Washington Ballet is set to make a historic debut when it presents iconic ballerina Misty Copeland at the helm of its production. In April 2015, many firsts will be seen for the 70 year old company, none more prominent than the premiere of star ballerina Misty Copeland in the leading roles of Odette/Odile. The production will also launch performances by musical artists of S&R Foundation’s Evermay Chamber Orchestra in Washington Ballet’s first-ever full length production of this quintessential ballet.
Recently Copeland has been on the rise to stardom as one of the US’s most celebrated ballerinas, only the second African-American ballerina to be promoted to soloist at American Ballet Theatre. Recently she was a guest judge on the television show So You Think You Can Dance, and was appointed by President Obama to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.
As an artist, Copeland is changing the paradigm as to what a ballerina should look like, with delicate physicality, fantastic technique and a natural stage presence to make her one of the most important female dancers in the US today. As a classical dancer she is now redefining the typical notions of what a ballet dancer should look like, and is a model for where classical ballet is going, ultimately artistic and physically powerful.
Washington Ballet will be dancing Kirk Peterson’s adaptation of Swan Lake, which draws heavily on the 1934 adaptation of the 1895 original Petipa/Ivanov Swan Lake. Peterson is widely regarded as a specialist in re-staging full-length classical repertoire such as The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle and Coppélia through years of research and dedication to ballet. For Swan Lake, Peterson aims to revive the original intent of Swan Lake and breathe new life into what he calls “a damaged icon.”
The nominations for the 15th National Dance awards promise a ‘vintage list’ of eventual winners as traditional dance boundaries are broken down and the spotlight falls on the younger, rising stars. The nominations have been whittled down from a long list of nearly 400 names, and from a year’s worth of performances that took place between 1 September 2013 and 31 August 2014. A new category, the emerging artist award, was added this year to ensure younger and less established dancers and choreographers were acknowledged, keeping the spectrum of talent as broad as possible.
Equity has responded to plans to allow child performers to start work at 7am – an hour earlier than adults – and has called for more clarification on streamlining child performance regulations. The government has just completed consultation over bringing the regulations for children working on screen or stage in line with each other: when children can take part in performances and the breaks they must have.
It has been announced that English National Ballet will become Sadler’s Wells’ first associate ballet company. This exciting relationship will see ENB present two annual seasons at Sadler’s in the spring and autumn of each year from March 2015 onwards.
Leeds-based company Northern Ballet has recently announced its plans for 2015, following a very successful year on the stage and in the studio in 2014. Having staged a number of successful productions with the dust slowly settling, 2015 looks set to be another exciting year for the company.
Resolution! Review is a scheme headed by The Place as an opportunity for writers interested in covering dance and performance. It offers emerging writers, interested in honing their live performance review skills, the chance to see three different performances per night from up-and-coming choreographers, and review these new dance companies. Successful candidates will also be mentored by a professional dance critic, and have their work published and promoted by The Place.
American Ballet Theatre is set to mark is 75th anniversary with a celebration which will last 15 months. It will include historic revivals, new works, a new documentary film, a touring exhibition by the Library of Congress and an anniversary gala. With such a huge milestone to celebrate it seems the company is rather justified in its plans. If this news was not exciting enough, guest artists for the season will include Evgenia Obraztsova, Natalia Osipova and Marianela Nuñez, who will be making her American Ballet Theatre debut in a revival of Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella.
The Mark Morris Dance Group, in order to fulfil their global tour in October and November 2014, will be going both east and west: for the first time in the company’s 34 year history, it will split into two groups. Half the troupe’s dancers will tour the United States, Scotland, Italy and Switzerland, while the remainder will head for Cambodia, East Timor and Taiwan. The company will then reunite in Shenzhen, China on 11 November. The company spends around half of each year touring.
BBC Young Dancer 2015 is a new award for young people that showcases the very best of young British dance talent. Young dancers will enter in one of four categories: ballet, contemporary, hip hop and South Asian dance. The competition will culminate in a grand finale at Sadler’s Wells, London, when the best dancers in each category will compete for the competition title.