Iggy & Roo

Reflections on Teaching Ballet BY SIOBHAN SEARLE TONARELLI Iggy and Roo … Igor Zelensky and Farukh Ruzimatov, affectionately and practically renamed by my family one summer many years ago when the two joined the ever-growing list of dancers I regularly referred to in our ballet discussions. Ballet was an inexhaustible […]

February 24, 2014  |  Read Article

The Bunion: The Nutcracker… or The Prune Juicer

BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT; DRAWINGS BY MAGGIE STACK Ah, the beloved Nutcracker, that clichéd of clichéd ballets. Only this year Sunsweet Growers is sponsoring your local Nutcracker, and it won’t be quite the holiday classic you remember. Here’s the basic synopsis: Clara’s parents throw a nondenominational holiday party. The guests drink […]

February 20, 2014  |  Read Article

Positive Life-Affirming Exercise

An Interview with Ryan Heffington BY EMMALY WIEDERHOLT “No More Words” belts from the stereo. Los Angeles-based dance artist Ryan Heffington hollers encouragement to the forty-ish sweaty people in the room. “Woo! One two three WORK,” he shouts. “Head circle, walk around, strike a pose.” This is Sweaty Sundays, a […]

February 17, 2014  |  Read Article

Dear Diva: MOVE It!

By Emmaly Wiederholt She walks into the studio as if we’re all watching her, which, ironically, I am. This will be my third time taking this particular ballet class, and I’m starting to get a sense of who the divas are. It’s over 80 degrees outside, yet she dons heavy […]

February 13, 2014  |  Read Article

What Gives Ballet its Staying Power

By Andrea Thompson It’s ballet, man. Classical ballet stands its ground in the evolution of dance in the same way that classical literature, painting, and music maintain relevancy in their respective fields. Artists in each discipline have been busily innovating and inventing, creating entirely new approaches that actively rebel against […]

February 10, 2014  |  Read Article