Archive for blogging
February 2, 2008 at 12:13 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, video, SUSAN, contemporary, website, students, hamburg ballet, john neumeier, performance, competition, tickets, switzerland, blogging, paris opera ballet, bejart
© Prix de Lausanne
Exciting news: The final competition round of the Prix de Lausanne will be broadcast live on Sunday 3 February, starting at 3.00pm CET (Central European Time). To watch the competition, simply click here.
The Prix de Lausanne is an international ballet competition that takes place every year in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dancers between the ages of 15 and 18 have been competing in this year’s 36th annual Prix all week long. Judging them are some big names: Altynai Asylmuratova (Kirov Ballet), Elisabeth Platel (Paris Opera Ballet) and Anna Maria Prina (La Scala Ballet). Hamburg Ballet’s Director and Chief Choreographer John Neumeier is serving as the 2008 President of the jury.
This year, the finals will not only feature the competitors, but will also showcase two of Neumeier’s works. The first will be his Opus 100, in tribute to the late choreographer Maurice Béjart. The second will be Yondering, which will feature students from the Hamburg Ballet School, the Paris Opera Ballet School and the National Ballet School of Canada.
If you weren’t able to purchase tickets to the sold-out performance or if, like me, you are not able to attend the performance in Lausanne, this is a most excellent and very accessible alternative. Also, for anyone who is interested, the Prix de Lausanne has set up a videoblog to chronicle the competition experiences of six participants. Check it out here.
Recent Posts by susan kim
January 12, 2008 at 5:33 am · Filed under dance, friends, dougfox, david hallberg, danny tidwell, blogging, cedar lake, TAYLOR, kristin sloan
Okay, so I’m a little behind the blogging times (even though it’s only been 48 hours since this event…) but I just HAD to write about the blogger meetup hosted by Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet on Wednesday. We saw a dress rehearsal performance followed by a quick q&a with Artistic Director Benois-Swan Puffer. You may have seen Kristin’s (real time!) photos of it. What a great night, and what a great show!
My actual review of the performance can be seen here on ExploreDance.com. They have such a nice facility there in Chelsea, and some truly great dancers. Each of the three pieces we saw at the dress rehearsal performance were different but equally exciting.
Perhaps MORE exciting for me, though, was meeting fellow bloggers. Of course I had already met Kristin in an interview for my article in movmnt (coming out in early February!), but this was the first time meeting some of the other online dance writers whom I mentioned in my thesis research and who I read so often!
Before the performance there was snacks and mingling for all of us, and I was quickly introduced to Doug, Tonya, Ariel, Philip, and Evan (with whom I sat for the show). David also showed up (to Tonya’s delight…hehe) and there was a spotting of Danny Tidwell, too. All the bloggers took a group picture, which we’re hoping will pop up here on The Winger soon!
It was so wonderful to meet everyone and discuss blogging, dance, the performance, etc. We bloggers are certainly a motley crew, haha. Check out other people’s coverage of the event: Tonya, Doug, Ariel, Evan, Philip, and Kristin.
While I was so excited after the evening, I didn’t get to write about it until now because the last two days have been insane: I started my internship at The New Yorker as well as a temporary apprenticeship with the Rebecca Kelly Ballet. Talk about busy! Both my “first days” have gone well…
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my experiences at The New Yorker and more, so I wanted to announce that I also write another blog, Off Center, which chronicles more of my daily life of ballet classes, internships (ie: New Yorker), writing assignments, and more. I’ve had it for a few months now but have kept it pretty quiet - but I think now that so much more is going on I want to invite more people to read it! So check it out if you’re interested!:-)
Anyways…BIG THANKS to Cedar Lake for inviting the dance bloggers! It was such a fabulous night!
More updates on dancing with Rebecca Kelly Ballet and more to come soon…meanwhile, check out Off Center. Countdown: 2 weeks til I graduate from Marymount Manhattan College 
Recent Posts by taylor gordon
January 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm · Filed under TONY, dance technology, community, blogging, communications, THE ( INTER ) MISSION, social network, discussion
I have been fairly quiet this semester on the winger, delving into deeper recesses of the blogosphere. Most of my writing has been on Dance Machines, the group blog for my class at Sarah Lawrence College, and in the bowels of the dancetech network. The dancetech network is similar to the inter-mission, they are both social networks run on the ning platform, and cast the ever enticing poly-panoptic gaze.
Its decription reads:
A dance and technology social network that aggregates and facilitates the flow of information and the distributed intelligence among movement, new media artists and theorists working in the confluence of embodied performance practices and new media.
It is interesting to compare the two. To view the intermission you have to be a member. You dont have to be a member view dancetech. The intermission has great graphic design. Conversations are friendly and straightforward. I especially like the fact that their is a member called theintermission whose interests include 1’s and 0’s and bodies in motion. This embodiment of many in one is Malkovichian and devilishly post-modern. It is a socialist gesture made through recursive induction.
The dancetech network is not such a friendly place. The site lacks the solid design of intermission/winger; the erratic changes in the layout make it feel more like battleground on some unstable landscape. Conversations range from metaphysical to ‘pataphysical. Forum conversations often run off topic and involve a significant amount of head-butting. The language can be cryptic, esoteric and vague.
And for all this I love it. Come over and have a look. The blog can be found here.
It is a great place to interact with people entangled in research involving technology and dance. It is where I met Julie Cruse of Ohio State’s Experimental Media and Movement Arts Lab. The work and interaction demands its own posting.
Recent Posts by tony schultz
September 6, 2007 at 3:49 pm · Filed under backstage, dance, lincoln center, video, DAVID, 890 broadway, japan, city, nyc, dancebloggers, paris, abt, broadway, blogging, american ballet theatre, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
I’ve been sitting at my computer for a few tense hours minutes trying to think of a way to introduce myself on The Winger. Even though I’ve been blogging on my own site for a while now, for some reason I was struck with a bit of writers block when it came time to post here. I’d like to take a minute to thank Kristin for letting me join her growing global family (and even out the Lincoln Center scales a LITTLE.) You see, it was because of Kristin’s website that I began taking blogging seriously. David had mentioned it to me when he became interested and other than a few random (and slightly pathetic) MySpace blogs about my feelings, I hadn’t spent much time blogging before I came across this lovely site.
So after a few minutes of writers block, it hit me that I still hadn’t responded to a fellow blogger’s (Winger regular Tonya) tag to share 8 Interesting Facts About Myself. “Interesting” is a quite generic and loose word which almost automatically makes my facts look boring, but I’ll give it a try. Perhaps it will give readers a chance to get to know me (as if “Ranting Details” isn’t personal enough) before I start blogging up a storm here!
1. I am extremely proud of my Montana upbringing.
There are very few dancers that hail from Big Sky country, and even though I was born in New York City, I still consider myself a Montanan at heart. I spent my formative years there before heading off to High School at NCSA and made life long friends that I miss more with each passing day. On top of genuinely nice people, crazy wildlife (we would often have bears walking through my neighborhood), and INCREDIBLE scenery, how often do you get to see a sunset like this?!
2. The only other place I can see myself living soon is Paris.
After visiting Europe for the first time in February (fellow Winger Evan even visited our class), I immediately decided I would live in Paris at some point in my life. The architecture is incredible, the art is overwhelming and the croissants…well, I could live on them (in fact I did which is perhaps why I got mono.)
3. I’m also oddly obsessed with Japan.
My first trip out of the country was with ABT when we went to Japan a few summers ago and it was life changing. Much of Japan feels like being in the heart of Times Square except in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” Everything is so overwhelming, from the mobs of people to the neon lights. I ended up having a rather Asian themed apartment and have a “wall of crap” that contains MANY Japanese toys. One of my favorite posters is an old Japanese movie poster I bought right by these incredible lotus lily pads (?) pictured below. I will always have a special place in my heart for Japan and will never forget wandering around completely lost in the winding streets. We also had an infamous night at a club called GasPanic on our last night in Tokyo, where we didn’t get back to the hotel until 5am. The subways shut down at midnight and don’t open until 5am so we just kept exploring. Too many memories to share in one post.
4. I am constantly in awe of my family.
Being in a family of artists can be difficult at times but I realize I would NEVER be where I am without my family. My father was an actor, my mother a dancer and they both teach now. My sister is also an INCREDIBLE tap dancer (pictured with me below.) All of them push me to reach for more in my art and look beyond the regular and for that I’m eternally thankful.
5. I’m a TOTAL musical theater dork.
Perhaps the most embarrassing fact about me, but true nonetheless. Instead of Sesame Street, I listened to Sondheim as a child and would kill to have dinner with him. One of my favorite things to do in the city is go see shows and prove to people that musical theater isn’t always fluffy nonsense (although a lot of times it is and what’s wrong with that?!) Fortunately, some of my best friends go to school at University of Michigan for Musical Theater so I will get to watch them on stage soon. The picture below is with two of my closest friends, Michael Lowney and Jessica Hershberg who you will see on a Broadway stage in the near future. Perhaps we are acting out a 21st century version of “The Telephone Hour” from Bye, Bye, Birdie?
6. I almost didn’t join ABT.
When I was at NCSA I was offered a contract with Studio Company during my sophomore year but before that I was rather convinced that I would try to go to City Ballet. Melissa Hayden represented that side of my training while Warren Conover took the ABT side, so I loved parts of both companies. The way things fell into place, I ended up at 890 and my jaw dropped to the floor. I still have moments when I have to pinch myself when I look around the room at who is dancing.
(One of my favorite pictures ever with Craig Salstein, Jeff Golladay, and Marcelo Gomes.)
(Me with fellow Winger and best friend extraordinaire, David Hallberg. This is turning into “The many hairstyles of Matt Murphy.” I’ll refrain from the bowl cut I sported my whole adolescence.)
(At the end of the night after my first gala with fellow dancers in 2004.)
7. I can’t drive.
Ugh, I took my first lesson (with Nick and my sister Carson) this past weekend and it was comedic to say the least. Being a dancer prohibited me from ever having time to learn! The following video might scare you…
8. I wrote the screenplay for “American Beauty,” and won an Oscar for it.
Okay, so I lied. I was running out of “interesting” things about myself. It’s one of my favorite movies though…I guess that’s a fact.
Now who do I get to tag? Perhaps I’ll share the love with 8 fellow Wingers? Chosen at random, since I don’t know many of you! Let’s see if everyone can join in and we can get to the know the dancers that much more!
David, Kristin, Cathy, Susan, Carla, Benny, David B., and Candice.
Recent Posts by matthew
August 20, 2007 at 8:09 pm · Filed under blogs, SUSAN, wingers, california, blogging
| 
| Susan Kim
(Erm… well. Not quite the title I was looking for, but we’ll just go with the flow this time.)
Perhaps with a similar enthusiasm but in, most definitely, a far less (and absolutely un-)Marxist way, I met up with two very good friends of this site–Jennifer and Art–to have dinner and dessert this past Saturday.
What a fun time! It was such a pleasure to spend time and chat with two people who share the same passions and interests that I hold so close to my own heart. For those who might not know, both Art and Jennifer are well-established bloggers themselves: Art shares his thoughts on (the very aptly named) Art’s Place and Jennifer collects hers on (the just as appropriately titled) nyc musings & random thoughts as well as on Saturday Matinee.
At the rate we were going, our conversation/s could very well have gone on forever into the night (and beyond?). Between the three of us, we covered everything from ballet to musical theatre to work to schools to critics to travel.
Eventually, though, we had to go our separate ways. We’ve tentative plans to meet up again. If any others in the local (Southern California) area are interested in joining us, please let us know. The more, the merrier.
Recent Posts by susan kim
July 9, 2007 at 3:59 pm · Filed under dance, blogs, candice thompson, CANDICE, design, LOLAstretch, charity, blogging
Posted by Candice Thompson
Hey Wingers! I have been out of town and thus away from my computer and blogging in general, though I am about to conquer mobile phone blogging soon. But I have been working diligently on a new project for the last month that I am extremely excited about………The First Annual LOLAstretch Design Lab!
The LOLAstretch Design Lab is a twelve-week design challenge for one young designer to create a new leotard under my direction, with all profits going to charity!
LOLAstretch has selected Erica Sabatini, who is also a professional dancer with Carolina Ballet, to be the first young designer to participate in the LOLAstretch Design Lab. The program will guide Erica step-by-step through the process of designing a leotard through observing and working directly with me, as well as teach Erica about many aspects of running an emerging design business. Erica will catalogue her trials and tribulations, thoughts and insights in a twice-weekly blog at myspace.com/lolastretch. The LOLAstretch Design Lab will culminate in Erica’s new leotard being launched on LOLAstretch.com by the end of summer 2007.
Erica has chosen LUNGevity, a lung cancer research and support organization, to be the recipient of 100% her leotard’s profits. Recently, Erica lost her father to lung cancer, and she is a cancer survivor herself. LUNGevity Foundation is the nation’s leading private provider of research funding for lung cancer, the number one cancer killer. Partnering with the foremost physicians and research scientists in the world, the Foundation’s goal is to save the lives of the 213,000 Americans newly diagnosed with lung cancer each year.
LOLAstretch embraces this opportunity to facilitate and develop a unique design and support this cause that is near and dear to Erica’s heart. I hope you all enjoy reading her blog too!
Erica Sabatini on one of her first design challenge projects which required a trip to Home Depot for chalkboard paint.
Erica at the cutting table, working on the pattern for her leotard design, in the LOLAstretch design studio.
For more on LUNGevity, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.
To read Erica’s Blog, please visit www.myspace.com/lolastretch.
Recent Posts by candice thompson
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