballet School; she joined the corps de ballet in 1897. Never a favorite of ballet master Marius Petipa and frequently criticized for her unattractiveness […]

CJay Philip, artistic director of Baltimore’s Dance & Bmore, is full of energy and joy as she sings about James Brown on Pennsylvania Avenue. Her dance classes for ages 65 and over combine live musicians, storytelling, and movement to connect participants with memories of their first concerts. These songs and memories eventually grow into performance pieces that give the students “the opportunity to tell their stories through music and movement.” This is the core of Dance & Bmore’s mission: to create meaningful human connections through movement, music, and theater.  Philip came to Baltimore in 2010, after 18 years in New […]

Two years after hip-hop professor Tiffany Bong arrived at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, she asked to bring a DJ into the studio. “That’s a huge part of hip-hop culture,” she says. Just like most university-level ballet classes have a pianist and contemporary classes might have a percussionist, Bong’s classes rely on a DJ to give dancers a complete experience. “When I teach pedagogically, I want to recreate a club in the classroom. And the DJ is such an essential part of this practice,” she says.  Some days she’ll have a particular lesson plan in mind and guide […]

The recital by Rasika Rajagopalan and D. Dilip was titled ‘Mugdha Madhavam’ and consisted of compositions devoted to Krishna.

The young dancer-theatre artiste speaks about her strong bond with the verdant Adishakti campus, her work and her mentor Veenapani Chawla.

From director shifts, notable awards, and beyond, here are the major dance educator moves you should know about from spring 2025. Melissa Toogood will be the next dean and director of dance at The Juilliard School, succeeding Alicia Graf Mack on July 1. Mario Alberto Zambrano has been named associate dean and director. Carla Körbes has been named ballet chair. Jamar Roberts will join the faculty as distinguished visiting faculty and an Arnhold creative associate at large. Additionally, Bobbi Jene Smith and Karen Gayle will join the faculty. Janie Taylor has been appointed artistic director of the Trudl Zipper Dance […]

Ballet wouldn’t be the art form it is today without its long history of incredible teachers. And while many training methods have proven themselves successful over the years, the man who trained some of the greatest dancers of all time—including Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, and Vaslav Nijinsky—was clearly doing something right.  The Man Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928) was born in Italy to two dancers in a theater dressing room. He made his stage debut while still a baby in his father’s arms, grew up to be one of the most celebrated male dancers of his time, was the ballet master of […]

The dancer, recipient of the Best Original Choreographer Award (2018) by Broadway World for the Mughal-e-Azam, premeries her work ‘Bhakti- A Shared Longing’ on June 13