A musical theater dance class used to be very easily defined. The style of movement incorporated specific nuances like outstretched fingers, isolations, and clean, long lines. Combinations often emulated the work of Bob Fosse or Jerome Robbins, or were always danced to the same rotation of well-known golden-age songs. But the landscape of movement on Broadway is now shifting, and choreographers from different genres of dance are bringing their unique styles to musicals and plays. Camille A. Brown’s blend of 1990s street cyphers and modern dance in Hell’s Kitchen, Andy Blankenbuehler’s intricate gestural work in Hamilton, and Casey Nicholaw’s flashy […]

Natyacharyas V.P. and Shantha Dhananjayan spoke about the nuances of dance and their choreographic works in their recent lec-dem at Chennai’s Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha. 

During the 11 years that Jean Freebury danced for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, she discovered the value of being specific not just with your movement but also with your rhythm. “Merce had metered phrases, and also unmetered phrases where the rhythm would come out of the movement itself,” she says. Sometimes, there were even multiple rhythms going on simultaneously. “The arms and torso were marking out the rhythm one way and the legs were marking out the rhythm in a different way,” she says.  Through tackling these challenges, she learned how to create visual rhythms within her body with […]

Chan Hon Goh, CM, DLitt, may be the only daughter of Choo Chiat and Lin Ye Goh, ballet icons and founders of the prestigious Goh Ballet Academy and Youth Company Canada in Vancouver, but following in her parents’ footsteps and taking over the academy after they retired was never a given.  Chan Hon Goh. Photo by NSBKIM, courtesy Goh Ballet Academy. In 2009, after retiring from a 21-year performance career with the National Ballet of Canada, where she was the company’s first Chinese principal, Goh moved from Toronto to Vancouver with her husband and 3-year-old son to spend a year […]

More women, and occasionally men, of all ages are discovering the benefits of pole dancinge, which builds strength, endurance and agility. Meet teachers and students from across the country who are redefining this performance art.

Join classical dancers, Srividya Angara Sinha and Shubha Nagarajan, as they present the second edition of Svadhyaya Performing Arts festival in Bengaluru

“I started dancing when I was 4,” says Diane Rawlinson, now 63 years old. “If someone had told me, when I was 18 or 20, that I’d spend half of my life teaching dance in public schools, I wouldn’t have believed them!” Now retired from teaching K–12, Rawlinson has embarked on her next career: mentoring future educators as a teacher in Loyola University Chicago’s master’s degree program in elementary education with a dance concentration. Loyola is one of only a handful of universities that make it possible for dance instructors to graduate with certification to teach in kindergarten through 12th-grade […]

From director shifts to faculty appointments and beyond, here are the major dance educator moves you should know about from winter 2024–25. Nicole Haskins was named artistic director of San Jose Dance Theatre. Dexandro Montalvo stepped down from his post as ODC Dance Jam’s co-artistic director at the end of 2024. Douglas Gillespie joined as associate director in February. Elizabeth Honer succeeded Tim Arthur as CEO of the Royal Academy of Dance on January 21. Dan Galpern was named CEO of DanceOne. Troy Anthony was named National Dance Institute’s Helen Stambler Neuberger Artist-in-Residence for 2024–25. Heidi Cruz-Austin, director of dance […]

Shanmugasundaram performed compositions on Shiva at the Sarasalaya Dance festival, in Chennai recently