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Ballet Stars

Pirouetting Through Paris: PNB's Emma Love Suddarth Chronicles the Company's Summer Tour to the French Capital

Emma Love Suddarth and her husband, PNB soloist Price Suddarth. relax along the Seine river. Photo by Lindsay Thomas.

It's Monday, June 25. Armed with neck pillows, compression socks and loads of coffee, we are ready for our flight to Paris! Les Étés de la Danse, a French festival held at the beautiful La Seine Musicale theater, invited Pacific Northwest Ballet for its 2018 season. Half of the company will arrive the first week to participate in its Hommage à Jerome Robbins celebration with a handful of other companies. The rest will join the second week for a PNB-only residency.

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News

There's Another Chance to Audition for Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" Remake Choreographed by Justin Peck

One of Jerome Robbins' most iconic dances from the 1961 film West Side Story. Via Giphy.

Since news that Steven Spielberg was directing a remake of West Side Story was released last winter, we've been eagerly awaiting any and all updates. Last month, Justin Peck was brought on board as choreographer, joining famed playwright Tony Kushner, who's adapting the script. Peck seemed like the obvious choice; in addition to following in original West Side Story choreographer Jerome Robbins' sneaker-clad footsteps as resident choreographer of New York City Ballet, he recently took home a Tony Award for his work on Carousel.

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News

Justin Peck to Choreograph New "West Side Story" Movie

Justin Peck will choreograph the movie remake of West Side Story. Photo by Cheryl Mann, Courtesy The Joffrey Ballet.

Justin Peck has been tapped to choreograph Steven Spielberg's upcoming Hollywood reboot of West Side Story. And we ask, Can you think of anyone better suited for that job than the dancemaker who's been following in many of Jerome Robbins' footsteps?

Let's review:

  • Choreograph for New York City Ballet: check.
  • Choreograph for Broadway: check.
  • Snag a Tony for Best Choreography: check.
  • Oh, and choreograph a film version of West Side Story: on it.
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News

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Celebrates Jerome Robbins With 6-Month-Long Exhibition

Jerome Robbins dancing in his living room in 1959. Photo by Philippe Haslman © Halsman Archive, Courtesy Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

For the past year, companies worldwide have been celebrating Jerome Robbins' centennial; he was born on October 11, 1918. Starting September 26, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center opens an exhibition celebrating Robbins which will run through March 30, 2019. The Library's Dance Division is named after Robbins; his collection is housed there, and during his life he was a tremendous supporter and frequent user of the performing arts holdings. Needless to say, they're pulling out all of the stops for this retrospective: a jam-packed gallery exhibit and a series of free, public programs.

The exhibition, curated by historian Julia Foulkes, is titled "Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York," and focuses on Robbins' relationship with his city (or as the NYPL is wording it, his "metropolitan muse"). From Fancy Free to West Side Story, NYC acted as the inspiration for many of Robbins' most-loved ballets and shows. The exhibition traces Robbins' life and work alongside the history of the city. "New York served as a laboratory for Robbins, where he observed people, buildings, traffic—how movement in space could carry meaning and beauty," said Foulkes in a statement.

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Viral Videos

Miami City Ballet's Tricia Albertson on Finding Her Comedic Side in Jerome Robbins' "The Concert"

Tricia Albertson kisses Didier Bramaz after finding the perfect hat in The Concert. Photo by Alexander Iziliaev, Courtesy Miami City Ballet.

Tricia Albertson, as told to Gavin Larsen.

I like to make people laugh, so I was excited to be cast as the Mad Ballerina in Jerome Robbins' The Concert. But the character herself didn't feel like me. She's so bubbly and excited, and I'm a bit more pensive (when it comes to ballet, at least). I didn't want her to come across as stupid—she's still thoughtful. I guess you could say she's flighty, but it's just that she's so excited about the music at the concert that everything else is a blur to her.

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News

Onstage This Week: Stars of American Ballet at Jacob's Pillow Finale, United Ballet Theatre Makes Company Debut, and More!

Joseph Gatti in class. His new company, United Ballet Theatre, makes its debut this week. Photo by Israel Zavaleta, Courtesy UBT.

Wonder what's going on in ballet? We've pulled together some highlights.

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News

What This Job Posting Tells Us About the Future of NYCB

The company is searching for an artistic director who is "humane"—and who might not be a choreographer. Photo by Paul Kolnik, Courtesy NYCB.

Update: The full job description has been posted here.


Ever since Peter Martins retired from New York City Ballet this January amid an investigation into sexual harassment and abuse allegations, we've been speculating about who might take his place—and how the role of ballet master in chief might be transformed.

Until now, we've only known a bit about what the search for a new leader looks like. But yesterday, The New York Times reported that the company has released a job description for the position. Here's what we're able to discern about the new leader and what this means for the future of NYCB:

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News

Onstage This Week: NYCB in Copenhagen, Houston Ballet at Jacob's Pillow, Boston Ballet at Tanglewood and More!

Boston Ballet is bringing Jerome Robbins' Fancy Free to the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA. Photo by Gene Shiavone, Courtesy Boston Ballet.

Wonder what's going on in ballet this week? We've pulled together some highlights.


Houston Ballet Brings a World Premiere to Jacob's Pillow

August 15-18, for the first time in almost four decades, Houston Ballet is appearing at Jacob's Pillow, the famous summer dance festival in Becket, MA. Headlining the program is Just, a world premiere commissioned by the Pillow and choreographed by HB artistic director Stanton Welch, set to music by contemporary composer David Lang. Also from Welch are Clear, an abstract piece for seven men and seven women, and excerpts from Sons de L'ame, with music by Chopin. The company will also perform In Dreams, choreographed by former Pillow choreographic associate Trey McIntyre.

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News

Onstage This Week: Justin Peck Makes His Vail Dance Fest Choreographic Debut, Two Premieres at American Contemporary Ballet, and More!

Patricia Delgado in Pam Tanowitz's "Solo for Patricia 2017." Photo by Erin Baiano, Courtesy Vail Dance Festival.

Wonder what's going on in ballet this week? We've pulled together some highlights.


Vail Dance Fest Enters Its Second Week

With half a month devoted to creating new art in the midst of stunning nature, Vail Dance Festival seems a dancer's paradise. Last week marked American Ballet Theatre's festival debut. The second week of performances, starting July 30, brings even more amazing ballet, with dancers and choreographers presenting a slew of new collaborations and premieres. Get the scoop on each program below.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet Takes the Vail Stage

July 30-31, Alonzo King LINES Ballet presents two different programs. The first performance, is a free, family-friendly event held in the Avon Performance Pavilion. The second, held at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, presents two works by King: Sand, a piece from 2016 set to jazz music, and Biophony, an exploration of the Earth's diverse ecosystems.

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News

Pacific Northwest Ballet Tours to Paris for the First Time

Pacific Northwest Ballet company dancers in Benjamin Millepied's Appassionata. Photo by Angela Sterling, Courtesy PNB.

Pacific Northwest Ballet travels to Paris for the first time this summer, and artistic director Peter Boal couldn't be happier.

"I think we have a tremendous reputation, but people outside the greater Seattle area haven't seen this company," Boal says.

That will change after PNB's two-week stay with the French festival Les Étés de la Danse, which hosts a different international company every summer. A PNB residency had been in the works for several years when Les Étés de la Danse decided to produce a larger celebration of choreographer Jerome Robbins this summer, inspired by his centennial. New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet and Russia's Perm Opera Ballet Theatre will join PNB for that one-week tribute.

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Ballet Stars

What to Watch: Jacques d'Amboise on Dancing for Jerome Robbins

Jacques d'Amboise and Adrian Danchig-Waring in conversation at the National Dance Institute. Photo Courtesy NDI.

"Jerry, throughout his life, wanted a world where races, cultures and people came together without conflict and hate and anger, but lovingly, to make a community." These words were spoken earlier this week by Jacques d'Amboise at an event titled Upper West Side Story: A Celebration of Jerome Robbins, hosted by National Dance Institute, which d'Amboise founded in 1976 to provide free arts education to children in New York City and beyond. D'Amboise then reiterated his point by quietly singing the famous refrain from West Side Story, which Robbins choreographed and directed for both screen and stage: "There's a place for us."

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Viral Videos

Watch How Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Dancers Learned to Sing and Act for Jerome Robbins' "West Side Story Suite"

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in rehearsal. Photo by Aimee DiAndrea, Courtesy PBT.

Ballet dancers train their entire lives to hone one skill. And that skill doesn't require them to use their voices onstage. But Jerome Robbins' West Side Story Suite requires a different kind of dancer; a triple threat who can also sing and act. This spring, the dancers at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre were pushed in a whole new direction while working on the company's program in honor of Robbins' centennial, opening this week.

Robbins is known for his iconic choreography for both ballet and Broadway; West Side Story Suite is the perfect intersection of those two worlds. He choreographed West Side Story, the timeless modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, for Broadway in 1956. In 1961 he followed that up with choreography for the film, showing audiences worldwide that sometimes dance is the coolest way to work through a conflict. In 1995, Robbins condensed the main song and dance numbers from the show into West Side Story Suite, a 36-minute work for New York City Ballet.

PBT produced a series of fun videos interviewing dancers and coaches on what it's been like to learn to sing and act (while dancing). As principal Julia Erickson puts it, "I have had a lot of experience singing... in the car and in the shower."

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