It would be easy to assume that every dance ensemble in the Western Hemisphere is presenting The Nutcracker this time of year. For quite a while, one of the few that didn’t was St. Louis’ Center of Creative Arts, to the annual dismay of then-head of its dance department, Antonio Douthit-Boyd. Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker... Continue Reading →
Next Generation Ballet’s Summer Intensive is a perennial event for Gabriella Yudenich. Since 2018, the former soloist with the Pennsylvania (now Philadelphia) Ballet has shared her talent and experience with the young dancers in Next Generation Ballet’s Summer Intensive. Gabriella Yudenich performing Myrta in Giselle. The culmination of the Summer Intensive is its showcase, Friday,... Continue Reading →
When the works of renowned choreographers are staged, someone will be there to ensure they are staged to the choreographer’s specifications. That someone is a repetiteur, and Philip Neal is one. For our purposes, he’s two. Philip, chair of Patel Conservatory’s Dance Department and artistic director of Next Generation Ballet, is a repetiteur for the... Continue Reading →
Next Generation Ballet®’s annual production of Nutcracker always adds an extra sparkle to the holidays. This year’s presentation will shine even brighter when, for the first time, an NGB alum from a major American ballet company returns to perform in Nutcracker. Jarod Curley, a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, spent “the two most intense years... Continue Reading →
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. If a scorned woman dies of heartbreak, you better hope you aren’t the one who broke it. Your ex might be teaming up with the malevolent spirits of other jilted women and, brother, hell WILL be raised. That’s a very skeletal reading of Giselle, one of classical... Continue Reading →
One year ago in this very blog, we nominated “Nut Rocker” as a candidate to join the batch of holiday songs with which we’re currently being bombarded. We contended that this lively, rock and rolling interpretation of The Nutcracker would give all of us a two-minute respite from Mariah and George and Elvis and Bing... Continue Reading →
Houston Ballet Academy graduates and current Corps de Ballet dancers Neal Burks as Basilio and Magnoly Batista as Kitri in Houston Ballet Academy's Ben Stevenson's Don Quixote. Photo by Amitava Sarkar (2019). Courtesy of Houston Ballet. Neal Burks was a promising young dancer in 2013. Ten years on, that promise is being fulfilled. But for... Continue Reading →
Nutcracker Facts To Chew On Everyone has their touchstone that truly marks the holiday season. It could be Black Friday shopping, or when the first tree lot opens, making grandmother’s latkes or gathering around the television for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or A Charlie Brown Christmas. In this writer’s home, it was when dad spotted... Continue Reading →
We know how much you love The Straz, but how much do you really KNOW about the Straz, other than it’s fabulous, of course? Well, we’re going to find out. Take this quiz, awarding yourself one point for every correct answer to determine if you are a well-informed Straz patron or if you are just... Continue Reading →
“It might be a good idea to call all ballets Swan Lake. That way, people will come!” - George Balanchine For a good portion of the mid to late 20th century, the neoclassical and plotless ballets, typified by the works of George Balanchine, were the favor of choreographers. Music and technique-driven ballets such as Serenade... Continue Reading →
A teenager in a foreign land during a global pandemic, Hector Jain is well beyond his years. The Next Generation Ballet (NGB) alum and Lakeland, Fla., resident has been studying at Les Ballet de Monte Carlo’s Princess Grace Academy since early in 2020 and soaking up all the experience has to offer. Caught in the... Continue Reading →
The French codified ballet under King Louis XIV by defining the five basic positions of the feet and setting a catalog of positions related to the “turn-out” of the legs in the hip sockets (i.e., the legs rotate out of the hips instead of facing forward). Placement, a.k.a. alignment, and lift, a.k.a. pull-up, became fundamentals... Continue Reading →
Faster than a speeding pirouette, the dance world turned around a traditionally studio-based, person-to-person practice into an online smorgasbord of virtual classes, tutorials and programs for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Ever wanted to train with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater? Principal dancers from American Ballet Theatre or New York City Ballet? Now you can. Even... Continue Reading →
A first for The Straz, the new fabric designs represent a wild collaboration between dance costuming and graphic design. When people think of the graphic design department in a performing arts non-profit, they may imagine program layouts, banners, signage, logos and the like. They may not consider a couture collaboration to produce custom costumes specifically... Continue Reading →
How a Russian defector built couture fashion from ballet costumes during the rise of New York City Ballet Chanel. Gucci. Givenchy. These famous fashion houses earned notoriety for their signature styles, making their designs easily recognizable – the Chanel suit, the Gucci bag, the Givenchy dress. In the golden age of American ballet, during the... Continue Reading →
Huge news for dance fans: the one and only Tiler Peck bourrés into Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker this holiday season with partner Tyler Angle as her Cavalier. One of the many benefits of having a retired New York City Ballet principal dancer as the artistic director of our pre-professional ballet company is the talent he... Continue Reading →
The performing arts are big business. In this industry, we have a lot of super important jobs for people who love the theater but who may have no interest in performing. This week, we sat down with Straz Center costumer Camille McClellan, who costumes dance and musical theater productions for the Patel Conservatory, to find... Continue Reading →
On the neck of the foot? The bite of the donkey? The French codified ballet under King Louis XIV by defining the five basic positions of the feet and setting a catalog of positions related to the “turn-out” of the legs in the hip sockets (i.e., the legs rotate out of the hips instead of... Continue Reading →
NGB’s Sugar Plum Fairies Get Sweet Partners in NYCB Principal Amar Ramasar and MCB Principal Renan Cerdeiro The word is out about the big ballet stars appearing in Next Generation Ballet’s Nutcracker, which features the George Balanchine grand pas de deux and New York City Ballet star Sara Mearns and former Miami City Ballet principal... Continue Reading →
Lauded principal ballerina Patricia Delgado retired from Miami City Ballet this year after an extraordinary career with the company that began when she was 16 years old. An exquisite technician and breathtaking artist, Delgado gave soul to MCB, and arrived at The Straz last summer as a guest artist (along with Balanchine great Edward Villella)... Continue Reading →