The Hives Attack

When your cross-dressing costume gives you hives… From Maggie Stack: KT Nelson gets pretty ambitious when it comes to choreographing her children’s production of The Velveteen Rabbit. When I started with ODC, I hopped right into the bunny-suit extravaganza. There was a lot of velvet, which I was not aware […]

October 16, 2014  |  Read Article

The Shrinking Dancer

When the dancer shrinks? Oh, wait… it’s a different dancer without a headdress. From Sandi Kurtz: A few years ago, Pacific Northwest Ballet was in the middle of a run of Balanchine’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Their production was designed by Martin Pakeldinaz, and one of the costume elements for Hipolyta […]

October 13, 2014  |  Read Article

The Trouble Laugh

When your director has specifically told you to not laugh… and then your partner’s pants rips. From Stephanie Salts: One of my biggest issues at work is giggling. I think things are funny. I’m a little goofy (but my work is always my priority). My director has a lot of patience […]

October 9, 2014  |  Read Article

The Grandma-Sees-All

When your crotch splits mid-performance and your grandma is left staring at your dance belt… From Luke Willis: I was performing with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in Nicolo Fonte’s piece “Left Unsaid.” We wore Gucci suits and ripped the shit out of them. One performance my grandma flew out to see me. […]

October 6, 2014  |  Read Article

The Art of being a Woman/Beast

BY KATIE GAYDOS As a dancer in the Bay Area, I’ve found myself lately shying away from writing critical responses to local dance performances. I assumed writing about the work of people I encounter on a regular basis within the dance community would violate some professional boundary between the personal […]

October 4, 2014  |  Read Article