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Choreographer David Dorfman on Magical Risk and Radical Empathy

For 40 years, David Dorfman has made capacious work full of heart. His 2020 piece (A) Way Out of My Body features original text, songs by Lizzy de Lise, and the rousing music of a live “house band” led by composer Sam Crawford. In a performance of the work last month in New York City’s Bryant Park, Dorfman and his wife and colleague Lisa Race danced alongside the newest generation of company members. I had a unique view of Dorfman as he waited offstage for his entrance cue. A coil of electricity, he vibrated with small pulses as he held the railings on each side of the steps, ready to burst from the chute.

He’s a little like that in an interview, as well. We spoke on Zoom recently in the leadup to his company’s performances of (A) Way Out of My Body at Jacob’s Pillow (August 3–4).

Jacob’s Pillow bills you as “being on a mission ‘to get the whole world dancing.’ ” Why is that important to you?
When you’re dancing, you’ve decided that you’re going to interact peacefully, and, for the most part, you’re going to enjoy it. When you’re dancing with another person, or folk-dancing in a big group circle, or country line-dance, or disco dance—that’s how I started—you’re concentrating on being with other people, and realizing what your body is doing. You’re not scheming power trips.

The description for a workshop based on (A) Way Out of My Body states: “In our unpredictable world, filled with daily obstacles of all kinds, how do we navigate toward positive change, resilience, and empathic behavior? Our answer is to dance through life with each other: safely and with magical risk appropriate for the occasion.” I like that phrase, “magical risk.”
Sometimes I talk about opposites being the same. Sometimes I say to choreography students, “Why don’t you now do the exact opposite approach to this idea?” One of the first things I showed my mentor, Daniel Nagrin, he said, “What a great idea! That doesn’t work right now. Go back and make it work.” He was excited about what I was working on, but it wasn’t yet communicating. How could I release something that I thought was very important in order to get to something else that was more communicative?

I think about this a lot. Also that opposites attract. It’s kind of like when something really, really, ticks us off. Many times that’s because we’re really interested in it, or we see it as a side of ourselves that maybe we don’t want to recognize. I feel that if we would recognize all of ourselves, we’d be so much more empathetic, and so much more ready to see those sides in others, instead of saying, “I don’t like that” or “I don’t want to be near that.” But really, what that means is that you don’t want to be near yourself, and that leads to a lot of violence. It’s our discomfort with ourselves. What if instead of going into relationships with one-upmanship, or the need to dominate—what if we came as a listener and a witness and a facilitator?

In a close-cropped image, Dorfman uses the back of his head to support Race, who has her arms raised angelically, under her chin. Both wear white tailored costumes. — Dorfman and Race in *(A) Way Out of My Body*. Photo by Maria Baranova, courtesy David Dorfman Dance.

That would be an extraordinary thing to learn in the dance studio—or in social dancing.
I think surrender gets a really bad name because it feels like you’ve lost. But what about yielding and surrendering and being vulnerable? In social dancing, leading and following can be really gender-specific. I think there are reasons that the man shouldn’t lead all the time. I also think that the notion of following gets a bad rap. If you think of tango, it’s not about a macho dominant male and a submissive female. Tango comes from two male-identifying people dancing on the docks of Buenos Aires. It is so complex and technically challenging, the follower almost needs to be ahead of the leader. They need to be ready for anything.

What about those who feel intimidated by dancing with other people? What do you say to get them involved?
You can just be present, and to me that’s a beautiful dance. Steve Paxton, who sadly died in February, would call that the small dance: the dance your body does when you’re doing nothing. It’s like: Look at all the effort we do to relax, or the effort we do to be present, and to be still and quiet and listening.

You work with people with differing ability levels—high school and college students, professional dancers, your company, community members. Do you approach these groups differently?
I almost teach the same to anybody. Each time I do a workshop or a class, it’s like the only class that I’ll ever teach. It has to be the best hour and 15 minutes, or hour and a half, or two hours, because that’s all that exists right now.

I learn every student’s name in every class. Some people might say, “Why does he spend so much time repeating names? We could be doing dancing stuff.” I think that’s just as important as the dancing stuff. That’s where I feel that this idea of empathy, joy, and community come together. I think that it is kind of radical to make those priorities like learning names, doing a little bit of a chat, and spending time with safe touch—those can be real priorities.

What can the audience expect at Jacob’s Pillow?
The last time we did (A) Way Out of My Body at Connecticut College, it was very cathartic. One of the things I did was to have everyone in the audience introduce themselves to someone they hadn’t met and also to say “I see you.” This was after the show, after, hopefully, a lot of what we had done washed over everyone.

I really enjoyed that moment. Sometimes I wonder, is it too much? Should I do that? But usually I do it. I was in our backyard the very next day and our neighbor was outside with his young baby, and he said, “David, I see you.” I said, “What?” I knew he wasn’t at the show. He said, “You were the subject of the sermon at church this morning.” Then it made sense. Because there’s this wonderful pastor who is a total arts supporter, and we’ve had many conversations over the years. But I didn’t know my neighbor went to her church.

I’m always saying it’s great to convene in the theater—that it’s like a church, or a temple, or a mosque. And it’s even greater when that spreads out beyond those walls.

The post Choreographer David Dorfman on Magical Risk and Radical Empathy appeared first on Dance Magazine.

ESPN+ Series Takes Viewers Inside a Mark Morris Dance Group Audition

Up to four company spots available. Two days of open classes. 380 hopeful dancers. These are the stakes laid out at the start of the fifth episode of the new ESPN+ series “Tryouts,” which takes viewers inside the pressure-cooker environment of a Mark Morris Dance Group audition.

The series, which premiered last month, tracks some of the country’s most intense tryouts and auditions. Rather than focusing exclusively on traditional sports, many of the episodes highlight more niche groups: a Monster Truck competition, Long Beach Lifeguards tryouts, and the USA curling team, among others.

The 40-minute MMDG episode, airing May 8, primarily follows four auditionees through rounds of callbacks and gives viewers a glimpse of their lives outside of the studio. (Spoiler alert: At least one of them makes it all the way through and is offered a spot in the company.) The cameras also turn to the other side of the room. Morris, MMDG president and executive director Nancy Umanoff, and company director Sam Black are interviewed about the audition process, and they share what they’re looking for in prospective dancers. And the episode offers contextual information about Morris’ legacy, showing footage of the choreographer and his company performing over the past three decades.

Throughout, there’s plenty of dancing, giving a sports viewership a true glimpse into the world of modern dance. As one of the auditionees says early on, “This is the major leagues.”

An exclusive “Tryouts” clip, focused on the MMDG auditions, is available below. The full episode will be available on ESPN+ on May 8.

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What Real Dancers Think of Balletcore

Whether you like it, loathe it, or roll your eyes at it, you can’t miss it: Ballet-inspired clothing for the nondancing consumer is everywhere. The fashion and ballet worlds have a long and storied relationship, but ballet-aesthetic streetwear’s recent resurgence in popularity has been striking. According to fashion insiders, “balletcore” is already a defining trend of 2024.

Balletcore is also a subject of passionate debate among dancers. Many cringe at simplistic representations of the tools of their trade and, especially, at the use of models who appear to lack any ballet experience. Others think it’s a harmless or even potentially beneficial sign of admiration and respect for their art form.

However dancers feel about it, the renewed obsession with balletic fashion has the potential to affect both ballet’s place in today’s culture and the public perception of what ballet is.

A Trend With Deep Roots

Patricia Mears, deputy director at New York City’s The Museum at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and a lifelong ballet fan, curated the museum’s 2020 exhibit, “Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse.” She says the invigoration of ballet culture in the West during the 1920s and ’30s sparked a fascination with ballet dancers themselves, leading to an early version of balletcore.

a long tulle dress that is pink and white on a mannequin — A Pierre Balmain evening dress, 1949.

a mannequin wearing a red and black knee length tulle dress — A Pierre Balmain evening dress, 1949.

“The ballerina became much more respected in society, and, therefore, what she looked like was also more respected,” Mears says. “Women designers in particular began using class and rehearsal wear as a foundation for easy, knitted separates. It was a fascinating phenomenon.”

Something similar may be happening now, thanks in large part to social media. Dancers’ presence on various platforms gives the general public glimpses into the dancers’ offstage (albeit highly curated) lives—including what they wear when not in costume.

a mannequin sitting wearing a gold floor length tulle dress — A 1990 dress by designer Carolyne Roehm. Courtesy The Museum at FIT (4)

Joffrey Ballet dancer Jeraldine Mendoza thinks seeing dancers as individuals this way fuels a sense of intrigue, fascination, and also relatability. “Now that ballet dancers are becoming visible as ‘real people’ online, more people see what we do on a daily basis,” Mendoza says. “And even though it might seem unreachable, they still want to touch it somehow.” Fashion offers an attainable way to emulate an aspirational lifestyle.

a dancer on the floor wearing dance clothes with dance items on the floor next to her — Joffrey Ballet dancer Jeraldine Mendoza wearing (actual) balletcore. Courtesy Mendoza.

Mears agrees, adding that other current fashion trends are also making balletcore a natural fit for the times. “There’s a movement towards more relaxed clothing and individual styles with no rules,” she says. “I also see an undercurrent of interest, especially in young people, of searching for things that are true and beautiful. And ballet is one of those things.”

Ballet Fantasy Versus Ballet Reality

Balletcore is not, of course, supposed to be an exact reproduction of what dancers actually wear to work. Even so, the fashion world’s take on the ballet aesthetic frequently skews generic and somewhat outdated, favoring girlish balletic tropes like pastel colors, tulle, ribbons, and bows. As the ballet world makes strides towards inclusivity, could this disconnect between reality and what’s being sold to the public have negative repercussions for the ballet world, despite the benefits of the popularity boost?

Houston Ballet first soloist Harper Watters sees it both ways. “I have spent the majority of my career trying to shift people’s perception of what a ballet dancer looks like, who they are, and what interests them,” he says. “So when it comes to this cookie-cutter idea of ballet being pink, it’s frustrating since we all know there is so much more complexity and dimension to our world, and to our fashion.”

Watters also points out, though, that the influential fashion industry’s attention could be a very good thing. “I very much believe that visibility is currency, and there’s power in people talking about ballet and popularizing it,” he says. “Ballet has been a marginalized art form, so when fashion houses are tapping into it, I see it as an opportunity for the dance community to respond to it and shift people’s perspectives.”

a grey knit wrap top with black leggings on a mannequin — Dance and fashion in dialogue in “Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse.” A knit set by designer Vera Maxwell, circa 1959. Courtesy The Museum at FIT (2).

a dancing mannequin wearing a black leotard with standing mannequins behind it wearing different style dresses — Dance and fashion in dialogue in “Ballerina: Fashion’s Modern Muse.” A knit set by designer Vera Maxwell, circa 1959. Courtesy The Museum at FIT (2).

Touching a Nerve

Dancers tend to have strong reactions to representations of ballet in any mainstream context, from movies to TV shows to books. But fashion’s take on ballet has provoked especially visceral responses.

The risk that balletcore is devaluing the concept of what it means to be a dancer is real, says Katie Malia, who with Suzanne Jolie founded the popular Instagram account @modelsdoingballet. Malia and Jolie post examples of fashion brands featuring nondancers modeling ballet-inspired outfits (often including pointe shoes), resulting in ads that can be both hilarious and horrifying.

“I’m not a purist—tutus don’t have to only belong in the theater,” Malia says. “But there’s a lack of education, understanding, and respect of the art form. We need more people to take the craft seriously. Or else ballet becomes satire.”

a mannequin wearing a a block crop top with a pink skirt — Two more from the FIT exhibit: Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons’ “Biker Ballerina” ensemble, spring/summer 2005

a black heel resembling and pointe shoe — Two more from the FIT exhibit: Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons’ “Biker Ballerina” ensemble, spring/summer 2005

Others aren’t as worried. While acknowledging that most balletcore pieces are nothing like what she or her colleagues wear, Mendoza still feels positive about the widening interest in a balletic aesthetic. “I think it’s flattering,” she says. “Yes, the clothes are a little stereotypical, but people want to be part of our world, and if wearing the clothes makes you feel good, that’s amazing.”

Fashion trends tend to come and go, but balletcore has proved remarkably durable. “There is a certain energy that putting on the uniform of a dancer gives you,” says Watters. “I wouldn’t be surprised if people feel ready to take on something, ready for a performance, by dressing like a dancer and emulating ballet in their fashion.”

Balletcore Done Right

Not all ballet-inspired fashion trades in stereotypical pink satin and ruffles. Some designers are collaborating with dance artists and companies, helping the consuming public connect the styles they admire with the dancers who inspired them.

➛ In addition to documenting egregious balletcore missteps, Katie Malia and Suzanne Jolie’s Instagram account
@modelsdoingballet highlights good ballet-inspired fashion. Some of their favorite collaborations are Christian Dior’s work with choreographers Imre and Marne van Opstal, J. Crew’s with New York City Ballet, and Chanel’s with the Paris Opéra Ballet. “I’d love to see the obsession with balletcore turn into more students and audiences for ballet,” adds Malia.

➛ Watters, who’s known both inside and outside the dance world for his fashion sense, was tapped to create dance videos while wearing Betsey Johnson pieces for the designer’s Pride Month events. “I’m not going to put on something I don’t feel or look good in, and I felt really good about those pieces—you could definitely wear them for class or a performance opportunity,” he says. “I really appreciate anyone trying to dive into the mind of a dancer. I think it’s a powerful thing to tap into the dancers themselves and ask our opinion.”

a woman wearing a gold frill dress hugging a tall dancer holding a pink purse — Harper Watters with designer Betsey Johnson. Photo by Max Bronner, Courtesy Watters.

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Recital nutrition: Fuel for the most important performances of your year

Professional dancers know the power of a good nutrition plan for a run of performances to boost performance while also reducing muscle soreness and mental fatigue. Dance students can take a page out of their playbooks to make sure they’re dancing their best for recitals. As a former professional dancer myself, I wish I knew then what I know now about performance nutrition.

One simple thing to change your whole day:

It’s crucial to come off an overnight fast with some energy intake. We call it breaking the “fast” for a reason. Even when sleeping, your body has used energy and you wake in an energy deficit. Choosing to extend this fasting state while going about your day has consequences including reduced mental focus, lower energy, poorer athletic performance and a bad mood. Breakfast means you’ll feel and dance better for the next few hours with the added benefit of making the later part of your day easier because you won’t be in such a huge energy deficit all day. Often when dancers restrict eating earlier in their day, they tend to be extremely hungry later. Even if you’re not hungry or in a rush, at the very least grab a banana and/or a granola bar. Eating breakfast, especially with whole grains or carbs, has been shown to help with healthy weight management. So don’t fall into the trap of thinking that skipping breakfast is going to result in quick weight loss. It won’t, and it will leave you feeling depleted.

Morning energy ideas:

Carbohydrates such as rolled or steel cut oats, whole grains like wheat, spelt, rye and buckwheat.
Fruit mixed with a protein like nuts, seeds, yogurt, veggie sausages or an egg. Veggie sausages tend to have lower saturated fat than meat sausages and can be made with healthier ingredients like quinoa, beans and soy protein.
Look for packaged breakfast bar options with added sugars less than 10-15 grams. Naturally occurring sugars are fine when bars are made with dates or dried fruit.
Frozen whole grain waffles made with flax seeds and/or nuts. There are also some good recipes for making your own waffles or nutrient-dense pancakes which you can freeze and pop in the toaster for busy mornings.

Pack it with you; you’ll thank yourself later:

Don’t get grumpy two hours into dress rehearsal. Plan ahead. Don’t rely on grabbing fast food or something from a vending machine to be your fuel for the most important performances of your year. The week before recitals, go to the grocery store and strategically pick out easy, quick snacks that are portable in your bag. Bring 2-3 of them with you.

Plant-based protein bars (I prefer pea, soy, hemp proteins to whey protein)
Low to moderate sugar granola or oat bars (less than 15g added sugars)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (sun butter for those with allergies)
All fruits are good snacks.
Yogurt or yogurt squeeze pouches (I like the Silk and Forager’s brands; keep them cool.)
Packaged energy rolls like the Gluten Free Bites brand
Packaged or homemade dried chickpeas and edamame. They come in fun flavors and can be eaten by themselves or added to a salad.

Of course you’re busy, just take 10 minutes to set up your whole day:

Invest in a good, short wide-mouth thermos to keep foods at a safe temperature and make packing your own healthy foods a breeze.

Chickpea or lentil flour pastas. They cook in less than 8 minutes on the stovetop. Add a light red sauce or pesto and put in a short wide-mouth thermos.
Cold yogurt, berries and hemp hearts or other seeds
Hot beans and rice (throw some carrots in while cooking for added vitamin A)
Room temperature buckwheat noodles tossed with a store-bought Thai or Japanese dressing.

Don’t buy the whole vitamin shop. Here are key vitamins and minerals to get:

Vitamin D3 (for immune function and muscle strength)
B vitamins like B12 and B6 (for energy)
Iron (for immune function and reduced fatigue)
Vitamin C (immune function, and wound repair for those pointe shoe blisters)
Both iron and vitamin C are better obtained through food to prevent gastrointestinal discomfort, but supplements can be used if needed. Iron-rich foods are beans, leafy greens like spinach and kale, dried fruit like apricots and raisins, and red meats (but current health recommendations are to limit red meat, so enjoy beans and greens for dinner). Pair with fruit or veggies like sweet peppers for added vitamin C which boost iron absorption. You only need 100 mg of vitamin C (not those 1000 mg packs).

It’s important to take good care of your body during recital week. This is not the week to try to lose weight. There’s no way that restricting calories this week will result in any noticeable difference on stage; it will only leave you feeling exhausted and mentally drained. Fuel your body well, and you’ll notice the difference on stage. Remember that the first two signs of dehydration are fatigue and poor balance, so bring your big water bottle with you and fill it up at least 3 times a day (or more!).

Good luck and have fun!

Emily Harrison of Nutrition for Great Performances.

By Emily C. Harrison MS, RDN, LDN of Nutrition for Great Performances.

Emily Cook Harrison MS, RD, LD
Emily is a registered dietitian and holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in nutrition from Georgia State University, USA. Her master’s thesis research was on elite level ballet dancers and nutrition and she has experience providing nutrition services for weight management, sports nutrition, disordered eating, disease prevention, and food allergies. Emily was a professional dancer for eleven years with the Atlanta Ballet and several other companies. She is a dance educator and the mother of two young children. She now runs the Centre for Dance Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles. She can be reached at emily@dancernutrition.com
www.dancernutrition.com

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Dancing Across the Solar System as the Grand Canyon’s Astronomer in Residence

When I first imagined choreographing a dance about the connection between the Grand Canyon and how humans explore the solar system, I figured the idea was a little too “out there” to be taken seriously. And yet, last month, I stood at the rim of the Grand Canyon as the park’s official Astronomer in Residence. Perched on a ledge of Kaibab limestone, I began the first gesture phrase that would describe the canyon’s geologic history—and form the backbone for Chasing Canyons, a modern dance solo I premiered at the Grand Canyon’s South Rim on February 23, 2024.

I’m a trained dancer and choreographer, but I’m also a planetary scientist and impact physicist, which means I study the geologic features that get created when an object from space hits a planet. There are other canyons across the solar system, from Mars to Pluto, that are wider, longer, or deeper than the Grand Canyon, but none of them match its sheer power in the human consciousness. Over the month of February, I used my dual backgrounds as a dancer and planetary geologist to choreograph a piece about the emotional and geologic connections between our world and those beyond. My goal? To blend art and science into a singular experience for and about the Grand Canyon.

As someone who actively practices both art and science, I firmly reject the dichotomy we’ve built to separate them. I became a scientist to try to understand my place in the history of the Earth, the solar system, and the universe. I became a dancer and choreographer for those same reasons. The planets are always in motion, and so are we; to me, physically embodying the planets’ orbital dynamics, geologic histories, births, and deaths, is just as valid an approach for connecting with them as gazing through a telescope.

As we think about moving on to the moon and Mars, dancing can help us consider the kinds of futures we’re building. When I dance the canyon, I center my wonder at the scale of what I’ve seen, rather than the ways in which my knowledge of the canyon can be used and commodified. I will always be chasing canyons, but I should never, ever, try to own them.

Denton, wearing a loose white shirt and black pants, stands at the rim of the Canyon on a brilliantly sunny day, smiling into the camera, her elbows forming right angles, with her left hand pointing to the sky and her right to the ground. — C. Adeene Denton filming at the Grand Canyon. Photo by Rader Lane, courtesy National Park Service.

In making Chasing Canyons, I set out to choreograph a site-specific dance for a site so big it is impossible to see in its entirety. I began with my geologic knowledge of the Grand Canyon, built from my years of scientific training and the weeks I spent climbing up and down its walls. The resulting gesture phrase follows the canyon’s life cycle: the initial crush of its basement rocks, the tilting of overlying strata, the massive gap in time known as the Great Unconformity, subsequent deposition of layers upon layers of sediments, and, finally, the coming of the Colorado River to uncover it all. From there, I began to draw the parts of the canyon that I could see, tracing the terraces and side canyons, dragging feet and fingers from the tops of the cliffs to the shady hollows at the base. I worked in the positions of the stars above the canyon, which mark its location in space and time. Then I merged it all together to create a moving map, not just of the canyon, but of how humans relate to it.

Connecting the canyon to the stars raised more questions: How do we interact with beautiful spaces, here on Earth and elsewhere? When we land on Mars, will we be owners or caretakers? At the end of the piece, I answer these questions: I erase the map. Much like art and science, I think that “to boldly go” and “take only pictures, leave only footprints” are two complementary, not conflicting, philosophies.

My time as the Astronomer (and dancer) in Residence at the canyon has ended, but I will carry it in my body as well as my mind. It is my greatest hope that in making these kinds of dances, I can inspire audiences to expand their minds—to explore the different ways we can understand, learn, and appreciate the universe in which we live.

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La Cage aux Folles’ Cagelles, 40 Years Later: Something About Sharing, Something About Always

The groundbreaking musical La Cage aux Folles opened on Broadway 40 years ago last August. As part of the anniversary celebrations, members of the original Cagelles—the dancers who formed the drag ensemble at the heart of the show—organized a series of events in conjunction with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

It’s fitting that the group marked the occasion by raising money to fight HIV/AIDS. La Cage took Broadway by storm just as the AIDS pandemic reached the public’s consciousness. And as the “gay plague” swept Broadway companies, including their own, the Cagelles organized numerous benefits, some of which continue to this day.

Some of the 10 gay men and two women first cast as Les Cagelles were little more than teenagers when they joined the show. These are a few of their stories.

A Little More Mascara

Dennis Callahan (Monique): I think there were between 800 and 1,000 at the original open call. Scott Salmon, who was the choreographer, was not a New York person. So it was really like a clean slate as far as what he was seeing at these auditions.

David Engel (Hanna): I was only being seen for Jean-Michel [one of the leads]. Then they said, “We need to see you dance and in drag.” I didn’t know why. I came to the final dance call. Everybody else had learned all this choreography. I learned it on the spot.

Dan O’Grady (Odette): It got down to maybe 25 of us at the end. I had never done any drag, but I decided to show up in drag [for the final audition]. It was really, really funny. When I got into the cab, the cab driver got out, opened the door for me, called me ma’am. Then I went into the theater, and they didn’t know who I was. No one else arrived in drag.

DC: From 10 in the morning to 4 or 5 in the afternoon, we did all of the dancing in drag. And at the end of this long day, we were 12 and 12 across the stage.

DE: Basically, it was like the end of A Chorus Line. We were all lined up across the stage. And then they’re like, “Rehearsals start on this date—congratulations.” Everybody’s jumping up and down screaming, and I’m like, “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

DC: After the others left, they had the 12 of us gather around the piano and sing “There’s No Business Like Show Business” in real short-clipped piano voices. [Composer] Jerry Herman said, “This is the style of La Cage’s opening song, ‘We are What We Are.’ ” It was such a cool moment to be around the piano with Jerry and [music director] Don Pippin, all of us in drag.

Not a Place We Have to Hide

DE: The very first day of rehearsal, [director] Arthur Laurents said, “We are not doing this apologetically. We are proudly playing these roles.”

DO: He gave us all storylines. Some were more developed than others, but we all had a bit of one. He really instilled in us that we were important to the story.

DC: Though I don’t think any of us had any experience doing drag, I don’t think any Cagelle would say it was hard. The atmosphere in the room was so supportive and nurturing that none of us felt any fear of being judged.

DO: I remember Arthur working on “I Am What I Am” with George Hearn [who played Albin], a straight man. The amount of pride and dignity that Arthur conveyed not just to George but all of us was very powerful. It moves me even just to think of it now.

DC: The Cagelles were given the last bow. When does that ever happen? We each just took a humble bow as ourselves. The sound of the audience was unbelievable.

Sometimes Sweet and Sometimes Bitter

A magazine page. Across the top is a photo of the Cagelles, wearing shiny red and blue miniskirt ensembles, standing in a line, their right feet beveled next to their left feet, their left arms extended jauntily. — The Cagelles in the November 1983 issue of *Dance Magazine*. Courtesy DM Archives.

DE: We had a whole warm-up area in the basement, and at intermission, we’d dress up, we’d be ridiculous. We just kept creating and playing.

It was the best of times. And it was the worst of times.

DO: I first started hearing about the “gay cancer” when we were in Boston. Nobody knew what it was.

DE: I remember thinking to myself, if I went to a gay bar, I would hold my breath. You just didn’t know. It was everywhere, and if you tested positive, it was a death sentence, definitely. And you could go quick.

DO: I think David Cahn [Chantelle] was the first of us Cagelles who got sick and left, then John Dolf [Nicole].

DC: I don’t remember any conversation between the rest of us about the boys being sick. I think it was sort of a feeling of: If they wanted to talk about it they would, and they’re not, so neither should we. And maybe there was also a fear.

DO: We felt the loss from the inside, and I think that’s what sort of led us to start thinking about the Easter Bonnet competition. Howard Crabtree and the other costume folks did these silly Easter bonnets, and we had folks donate. In the beginning it was just the cast, the crew, and the orchestra.

DE: We did the Easter Bonnet pageant in the basement and a Queen of Hearts pageant for Valentine’s Day, both just among ourselves, and raised money for Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The next year we decided to bring the Easter Bonnet pageant onto the stage and invited other casts to come—A Chorus Line, Cats, there were a few companies. I remember when they flipped over the cards at the end, we had raised $17,000. I was sobbing, sobbing.

DO: I think we needed a sense of agency. Because there was no hope. There really wasn’t. Our friends were dying, and we couldn’t do anything about it. But we could dress up and act silly and ask people for money.

DC: Teddy Azar was instrumental in the whole look of the show makeup- and wig-wise. He was one of the first in the company to come down with AIDS. He was at St. Vincent’s, and David [Scala, who played Phaedra], Sam [Singhaus, Clo-Clo], and I got some nurse drag with these giant hypodermic needles and resuscitation devices, just ridiculous stuff, and we went down there. People who worked there came up to us and said, “Could you please come bring some of this joy into some of the other rooms?” And we went in and out of these rooms, these three big old drag queens in nurse drag, and it was joyous. The whole thing was joyous.

DE: I had plenty of hard losses, but the hardest was [executive producer] Fritz Holt. At the show that night, we silently got in place, and one by one we turned around in the opening number and we all started singing “We Are What We Are.” But then one by one voices were dropping out. We just couldn’t sing. We were all crying. The cast members in the wings on both sides were singing for us, trying to keep it going.

We Are What We Are

DC: When we would turn around one by one in the opening number, you could feel, physically, this sort of crossed-arm, furrowed-brow feeling from the audience. They were probably wondering if maybe we’re too close, we’re going to get [AIDS].

By the end of the show those same faces were leaning into the stage, wide-eyed. I left every night thinking, Wow, I think I was part of something that changed what people think about homosexuals.

DE: I came out to my mom when I was 18, and she really struggled with it. She couldn’t understand what she had done wrong. And it was La Cage that turned her around. It let her know that you can have love and family being gay. She became a mother to all of my gay friends that had parents that disowned them. They adored her, and she loved all of them.

DC: From the beginning my parents saw something in me. They would take me to the Muny Opera, to the Starlight in Kansas City, and nurtured that in me. But at the same time I didn’t ever feel like I needed to tell them I was gay. I thought the words and the situation would hurt them. And they knew.

When they saw the show, that was my way of being able to tell them and show them that I was going to be okay.

DO: La Cage changed my life. I got to work with Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman and Arthur Laurents and Fritz Holt and Barry Brown and Don Pippin, and George Hearn and Gene Barry [Georges] and Merle Louise [Mme. Didon]. I also learned so much from Linda Haberman [Bitelle] and Jennifer Smith [Colette]. The work ethic, the creativity, and the artistry was like nothing I had ever been exposed to.
DC: At the 40-year reunion, we sang “The Best of Times.” There were two older gentlemen sitting next to each other in the audience, and they were bawling. And I thought, god, this show affected more people than we will ever know. It’s so special to have been a part of something like that.

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The Most Memorable Dance Moments From the 2024 Academy Awards

2024 was a big year for dance at the Oscars, including a history-making performance, a heart-pumping ensemble number, and a surprise addition to the “In Memoriam” segment.

We’re still rooting for a “Best Choreography” category as dance continues to be an integral part to each year’s nominated films. But until then, we still enjoy seeing our beloved artform on the Dolby Theater stage.

“Wahzhazhe” from Killers of the Flower Moon

Eight Osage Nation dancers joined Scott George and the Osage Tribal Singers in a historic performance of “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon. George made Oscars history as the first Native American to receive a nomination for best original song with “Wahzhazhe.” He is also the first member of the Osage Nation to be nominated by the Academy.

As the dancers and singers followed the drum against a sunset backdrop, they invited the international audience to witness a simultaneously intimate and boundless celebration. A groundbreaking performance, it marked the first time members of the Osage Nation, or of any indigenous community, has danced on the Oscars stage.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dn4krzAKRfQ&feature=oembed

“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie

It’s safe to say that the Oscars felt the “Kenergy” after Ryan Gosling and his ensemble of Kens took to the stage with Barbie’s tongue-in-cheek power ballad, “I’m Just Ken,” which was also nominated for best original song. The number, choreographed by Mandy Moore, featured several members from the film’s original cast, including Simu Liu and Kingsley Ben-Adir, and was complete with a kickline, unapologetic melodrama, cardboard cutout–ography, and on-the-nose references to Jack Cole’s choreography for “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” Oh, and Slash.

Best Actress winner Emma Stone later pointed to the performance as the culprit behind her tearing her dress. (Don’t worry, Emma, we were dancing too.)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wmG0983hPUs&feature=oembed

The “In Memoriam” Segment

A welcome surprise for some and an irritating visual distraction for others, this year’s “In Memoriam” tribute featured an ensemble of dancers that accompanied Andrea and Matteo Bocelli as they sang the former’s hit “Time to Say Goodbye.” This was not the first time dance has appeared in the segment; in 1996, Savion Glover tapped to “Singin’ in the Rain” in a tribute to the late Gene Kelly, who passed away that year. This year’s performance included a subtle and touching moment for the late Chita Rivera, who died on January 30—a simple weight shift and slow-motion hip sway, facing Rivera’s photo on the projection screen.

While the dancers brought stunning synchronicity and reverent artistry to Moore’s second choreographed work of the night, the performance has earned pushback from audience members who found them and the Bocellis distracting.

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The Best Dance in This Year’s Oscar-Nominated Films

With the 96th Academy Awards coming our way on March 10, we’re taking a moment to acknowledge the most prominent dance in the films nominated for Oscars this year, as well as those movies’ choreographers.

The Oscars and dancemakers don’t have the easiest relationship. Although many of the films nominated inevitably include dancing, there’s no award for choreography. The past year has shown what may be the first signs of change: In March of 2023, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Academy Awards, created a new Production and Technology branch, which will house choreographers admitted to the Academy. (That number, however, remains very small—with last year’s addition of Fatima Robinson, it’s not even at double digits.) In 2025, the Academy will add an Oscar for casting, a development that could set a precedent for choreographers. And as of last month, IMDb started recognizing “choreographer” as a primary profession.

Hopefully, dancemakers will soon be able to chassé onto the Dolby Theatre stage to collect a golden statuette of their own. In the meantime, we’ll recognize their work here.

Margot Robbie (center) in *Barbie*. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

Barbie, Choreographed by Jennifer White

In an interview, director Greta Gerwig said that she fought hard to keep the “I’m Just Ken” dream ballet in Barbie. “I was like, ‘If people could follow that in Singin’ in the Rain, I think we’ll be fine,’ ” Gerwig reportedly said.

Gerwig has a good dance track record: For her 2019 film Little Women, she turned to choreographer Monica Bill Barnes. For Barbie, she broughton London–based choreographer and movement director Jennifer White, with associate choreographer Lisa Welham. White, who has a long list of film, music video, and stage credits, strikes the perfect balance of wittiness and whimsy in Barbie’s dream ballet and its earlier “Dance the Night” number.

Barbie is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), and Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera). It is available to stream on Max, and to rent or buy on Amazon’s Prime Video and Apple TV.

Barrino, Henson, and Brooks are captured mid-song, throwing their arms exuberantly out to the sides — (From left) Taraji P. Henson, Fantasia Barrino, and Danielle Brooks in *The Color Purple*. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Color Purple, Choreographed by Fatima Robinson

The Color Purple is a full-fledged movie musical: Its choreography, by Fatima Robinson, isn’t relegated to just one or two scenes. Based on the stage musical, which in turn is based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize–winning 1982 novel, the film follows Celie, a Black woman living in the rural American South in the early 1900s. Her long journey to empowerment is driven by strong female friendships and her bond with her sister. (The book was first adapted for film in 1985 by Steven Spielberg.)

Dance is everywhere in this movie: on the walk to church, in a crowded street, at a juke joint. Throughout, Robinson’s years of experience choreographing for major musical artists—Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Rihanna among them—shine through. The dancing is a blend of social dances from the film’s era, African forms, hip hop, and musical-theater–style movement.

The Color Purple is nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Danielle Brooks). It is available to stream on Max and to stream or buy on Amazon’s Prime Video and Apple TV.

A black and white photo of Cooper as Bernstein at the podium, wearing a tuxedo. His arms are raised, his expression intent. — Bradley Cooper in *Maestro*. Photo by Jason McDonald, courtesy Netflix.

Maestro, Choreographed by Justin Peck

Leonard Bernstein’s collaboration with Jerome Robbins is the stuff of legend: It produced West Side Story, On the Town, and works for New York City Ballet, including Fancy Free and Dybbuk. So it’s only fitting that Maestro, the Bernstein biopic starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, includes dance.

In a dreamlike dance scene choreographed by Justin Peck (with Craig Salstein as associate choreographer), Cooper and Carey Mulligan, playing Bernstein’s wife-to-be, Felicia Montealegre, watch a version of Fancy Free onstage that melts into an original dance number, which they become a part of. The list of dancers includes NYCB’s Harrison Coll and Sebastián Villarini Vélez, and freelancers Gaby Diaz, Benjamin Freemantle, and Jeanette Delgado. Peck is often called a creative descendent of Robbins; after choreographing 2021’s West Side Story, this feels like a natural progression.

Maestro is nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Cooper), and Best Actress (Mulligan). It is available to stream on Netflix.

Stone, wearing a flowing peach skirt and white top and her long brown hair loose, dances in the middle of an ornate restaurant, snapping her raised fingers. — Emma Stone in *Poor Things*. Courtesy Searchlight Pictures.

Poor Things, Choreographed by Constanza Macras

Poor Things, director Yorgos Lanthimos’ feminist abstraction of Frankenstein,stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a grown woman reborn with the mind of a child. In a Victorian-era restaurant, Stone (who honed her dancing chops in La La Land and Broadway’s Cabaret) finds herself drawn to the music and takes to the dance floor. Rather than imitate the couples around her, she finds her own, intuitive movement style. For a while she’s joined by her lover, played by Mark Ruffalo, but, ultimately, she wants to dance on her own—a choice that helps further the film’s plot.

The scene is choreographed by Constanza Macras, a Berlin-based dancemaker who runs the dance and theater company DorkyPark and recently staged a production of Carmen for Switzerland’s Theater Basel. She first worked with Lanthimos on his 2018 The Favourite, whose dance scene also delightfully defies convention.

Poor Things is nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Stone), and Best Director (Lanthimos). It will be available to stream on Hulu starting on March 7.

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Ballet and fitness – and friends – merge in Grace & Form Studio

It all started with a bag of Hello Kitty candy. When Saskia Gregson-Williams moved to Los Angeles from the UK, and was searching for a ballet school to attend, her dad’s friend suggested Yuri Grigoriev School of Ballet. That friend was the stepfather of then-11-year-old Indiana Woodward, who trained at the school. So, off went Gregson-Williams into class one day, and in came Woodward, running toward her with a bag of Hello Kitty candy from France. It was the first time they met, but instantly they became best friends.

Indiana Woodward and Saskia Gregson-Williams of Grace & Form. Photo by Emily Teague.

Their lives took them in different directions, but they maintained their long-distance friendship. Gregson-Williams would go on to dance with the Joffrey Ballet, until a bad ankle injury kept her away from the stage. At this time, she launched her own blog and cookbook, Naturally Sassy. She also qualified as a personal trainer and built ballet-based fitness method Ballet Blast.

Woodward went on to study in Moscow at the Bolshoi Ballet School and then the School of American Ballet. In August 2012, she became an apprentice with New York City Ballet and was promoted to principal in October 2021.

But now, not only are the two women still best friends, they’re also business partners.

Enter Grace & Form Studio – Gregson-Williams and Woodward’s lifelong dream of combining their unique backgrounds and experience in ballet and fitness. The online studio provides a blend of ballet classes and mindfulness movement practices, available through an app or desktop studio. In Grace & Form’s collection of classes, you’ll find ballet (from total beginner to professional), barre workouts, strength routines, sculpt classes, yoga sequences and more. Users can curate their own workout or follow the studio’s weekly workout plan.

Indiana Woodward with Saskia Gregson-Williams of Grace & Form. Photo by Megan McNally.

“We wanted to create a space that nurtured and strengthened bodies and minds, building a love for your body with every step,” Gregson-Williams tells Dance Informa. “Bringing ballet to beginners, and helping those who love to dance love their bodies better. We envisioned Grace & Form as a sanctuary where the artistry of ballet intertwines with the power of fitness, shaping not just bodies but inspiring a profound connection between movement and self-discovery.”

Grace & Form offers a seven-day free trial before a monthly subscription ($19.99) or yearly subscription ($179.88). The studio also offers one-on-one training in ballet or strength, with a customized workout plan following the session for the month ahead to stream in the Grace & Form app.

Beyond that, Gregson-Williams and Woodward offer scholarships to the studio for those who want to try it out but can’t afford the subscription. Details on the scholarship program come out on the first of each month on Grace & Form’s social media: @graceandformstudio.

Indiana Woodward and Saskia Gregson-Williams of Grace & Form. Photo by Megan McNally.

Gregson-Williams and Woodward are sure to stress that Grace & Form offers a range of classes designed for movement beginners through avid gym goers and professional dancers. Users can filter through the different levels to find something that suits their needs or where they are that day.

“When it comes to ballet classes, those who have an interest in ballet but no formal training can find Grace & Form a welcoming place to start,” Gregson-Williams says. “Beginner classes typically require no prior experience and focus on fundamental techniques, basic positions and ballet terminology, making them accessible to anyone. We’re expanding our beginner library so that individuals looking for a new form of exercise that combines strength, flexibility and grace will find it an easy place to start. Experienced dancers can benefit from Grace & Form by refining their technique, improving their strength and flexibility, and learning from dancers they respect and love. We have a filter of beginner to advanced, so whilst you can filter by your level even the beginner classes can be a great place to go back to.”

Gregson-Williams and Woodward say their launch earlier this year was met with a lot of enthusiasm, and already they’re seeing ways for the platform to grow. Over the next six months, the roster of teachers will expand internationally. And, almost like a tease, Gregson-Williams and Woodward share, “Although we always knew that our first element of Grace & Form would be the virtual, we’re very excited to come into the physical space in 2024. That’s all we’ll say for now!”

Saskia Gregson-Williams and Indiana Woodward of Grace & Form. Photo by Emily Teague.

Grace & Form merges ballet and fitness in a safe and approachable way. And perhaps being entrepreneurs of the Studio has even enhanced the friendship of Gregson-Williams and Woodward in an exciting way.

“We’re both go-getters, and share a no-time-than-the-present attitude,” Gregson-Williams says. “When we have our minds set on something, we are both laser-focused. Our creative thinking compliments one another, and we always feel inspired to plough on after a quick catch up on the phone.”

To get a feel for the classes offered on Grace & Form, and to sign up for a free seven-day trail, visit graceandformstudio.com. You can also follow Grace & Form on Instagram: @graceandformstudio.

By Laura Di Orio of Dance Informa.

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Whistle releases free online toolkit aimed at disrupting harm in dance

Whistle has announced the launch of Disrupting Harm In Dance, a free online toolkit designed to support dancers and dance institutions in addressing sexism, exploitation, abuse, ableism, white supremacy, toxic capitalism and more in the workplace. Whistle (formerly known as Whistle While You Work) is an international platform created by dancer Frances Chiaverini and activist Robyn Doty in 2017, to confront gender-based harm in dance workspaces, along with other forms of discrimination and abuse. Toolkit collaborators include Crip Movement Lap, The Dance Union, J. Bouey and OFEN Co-Arts. This toolkit is Whistle’s final project.

Frances Chiaverini. Photo by Monica Liguoro.

Disrupting Harm In Dance: How to navigate dysfunctional culture while feeling safe, connected, and empowered, was created after years of community discussions, research, surveys and working with dancers. Whistle, in partnership with collaborators, has created this self-directed online toolkit for dance professionals to gather real-life skills for navigating sexual harassment, abuse of power and various forms of discrimination, in addition to setting and maintaining boundaries, mental health, consent practices, advocacy and allyship, and community accountability. The self-directed curriculum combines the lived experiences, knowledge, and expertise of numerous performing arts and dance experts. It offers time and space for dance professionals to examine their current ideas, unlearn practices that do not serve them and develop new practices for a changing culture. The curriculum is dancer-centered, and it can be explored as an individual or as a group.

“We at Whistle love dance and love dancers even more,” said Chiaverini. “We know that there is a staggering lack of support at an institutional level for dancers experiencing abuse and discrimination.”

“We hope this resource can offer aid to individuals and direction for institutions in shaping better workspaces for dancers,” Doty added. “Knowing that this toolkit would be Whistle’s final project emphasized its importance as we created it. We are proud to share what we have learned, and the work of the brilliant activists and experts we have learned from. We hope that this resource helps to make much-needed change in the dance field.”

Doty and Chiaverini began this work together during a Fellowship Chiaverini held at PACT Zollverein in Essen, Germany, in 2017. She invited Doty to collaborate, which focused the trajectory toward shaping the workshops the two would conduct over the course of the following years at institutions in Europe, Mexico, and the USA.

At several internationally held open forums, Whistle organizers asked performers about abuse of power in dance. These community-based conversations illuminated pervasive issues within the culture that are deeply rooted in dance education and training. These training abuses are often repeated and amplified in the professional dance world as normalized work practices. Whistle then created programming and resources to address these issues such as harassment resource cards, a resource ‘zine and more, including a feminist library for which they distributed hundreds of free books and digital texts at Tanz Summit in Essen, Germany, and remounted again at Tanz im August in Berlin. Doty and Chiaverini have been outspoken on these issues, appearing in the ARTE documentary, Tanz, Macht, Missbrauch: Das Ende des Schweigens? (Dance, Power, Abuse: The End of Silence?).

Over the past seven years, Whistle has partnered with numerous international companies, collectives and organizations, including but not limited to: Dramaturgische Gesellschaft, Konferenz Jena, 2019; Pact Zollverein, Choreographic Center (Essen, Germany); Berlin; Tanzplattform Rhein-Main; Frankfurt Städelschule; HfMDK, Frankfurt; Performance Space New York; LA Dance Project,; Nous Tous Gallery, LA; Goethe Institute Mexico; Tor Art Space, Frankfurt; Dancers Connect, Germany; Dance Artists’ National Collective; Zeitgenossischer Tanz Berlin; Tanz Büro Berlin; Tanz im August, Berlin; Mousonturm Frankfurt; Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln; Schauspielhaus Zürich.

In 2020, Whistle While You Work was awarded a Fellowship at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University, and Chiaverini and Doty were able to spend dedicated time creating resources and collaborating with other game-changing dance-based organizers. With a 2021 grant from The Migros-Kulturprozent (Switzerland), Whistle worked with multiple experts to shape the online self-directed curriculum of Disrupting Harm in Dance.

For more information, visit disruptingdance.com.

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