Rachel Howard did a nice piece in the SF Chronicle.
Quote:
'Let's dance for Michael'
Rachel Howard, Joshua Kosman
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
At the City Ballet Studios, the Upper Market district building where the 16 members of Smuin Ballet train, the mood Tuesday was a combination of somber grief and show-must-go-on stoicism. Pascale Leroy taught company class in the same studio where choreographer Michael Smuin had his heart attack just 24 hours earlier, and the plies and jetes were interspersed with quick bursts of tears and consolatory hugs that started small and then went on and on.
"Those were the hardest plies I ever did," dancer Robin Cornwell said afterward. But everyone agreed that the only way to cope with the shock was to keep dancing.
more...And Mary Ellen did one for the Contra Costa Times.
Quote:
Dance community grieves for Smuin
By Mary Ellen Hunt
TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Article Launched: 04/25/2007 06:47:14 AM PDT
THE MOMENT was surreal, by all accounts. One minute, the dancers of Smuin Ballet were in high spirits, finishing a quick allegro combination in company class with artistic director Michael Smuin -- he was even poking fun at his own choreographic invention. And then, in a flash Monday, he was on the ground, and they were struggling in vain to save him.
Throughout the afternoon, as word rippled through the dance community, there was shock at the death of Smuin, who was 68, from an apparent heart attack.
In many ways, it still seems strange to imagine the Bay Area's dance landscape without his charismatic, larger-than-life presence.
more...