June 23 will mark the anniversary of dance legend Bob Fosse’s birth in 1927, almost 90 years since. Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theatre choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director, with some of his dance work including The Pajama Game (1954), Damn Yankees (1955), How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1961), Sweet Charity (1966), Pippin (1972), Cabaret (1972) and Chicago (1975). He won eight Tony Awards for choreography and one for direction.
Fosse was born the son of a vaudevillian and began performing in vaudeville as a child. By his early teens he was appearing on stage in a variety of burlesque shows and he began studying dance at a small institution, but soon moved on to the Frederick Weaver Ballet School where he was the only male enrolled.
Fosse’s third and last wife, Broadway legend Gwen Verdon, helped to define and perfect what is now known as “Fosse”, the unique and distinct style which Fosse used to choreograph and become such an iconic mover. With fantastic energy and artistry, Fosse was one of this century’s great choreographers, forging his craft on the Broadway stage and on film and becoming as big an artist as Vaslav Nijinsky and George Balanchine.
As an artist, Fosse was known for his thoroughly modern style, training under jazz star Jack Cole, a creating a signature style which could not be mistaken for any other movement. His movement vocabulary consists of snapping fingers, hip and shoulder rolls and backward exits alongside exaggerated hip movements, struts and white-gloved, single-handed gestures. Some of his stereotypical style was born of his dislike of certain parts of his body, such as white gloves to hide his large hands and tilted bowler hats to hide his balding head. Despite this, his movement and consequent dancers he taught were fluid and angular, full of style and charisma.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Many balletomanes may believe they know of the Tarantella through iconic American choreographer George Balanchine. However the dance, as a wild folk dance of Italy, was once believed to be a cure for tarantula bites, characterised by a fast, upbeat tempo and accompanied by tambourines.
Dame Margot Fonteyn’s name dominated British ballet for more than 40 years as one of the truly great dancers of our time and the most famous ballerina of the second half of the century. Her name is one part of the legendary partnership with Rudolf Nureyev, with Fonteyn becoming late choreographer Frederick Ashton’s muse and an iconic figure of the English classical ballet style of elegance.
The classic production Anything Goes is back on the musical theatre scene and is currently on tour across North America, visiting St. Louis, Washington, Schenectady, Toronto, Costa Mesa, Portland, Spokane and Seattle. This splendid new production produced by the Roundhouse Theatre Company will feature all the iconic tracks such as ‘I get a Kick out of You’, ‘It’s De-Lovely’ and ‘Anything Goes’, with the legendary Cole Porter the genius behind the music and lyrics of this sassy Broadway musical.
It has been announced that 2014, as the 30th anniversary of Jane Torvil and Christopher Dean’s Olympic Bolero performance, will mark the last series of Dancing on Ice. Torvil and Dean, the series’ mentors, felt it made sense to end the show, as a mark of the anniversary of their groundbreaking dance at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
Cirque du Soleil, the multi-faceted performance extraordinaire, has revealed its tour dates for 2013, beginning in July at the London 02. Running from 18 July to 10 November, the tour will visit cities and venues such as London’s Wembley Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne’s Metro Radio Arena, Leeds Arena, Liverpool Echo Arena and the Capital FM Arena Nottingham. This is aside from the international leg for Cirque, heading out to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for the August part of the tour, and then to France and Spain from mid-November until Christmas.
Queensland Ballet has announced an exclusive season coming up for dance fans in Australia by obtaining two very current stars, each in their own respects, for new work in the coming year for the company. Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet will be staged and will star Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta for the season which will run from 27 June to 5 July 2014. This is fantastic for the company and a huge achievement for Queensland Ballet’s artistic director, Li Cunxin.
Becoming one of the BalletBoyz is arguably every young dancer’s dream. With their slick performances, immeasurable talent and famous good looks, it is no wonder that the group lead by Trevor Nunn and William Trevitt is going from strength to strength, and may have the answer to these young dancers’ wishes.
Kids Week, organised by the company behind Official London Theatre, Society of London Theatre, is now in its 16th year and aims to encourage families to experience the magic of theatre and welcome children through the West End’s doors. For 2013, the Kids Week team has announced a huge 34 top London shows as part of the line-up, offering free tickets to children aged 16 and under with every adult ticket purchased.