Jennifer Archibald’s professional roles almost mirror the breadth of the dance field itself. A Canadian now based in New York City, she runs her own dance company and its ArchCore40 Dance Intensives; is a guest artist at several universities and teaches at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University; has commercial clients like […]
Why Some Dancers Are Finding an Outlet in Burlesque
If you hear that someone’s a burlesque performer, you might call to mind Gypsy Rose Lee’s journey from vaudeville youngster to snobby stripper in Gypsy, or even the painted ladies of Moulin Rouge! Burlesque, however, is neither. And for the growing number of women who have found their way to nightlife performance from a concert-dance background, burlesque can […]
How Dance Experts Are Reimagining the Post-COVID World
The lurch of conflicting COVID-19 guidance has wildly shifted how we occupy space with one another. Our collective improvisation through the “coronasphere” (as scholar Kate Elswit brilliantly named it) has been subject to an onslaught of rules, reversals and regulations. As part of a shared research project with Dr. Heidi Boisvert and Melissa Painter through […]
What the Reactions to Debora Chase-Hicks’ Death Revealed About Divisions in the Dance World
On May 6, there was a tear in the universe and a void opened up when Debora Chase-Hicks died. For a large portion of the Black dance community, her name needs no qualifiers like “former star of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.” A dance giant fell, and yet, if one paid close attention to news outlets […]
One Year After Its Launch, Black Dance Stories Remains Required Viewing
In Episode 1 of Black Dance Stories, a web series that launched on June 25, 2020, Stefanie Batten Bland talks about how she has no childcare. In another episode, Leslie Parker Zooms from the Twin Cities, where she is having solo rehearsals at a theater three blocks from the epicenter of the George Floyd protests. […]
Why Dancers Belong on the Ballot
In the winter of 2014 I was literally running through the streets of New York City to my first-ever meeting with Gale Brewer, the borough president of Manhattan. I was freaking out. I had never met with a politician before; I was running late, and I never run late; and I was lost. I came […]
Why Blaming Liam Scarlett’s Death on Cancel Culture Is Troubling
Earlier this month, the ballet world awoke to reports of the unexpected passing of the British choreographer Liam Scarlett. He had just turned 35; shortly afterward, his family put out a statement confirming “the tragic, untimely death of our beloved Liam,” and asking that the public respect their privacy. Social media didn’t tread quite so […]
Our Favorite #FosseChallenge TikToks
Some things—like Fosse’s iconic choreography—never go out of style. One of the latest trends to take over TikTok is the #FosseChallenge, where everyone from pro dancers to amateurs are taking a stab at moves from Sweet Charity‘s “Rich Man’s Frug.” Even some original Fosse performers have been getting in on the action. In what seems […]
Immersive Theater Thrives on Closeness. Where Does It Go From Here?
It’s 9:30 pm on a Thursday night in November; my eyes close as I hear the familiar, haunting notes of the closing music for Then She Fell. Music I’ve heard thousands of times before. Eerie, swelling strings that have signaled the beginning of a dinner break with fellow castmates, or the end of a long […]
When Dance Work Dried Up, This Artist Founded a Nonprofit to Serve Her Neighbors Down the Street
Janice Rosario is a used to having a packed schedule. Pre-pandemic, she juggled teaching at The Ailey School in New York City with traveling throughout the U.S. to guest choreograph and teach at various colleges. “Once the pandemic hit, all these festivals and plans and commissions that I had were postponed or completely canceled,” she […]