The London 2012 Olympics are in full-throttle and we’re currently glued to the TV watching athletes going faster, higher and stronger. Even though in gymnastics – an event so closely associated with performance and artistic values – we now see a noticeable decline in dance and performance quality, incredible feats still make us think of [...]
From the category archives:
Opinion
Go For Fouetté Gold
by Linda on August 6, 2012
The Future of Dance Criticism
by Guest on November 1, 2011
Last year, in this post on the future of dance criticism, we wrote about the need for critics to embrace web 2.0 and social media, to engage with the online dance community and attract new readers. Among examples of writers who are using these new channels, we mentioned leading UK dance critic Ismene Brown and [...]
Tagged as: criticism, Critics, dance criticism, Facebook, Fantastic Beast, Ismene Brown, Jann Parry, Michael Clark, Online Media, Rian, Social Media, Some Like it Hip Hop, Technology, The Arts Desk, Twitter, Web 2.0
The Royal Ballet 2010/11 Season Roundup
by Linda on June 28, 2011
In one of their riskiest and most exciting ventures, The Royal Ballet wrapped up for summer with MacMillan’s blockbuster Romeo & Juliet staged for an audience of 40,000 (split over 4 performances). The so-hashtagged #RomeO2 event was the surprise hit in a season more memorable for the hasty return of works like Ashton’s Cinderella (4 [...]
Tagged as: #RomeO2, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alina Cojocaru, Apple, Arts Funding, Ashton, Christopher Wheeldon, Clement Crisp, Edward Watson, Johan Kobborg, Kanye West, Kenneth MacMillan, Kevin O'Hare, Kim Brandstrup, Kristen McNally, Live Fire Exercise, Manon, Monica Mason, Rhapsody, Rite of Spring, ROH, Romeo and Juliet, Royal Opera House, Season 2011-2012, Sergei Polunin, Steven McRae, Swan Lake, Tamara Rojo, The Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet Creates, Wayne McGregor, Zenaida Yanowsky
Musicality
by Linda on June 9, 2011
A few months ago we wrote about what makes a dancer graceful. When looking at elements of Grace, we mentioned musicality as a quality in dancers that “will trick you into forgetting about the orchestra pit and thinking that his or her movement is creating the music.” Musicality is a common discussion theme between balletomanes [...]
Tagged as: Alastair Macaulay, Alina Cojocaru, Allegra Kent, Anthony Dowell, Ashley Bouder, Balanchine, Ballet Newbie, Bournonville, Dance Magazine, Diana Vishneva, Ekaterina Krysanova, Galina Ulanova, Gelsey Kirkland, Kyra Nichols, Lis Jeppesen, Merle Park, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Musicality, Rudolf Nureyev, Sara Mearns, Suzanne Farrell, Violette Verdy
Editorial: Happy Anniversary to Us
by Emilia & Linda on April 21, 2011
How time flies! It seems like yesterday that we kicked off The Ballet Bag (then in WordPress.com) with a totally fangirly post about Alina Cojocaru’s return to the stage in Giselle. We had no idea anyone would pay attention to our dance musings, but soon after, we started tweeting and discovered many other like-minded ballet [...]
Tagged as: 2-year anniversary, Ballet, dance, Future of Dance, Social Media, The Ballet Bag, Twitter, Wordle, YouTube
Editorial: Happy New Year & Reader Survey
by Emilia on January 6, 2011
Happy New Year everyone! Before Linda and I get swamped again it’s time to get philosophical. Our year in dance was metaphorically bookended by two very different ballet movies; two opposites in mood: we started 2010 writing about Only When I Dance, a heartwarming documentary about two Brazilian favela dwellers overcoming obstacles to pursue a [...]
Tagged as: 2011, Alastair Macaulay, Alexei Ratmansky, Ashton, Ballet Bag Elsewhere, Ballet Companies, Ballet Movies, Ballet Newbie, Ballet on film, Black Swan, Cinderella, Darren Aronofsky, Editorial, Facebook, Going to the Ballet, Jennifer Homans, Move It Show 2011, Only When I Dance, Opinion, Reader Poll, Royal Ballet, Social Media, The Ballet Bag, Twitter
