June 2008 in this issue focus on Alvin Ailey Royal Danish Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet reviews editors' choice

Remembering Alvin Ailey: Through the Eyes of Dana Hash-Campbell Retold by Elizabeth McPherson, PhD I entered the Ailey school as a scholarship student in 1986. It was very different then – smaller and more intimate. We were in the old Minskoff building. There were maybe 12 of us on scholarship. It was personal. Alvin knew everybody. He would stroll the halls and walk in, and sit and watch somebody’s class for a while, and then he’d get up and walk on. He would run up behind you and put his hands over your eyes, and say “Guess who?” read more... Mirror Neurons in the Brain: How They Help Dancers As They Train by Meagan Simpson With the growing popularity of dance and its many styles in Australia – thanks to the hit television show “So You Think You Can Dance” – we have all seen the physical effort put in by the dancers every week to perform a dance routine. read more...

Focus on Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre Click for this month's focus

---

Tulsa Ballet's Kivisto Hall

OBT's Jon Drake

PNB's Stanko Milov

---

reviews

Cas Public - 'Diary' ('Journal intimé)
by David Mead -- May 8, 2008, Patrick Centre, Birmingham, UK
“Diary” (or “Journal intimé” as it was originally known in Québec) was originally commissioned with adolescent or teenage audiences in mind. As choreographer Hélène Blackburn explained after the show however, that wasn’t exactly at the forefront of her mind when making the piece. As she quite rightly said, it can be difficult to trace a dividing line. And although you can see why it might work especially well with teenagers, it equally works pretty well on other levels too.
read more...

The Tehreema Mitha Dance Company - 'Across All Borders: A Choreography with Freedom'
by Carmel Morgan -- April 27, 2008, The Lyceum Museum, Alexandria, Virginia
Tehreema Mitha came to the United States in search of choreographic freedom. She had pushed the envelope as far as she could in her native Pakistan, where she headed the country’s only dance company. Mitha learned classical Indian Bharatanatyam-style dance from her mother, Indu Mitha, a noted teacher and performer. She is a gifted performer with a hunger for experimentation as well as traditional dance.
read more...

'Phantom Rose' -- a hybrid Chinese Afro-Caribbean Dance
by Margaret Chan -- February 14-16, 2008, The Al Green Theatre, Toronto, Canada
On February 14 – 16, 2008, the Little Pear Garden Collective presented three nights of dance performances to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Rat. Showcasing traditional and contemporary Chinese dance, six dances were performed each night at the Al Green Theatre, Toronto.
read more...

225th Anniversary of the Mariinsky Theatre - 16th Annual White Nights Festival
by Catherine Pawlick -- May 13, 2008, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg

Bay Area Response - 'Identity Shifts'
by Toba Singer -- May 8, 2008, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum, San Francisco

San Francisco Ballet - New Works Festival Program B: Mark Morris, James Kudelka, Stanton Welch, Julia Adam
by Becca Hirschman -- April 26, 2008, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

San Francisco Ballet - New Works Festival Program C: Margaret Jenkins, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo
by Becca Hirschman -- May 3, 2008, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

Word Dance Theater - 'The Dances of Isadora Duncan'
by Carmel Morgan -- May 1, 2008, The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum, Bethesda, Maryland

Pennsylvania Ballet - 'Coppelia'
by Lori Ibay -- April 26, 2008, Merriam Theater, Philadelphia

Oregon Ballet Theatre - Mom, Apple Pie, and Art: OBT's American Program
by Dean Speer -- April 26, 2008, Portland, Oregon

'Carlos in Cuba'
by Stuart Sweeney -- April 9, 2008, Coliseum, London

Ballet Kelowna
by Leland Windreich -- February 22, 2008, Norman Rothstein Theatre, Vancouver, B.C.

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre - 'Moon Water'
by David Mead -- April 16, 2008, Sadler's Wells Theatre, London

Leine & Roebana - 'Sporen' ('Traces')
by Carmel Morgan -- April 19, 2008, Dance Place, Washington, DC

Richard Alston Dance Company
by Annie Wells -- April 2, 2008, Brighton Dome, Brighton, UK

Doug Varone and Dancers
by Becca Hirschman -- April 20, 2008, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

editors' choice · 2008 Vail International Dance Festival July 27 - August 10, 2008, Vail Colorado The Festival presents a fantastic array of dance: from Paul Taylor Dance Company to Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, from Pacific Northwest Ballet to Noche Flamenca, from Keigwin + Company to Buckets and Tap Shoes, and from the brilliant stars of the International Evenings to the thrilling champions of Ballroom’s Best. · New York City Ballet in Saratoga July 8 - 26, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, New York NYCB will once again perform outdoors in Saratoga.

 

For ballet-dance magazine
_______________________________
Executive Editor
Kate Snedeker

Executive Editor 2003-2005
Mary Ellen Hunt

Focus Editor
Elizabeth McPherson

Senior and Supervising Editors
Lori Ibay, Holly Messitt, Catherine Pawlick, Azlan Ezaddin

Associate Editors & Compositors
Katie Rosenfeld, Dean Speer, Francis Timlin, Toba Singer, Lisa Claybaugh, Elizabeth McPherson, Mike Wyne