Death of a dancer: Elyse Borne
Dec
21
2019
Elyse Borne, after a long battle with cancer, passed away December 16, 2019. After her career as a soloist with New York City Ballet, Ms. Borne further distinguished herself as one of the world’s foremost George Balanchine repetiteurs, and over a period of 20 years from 1996-2016 she staged, with permission of the George Balanchine ...
REVIEW: Sara Mearns’ deep dance-dig at the Pillow
Sara Mearns in Christopher Williams’ excerpt from “Daphnis & Chloé” Being present for the career arc of a singularly distinctive and memorable dancer is a wonderful privilege. And it’s been a privilege to observe the initial 15 years of Sara Mearns’ career on our dance stages. Primarily, she is a leading light of New York ...
REVIEW: ‘I Married An Angel’ at City Center’s Encores!
Sara Mearns, Mark EvansRodgers & Hart’s I Married an Angel Director-Choreographer Joshua Bergasse Over the past few seasons Sara Mearns has found a home at City Center for projects outside of (and sometimes very far removed from) her “day job” as one of New York City Ballet’s leading ballerinas. At Fall for Dance she has ...
On Robbins’s 100th, his biographers raise a glass
I’ll leave the kudos for Jerome Robbins on this auspicious day — his 100th birthday — to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts now hosting an exhibit, Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York; New York City Ballet with its planned Robbins repertory evening tonight (Afternoon of a Faun, Other ...
Death of a dancer: Peter Frame
Sep
16
2018
Former New York City Ballet principal dancer Peter Frame, a beloved teacher and coach, performs the duet from Balanchine’s AGON with Victor Castelli. Frame, at right, died August 30, 2018 — sadly, the day after the passing away of Paul Taylor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kurt Froman (@kurtfroman) ...
Chase Finlay, who danced Balanchine’s ‘Apollo,’ calls women ‘sluts’ 1
Sep
12
2018
As the young god Apollo, the title role of the ballet masterpiece created by the choreographer George Balanchine at the precocious age of 28, former New York City Ballet dancer Chase Finlay had “great dignity,” “tapering limbs,” “a beautifully long and firm neck,” and a “powerful thorax.” Those words were written by New York Times ...
Death of a dancer: Karin von Aroldingen (1941-2018) 3
Jan
5
2018
If you love ballet … as I do … then it is with choking sadness (it is unbearably sad) to learn that we have lost the magisterial Balanchine ballerina Karin von Aroldingen who passed away at age 77 on January 5, 2018. She should not die. She was so utterly in control, at the same ...
Review: ballerina Wendy Whelan in new documentary 1
We all have problems, right? In the case of Wendy Whelan, the equivalent of a prima ballerina assoluta if only New York City Ballet had that designation, the problem in dance season 2013-14 was how to gracefully exit the stage and transition to civilian life. For thirty years, the reed-thin, Kentucky-born ballet-thoroughbred reigned as the ...
Review: Memphis jookin phenom Lil Buck & pals wow @ Broad Stage
Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is only eight blocks from The Broad Stage, but it took Memphis jookin phenom Charles “Lil Buck” Riley thousands of miles and several years to get from one to the other. Six years ago, he was busking for quarters on the Promenade, but when a video of him dancing to ...
The death of a dancer: Albert Evans
Jun
23
2015
Our sadness is profound at the loss of a beautiful Balanchine dancer, a great veteran of New York City Ballet where he was a principal dancer. Albert Evans perished today at age 46. photo credit: Albert Evans, The Four Temperaments, Paul Kolnik/New York City Ballet Read more: The death of a dancer: Michael Jackson Death ...