Renewed and revitalised, by way of a trip to Paris.
As part of an Arts Council Agility Award, I was very lucky to have the opportunity to attend the Cross Threads/Regards Croisés course at the Paris Opéra Ballet School this past July. The aim of the course is to explore a little of the particular schooling that takes place at this grand institution, although there…
Dance in the age of Covid-19
Ok, I was going to title this piece “Dance in the post-Covid age” but it would be blithely naive of me to think we’re anywhere close to post-Covid. The following text comprises my unstructured, and at times only mildly informed, opinions about the goings on in the dance community and musings on the near future…
Feeling versus Memory: Ballet in Lockdown
I’ll be the first to admit that in recent years, my personal ballet practice has been sporadic and at times a mere aspiration. Having danced professionally for several years, when I moved to the Irish Northwest, ballet class went from being a daily necessity, to a semi-regular pursuit, and eventually to making little more than…
New York City Ballet Digital Spring Season, Part 2
6. Balanchine & Robbins A smorgasbord of excerpts and one full length work awaited me as I sought out my twice weekly fix of NYCB this morning. It has become the only time marker in my house – Wednesday and Saturday mornings (I’m on GMT here in Donegal, Ireland) – and what a lovely way…
Gamechangers: the artists who changed, and are changing, the course of ballet
When we look back over the illustrious, if relatively short, history of ballet, its course is defined by those who changed what ballet – in its various guises – looked like and how it was done. Marie Taglioni, Vaslav Nijinsky, Pierina Legnani, Anna Pavlova, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Suzanne Farrell, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sylvie Guillem….as we…
Interview: Zoe Ashe – Browne, dancer with Royal Ballet of Flanders
Zoe Ashe – Browne, a native of Dublin, Ireland is a dancer with Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium where she has been dancing since 2018. She previously danced with Ballett Vorpommern in Germany after several years freelancing with companies including National Ballet of Ireland and English National Ballet. Dance Monologue [DM]: How did you…
Free Art: Friend or Foe
The real potential of this digital age is being tested since the beginning of the pandemic. Seemingly overnight, things migrated online which previously we wouldn’t have thought possible, necessary or worthwhile. I’ve been doing ballet and Cunningham from the comfort of my front room. I’ve browsed the Frick Collection in New York and the National…
New York City Ballet Digital Spring Season, Part 1
Very rarely has dance on screen even come close to the thrill of live performance. When I was in ballet school, I think I watched every piece of footage in the library and as much as I liked them, most failed to come close to the in-person experience. That’s why, when I saw that New…
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Dance Monologue 