Author: Tonya

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MARTINA HINGIS AND MATTHEW CUTLER ON STRICTLY COME DANCING

 

Apropos of the currently underway U.S. Open, which is captivating the attentions of many New Yorkers right now, I thought I’d mention that Martina Hingis, former tennis champ, is a contestant on this upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing, the British (and original) version of our Dancing With the Stars.

She’ll be partnered by Matthew Cutler, that show’s last season pro winner and a former Blackpool champ. Here are a couple of videos of Cutler, in the first demonstrating a samba with his former pro partner Nicole Cutler, and the second some vintage clips (or at least they seem vintage now) of the Latin Blackpool championship from about 7 years ago. At various points you can spy 10-year-long reigning champs Bryan Watson and Carmen, as well as DWTS’s Karina Smirnoff and my love Slavik Kryklyvyy. At about the 2:40 mark, the camera focuses on them.

Kind of fun to watch these older comps. You can see how much Latin competition dancing has really changed just in the past several years (seems so much faster now, and costumes skimpier…)

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC beginning on September 18th.

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FILM OF NEW YORK EXPORT OPUS JAZZ COMING TO PBS

 

Remember the film version of Jerome Robbins’s New York Export: Opus Jazz that NYCBallet dancers Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi had planned — and begun — to make in 2007? If not, I wrote about it here and here when a completed scene (pictured above) that was filmed in Manhattan’s High Line starring Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall had been shown at NYCB and the Guggenheim.

Well, as of August 24, 2009, filming has resumed thanks to WNET (New York’s PBS station), who has acquired the film for its excellent Great Performances: Dance in America series.

The team — which consists of Bar, Suozzi, and filmmakers Henry Joost, Jody Lee Lipes, Matt Wolf and Anna Farrell — is currently scouting locations to shoot the remaining four movements of the 28-minute ballet (the film will consist of the ballet, interspersed with documentary coverage and narratives of the dance’s characters and their background stories). Each danced movement is to be filmed in a different part of the city (to capture NY’s different moods) and will be danced by NYCB dancers.

WNET plans on a broadcast sometime in the Spring of 2010. I’m really hoping it shows on other local PBS stations outside of New York as well, please please PBS — so everyone else can see it! This is the first Robbins ballet to be filmed since West Side Story. I will keep you updated on times and stations, and you can check the project’s Website and Facebook page as well.

In the meantime, here’s a trailer:

 

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CONGRATS TO RUBEN, THE FIRST WINNER OF DANCE YOUR ASS OFF

 

Congrats to Ruben, the 43-year-old Las Vegas wardrobe designer who last night became the first winner of the popular Oxygen network show Dance Your Ass Off. I wasn’t able to tune in every week, but whenever I did, I loved this guy, and so am not surprised he won.

Contestants were judged on their dance skills (they performed a different dance, with a pro partner, every week) as well as their weight loss. Ruben wasn’t “the biggest loser” weight-wise, but that person — Alicia — was invited back for the finale to be recognized, and given an award, for losing the most weight — 18.71 percent of her body weight — throughout the course of the show.

Here is my friend Marie’s review of the finale, for the Ballroom Dance Channel.

The show is a superb idea of course — what better way to lose weight than to dance it off? I’ve received several emails and comments on prior posts asking how to become a contestant on the show and I’m looking into it and will certainly let you know when I do!

Also, if you missed out on any of the season, there will be a first-cast reunion broadcast on Monday, September 7th.

Update: You can put your name on a list to be notified of any upcoming casting calls for the next season. Go here to do that.

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FALL FOR DANCE 2009

 

It’s September — happy September everyone — and for New Yorkers that means Fall For Dance is just around the corner. Tickets go on sale 11 a.m. September 13th, so time to get thinking about what all you want to see. For people unfamiliar with this festival (which this year takes place from September 22 – October 3), three to four companies perform each night and tickets are only $10 a piece per night. A great opportunity for first-time dance-goers. Tix sell out out at the speed of light, though, so have your computer turned on and your browser pointing here by above said time on above said date.

In celebration of the centennial of Ballets Russes, many of the participating companies are performing BR classics like Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun and Fokine’s Dying Swan and Spectre de la Rose. There are also several lectures in the City Center studio centered around BR and its influence today. Go here for the schedule and more info.

 

 

 

 

 

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BRAZILIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION AT ALVIN AILEY STUDIOS

 

Alvin Ailey studios (which offers adult classes in everything from ballet to salsa to capoeira) is planning a big shindig to celebrate Brazilian Independence Day, on Sunday, September 13th.

Quenia Ribeiro (whose classes I’ve taken — and even lived to tell 🙂 ) and Tiba Vieria will spend the day (11 am- 7 pm) teaching Macuele (an Afro-Brazilian dance), Capoeira, Samba drumming, and of course Samba dancing — both the Bahia (Reggae) style and the Rio style — the latter in high-heeled platform shoes. The day will culminate with with “Bloco Ribeiro,” a performance and parade led by Quenia and her band up and down 55th Street. Costumes and props will be provided for participants.

Fun fun! Go here for a schedule and more info.

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BARYSHNIKOV AND ANA LAGUNA ON TOUR

 

Mikhail Baryshnikov and Ana Laguna are in Santa Monica where they’re beginning a U.S. tour. Program includes choreography by Mats Ek (Laguna’s husband), Alexei Ratmansky, and Benjamin Millepied’s Years Later, which consists of a solo for Barysh juxtaposed with movie clips of his younger self dancing. Critics say it “should bring a new respect to middle-age dance performances.”

I’m excited to see the Millepied as well as the Ek piece. Here are some clips from another of Ek’s dances for the pair. Baryshnikov still looks like Baryshnikov — the way he moved in White Nights, the way he danced Tharp’s Push Comes to Shove…

 

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PASHA KOVALEV TEACHING AT NY HUSTLE CONGRESS AND ON NY TV THIS WEEKEND

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If you’re in New York, I just received word that Pasha Kovalev (Broadway and TV star 🙂 ) will be teaching a workshop at the New York Hustle Congress. The workshop is on  Sunday, September 6th at 6:30 p.m. and lasts one hour. He’ll also be participating in the Congress’s “Hustle with the Hounds” event — to benefit animal rescue organizations — the prior Saturday night (Sept. 5).

Most fun! I’ve been to this Congress before, a few years ago, and it’s pretty happening. There are workshops, performances by pros, pro/am competitions, and lots and lots of social dancing. It coincides with the New York Salsa Congress down the hall in the same hotel, which has the same. Go here for more info.

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Also — this just in — Pasha and Anya are going to be on television several times this weekend with Burn the Floor‘s creator Jason Gilkison. They’ll be on NY-1’s “On Stage” program, which airs four times throughout the weekend: Saturday, August 29th (today) at 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday Aug. 30th at the same times — 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Finally, Pasha and Anya will appear on Channel 11’s Morning News Show this Monday, August 31st. The show airs 7-9 a.m.  They’ll perform a number from Burn the Floor.

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PICKING BONES FROM ASH

My new balletomane friend (who I met this past ABT season), Marie Mutsuki Mockett, has a book due out at the end of September. It’s her debut novel, Picking Bones From Ash (published by prestigious indie house Graywolf), and so far it’s received a couple of great reviews. Go Marie!

It’s the story of two women, a mother and daughter, one Japanese, the other Japanese-American, and it takes place between Japan (past and present) and San Francisco. I haven’t read it yet but can’t wait! I love novels that examine gender across cultures and generations, and it looks like it has a fair amount of suspense to boot.

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NO REALLY, ARE YOU THE DEVIL?: ANNA WINTOUR ON LETTERMAN

For those who missed it last night (as I did; was out watching this excellent albeit very disturbing film), here is a clip of Anna Wintour’s David Letterman appearance last night. I love how he gets her to talk about Devil Wears Prada and how real the character is who’s allegedly based on her, when it’s so obvious she really doesn’t want to go there. Hehe, go Dave. No seriously, Ms. Wintour was spotted several times at ABT during the recent Met season so we like her for that reason alone. Plus, DWP is fiction…

She does seem a lot more nervous than I’d expect, and a lot younger.