News

A month after retiring from New York City Ballet,  Benjamin Millepied is launching a new dance company in California, called L.A. Dance Project. He has a commission, expected to last for two years, from the Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. Millepied previously had a pick-up troupe (called both Danses Concertantes and Benjamin Millepied & Company) in which he used NYCB and American Ballet Theatre dancers during their summer breaks.

Instead of lazing around the house waiting for classes to start back up again post-Christmas, why not try a winter intensive?

It's that time of year again: So You Think You Can Dance producers are looking for their next batch of talent! The show will travel to five different cities early next year—and the top contenders will earn a ticket to Las Vegas for callbacks, where they'll learn multiple styles by top choreographers and compete for a coveted place in the top 20. Here's the just-released audition schedule:

Sometimes you just want to get in the studio not to "train" or to "work," but to play. Enter The Playground, a workshop started last year by New York choreographers Loni Landon and Greg Dolbashian. The idea is to bring together dancers and  dancemakers to explore, bond and network—all for just a $5 entrance fee.

They've got an awesome lineup this fall at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Check it out:

DanceMedia has several current openings for winter/spring interns (February-April) to work on Pointe, Dance Magazine,Dance Spirit, Dance Teacher, and dancemedia.com. Internships are unpaid, and require a minimum two-day-a-week, onsite commitment. We do not accept high school students. To intern at one of our magazines this winter, please send a cover letter, updated resume, and two writing samples to Hanna Rubin at hrubin@dancemedia.com. Be sure to put "winter/spring internship application" in the subject line.

As a teenager, I'd spend hours at a time trying on pointe shoes at San Francisco Dancewear. The search for the perfect fit felt as elusive as Ponce de León's Fountain of Youth. I really had no concrete idea what I was looking for, other than something that made my feet look good and didn't hurt—too much.

It's been over 60 years since the last time The Joffrey commissioned a new full-length ballet. So there's been a bunch of buzz surrounding the company's world premiere of Yuri Possokhov's Don Quixote, which opens tomorrow night at Roosevelt University. To drum up even more excitement, the Joffrey Academy of Dance is presenting a Don Q–themed master class next week. Dancer Ericka Mac will give a brief history of the ballet's story and choreography, then launch into a full barre warm up set to Don Q music and teach students Kitri's sassy variation.

The School at Steps in New York City is hosting a pointe shoe workshop at their studios next Saturday. This year's event is geared toward dancers who are just starting out on pointe, but all levels are invited to attend. Hear from podiatrists, expert pointe shoe fitters, master teachers and professional dancers. After the discussion, representatives from Capezio, Freed, Grishko, Gaynor Minden and Sansha will be on hand to speak with dancers about their shoes and let them try on a variety of styles.

Date: October 15

Time: 5 to 7:30 pm

What would your ideal body look like? Unfortunately, in the ballet world, too many of the answers you'll hear in response to that question in no way resemble a realistic, healthy physique.