Karole Armitage, once known as a “punk ballerina,” brings her dance troupe to the Berkshires.

Balanchine, ballerina, ballet, Karole Armitage, Merce Cunninghma, punk

The time is right for the revival of ballet about a country mouse who becomes a Parisian courtesan.
Manon, Royal Ballet

By Debra Cash
From the hype, you’d think that ten years ago British choreographer/director Matthew Bourne was the first person to develop a post-Freudian “Swan Lake” or cross-dress a ballet production, and you’d be wrong. You’d be right, however, to call Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” a phenomenon.
Mattew Bourne, Swan Lake

A Mark Morris world premiere is turning the attention of the national press to the state of the Boston Ballet Company under new director Mikko Nissinen.
Boston Ballet, Mark Morris

By Debra Cash
Rusty Frank sent this note last night…
Our friend, our legend, our hero, our idol, our humanitarian ­ Fayard Nicholas ­ passed away peacefully at home tonight at 8:30pm, January 24, 2006. He was surrounded by friends and his loving wife, Katherine Hopkins Nicholas.
Fayard Nicholas, Tap dance

By Debra Cash
Only medical skill, the support of friends and family and perhaps the prayers of his fans can help Fayard Nicholas recover from the stroke the gentlemanly 91-year old African-American dancer suffered on November 22, 2005. But those of us who thrilled to the virtuoso tap dancing of the Nicholas Brothers in the “Stormy […]

Years of bitter and expensive litigation as well as the challenging nature of her work have put the artistic legacy of dance giant Martha Graham in crisis.
ballet, Dance, Janet Eilber, Martha Graham

By Debra Cash
Young love never completely fades. The sight of a group of elderly ladies sighing over the perfect physique and gentlemanly mannerisms they remember embodied in the young George Zoritch is the centerpiece of Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s sweet new documentary “Ballets Russes,” which is at the Landmark Cinemas in Kendall Square, Cambridge […]

Audacious as it sounds, a new dance work by an innovative choreographer explores how human beings have expanded our ability to articulate the nature of crimes against humanity.

Auschwitz, Dance Exchange, Harvard Law School, Holocaust, Liz Lerman, Martha Minow, Nuremberg

By Debra Cash
The temple of dance that Ted Shawn built in the Berkshires in the 1930s has become a rustic wedding chapel. Jacob’s Pillow management announced this week that the Pillow is available to provide “world class” wedding business. And why not? Couples have been getting married at museums and historic sites for years (I, […]