dance

Arts

An 'Ode' To Victims Of Gun Violence — From Alvin Ailey Dancers

5:58am December 10, 2019

by Jeff Lunden

The dance company dedicated to African American culture premieres a new work tonight. Jamar Roberts, its first resident choreographer, says he was inspired by the deaths of Trayvon Martin and others.

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Arts

Remembering Ballet Dancer Alicia Alonso

7:59am October 20, 2019

by Neda Ulaby

Alicia Alonso, one of the finest ballet dancers of the 20th century, died Thursday in Havana. The dancer helped start the American Ballet Theatre, then built the Cuban state ballet program.

Choreographer and director Mark Morris, pictured here at a rehearsal in 2017, will release a new memoir called Out Loud.

Books
Arts

'Everybody's Other Than Everybody Else': Choreographer Mark Morris

8:08am October 19, 2019

by Scott Simon

The prolific dancer and company director has written Out Loud -- a memoir of hits and flops, childhood trauma and a lifetime at the forefront of modern dance.

Although many of the line dances are not cardio intensive, they rely on fancy footwork and moves that count as moderate exercise.

Health & Safety

Soul Line Dancing: Come For The Fitness. Stay For The Friendships

7:00am September 22, 2019

by Maria Godoy

Research show that when you add a social component to an exercise plan, you're more likely to stick to it. That's especially true of the steps, turns, beats and fun of soul line dancing.

A Tour To The REACH, The Kennedy Center's New Performance Space

6:01pm September 14, 2019

NPR's Michel Martin talks with the Kennedy Center's Marc Bamuthi Joseph about the opening of the REACH rehearsal and performance space.

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María Fernanda Papa, 16, wanted to continue the dance education she'd begun back home in Venezuela. She's now enrolled at a school run by Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida in North Miami Beach.

Arts

The Next Stage: How Young Venezuelan Artists Continue Their Studies In The U.S.

7:59am September 14, 2019

by Greg Allen

More than 200,000 Venezuelans have fled to South Florida in recent years. Now, with the help of Miami arts programs, young dancers and musicians are getting scholarships to keep doing what they love.

Elena Hinestrosa and her ensemble, Integración Pacífica, perform at one of Petronio Alvarez Music Festival's educational panels.

Colombia's Big Summer Music Festival Is All About Blackness

3:03pm September 05, 2019

by Maria Paz Gutierrez

The Petronio Alvarez festival is the big event of the summer — five days of music and food and fashion. More than 100,000 people travel to celebrate Afro-Colombian culture.

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Jharna Devi, 55, was a renowned dancer in Jatra Pala. But no group calls her for any dance performances anymore. Here, she poses for a portrait in her tiny room in Howrah, India.

A Photographer's Search For The Vanishing Stars Of Bengali Folk Theater

4:44pm May 19, 2019

by Amr Alfiky

Ten years after leaving his childhood home in West Bengal, photographer Soumya Sankar Bose returned to find that stars of Jatra, a popular local form of folk theater, were fading from public view.

L-R: Dancers Reid Bartelme, David Norsworthy and Sara Mearns perform in the Merce Cunningham centennial tribute Night of 100 Solos at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. The staging of the event often saw multiple dancers performing independent solo ro

Arts

100 Dances For 100 Years Of Merce Cunningham

7:13am April 20, 2019

by Jeff Lunden

To celebrate the centennial of the modern-dance pioneer's birth, dancers at theaters in London, New York and Los Angeles performed a total of 100 solos that the master choreographed.

Arts

Viral Stars, The 'Syncopated Ladies,' Shake Up Tap Dancing

5:34pm April 13, 2019

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with tap dancer Chloe Arnold, of the Syncopated Ladies, about their viral dance videos and annual tap festival.