Ballet companies worldwide have already passed months in preparations and performances, but it was only on December 18 in 1892 that The Nutcracker, as choreographed, to some disputed degree, by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa, made its stage debut at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. For as many choreographic interpretations seen in the century-plus since, from…
Category: Quick Steps
Short takes on the world of dance
Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: Tango Nuevo With a Twist
As a teaser for the next analysis on Step Sequences, today’s Watch features a special look at Tango Nuevo — or, rather, many looks in one, as Tango Krakow explores the subtle differences across couples in a single simultaneous dance:
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 10 in Review
We’ve reached the Semi-Finals, where votes cast now contribute to next week’s ultimate outcome. While there’s a probable frontrunner, dances from couples across the board stood out in this week’s Trio Night. 1. Laurie Hernandez, Val Chmerkovskiy and Maks Chmerkovskiy, Samba You can argue that this approach to a trio dance doesn’t quite meet the…
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 7 in Review
Eras Night is one of my preferred Dancing With the Stars theme nights when done to its best — reasonable tributes to a period or a style, less so when involving odd mash-ups or blatant inaccuracies. Last night’s offered its own mixed bag, but on the whole presented a fairly enjoyable line-up — even if…
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 6 in Review
Near the season’s halfway point, the standouts are established and the reliable choreographers can be expected to deliver. Here are a few routines that I prized from this season’s Latin Night. 1. Calvin Johnson and Lindsay Arnold, Argentine Tango A refreshingly stripped-down Argentine tango where the focus is on pure dance connection — and a…
Dance, Quick Steps
Wednesday Watch: Twyla Tharp’s Sinatra Suite
For this post-World Ballet Day Wednesday Watch, enjoy Twyla Tharp’s efforts to integrate the feel of social dance and a little retro style into the world of balletic technique, with this 1984 broadcast of her 1983 Sinatra Suite — a truncated version of the previous year’s longer Nine Sinatra Songs, which calls for casting a…
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 4 in Review
By week four, Dancing With the Stars contestants are beginning to shake out in terms of finalist potential, long run promise, and likely fodder. This week’s Cirque du Soleil theme set the stage for a few season-best performances, though wide range in terms of content-heavy material. 1. Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy picked up the…
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 2 in Review
Week 2 usually marks a bit of a lull, as couples now face only one week to prepare a routine and most celebrities still have considerable room to grow. And when paired with “TV Theme Night” and its often ill-suited musical selections, there’s another level of added difficulty. Still, a number of performances rose above…
Dance, Quick Steps
Dancing With the Stars, Season 23: Week 1 in Review
With the season return of Dancing With the Stars, each Tuesday Moving in Measure will be recapping the previous night’s episode by highlighting three (or so) dances worth a watch — or rewatch. Allowances are made for a celebrity’s reasonable level of technique; we’re evaluating these things on a sliding scale. 1. Gymnasts are not…
Quick Steps
A Thursday Watch: Amy Purdy, Paralympics Opening Ceremony
Dancing With the Stars season 18 runner-up Amy Purdy demonstrated an exceptional command of rhythm and musical detail — impressive for an amateur and even moreso given the physical circumstances within which she, a double amputee, and partner Derek Hough (as well as one-off partners Mark Ballas and James Maslow) had to work. Her dancing…
