New Shane Sparks Movie in the Works

An excited Sparks told us his next big-screen project "is a movie called 'The Jump-Off,' and it's like a 'High School Musical' meets 'You Got Served.' " (This is probably the movie Brown's reps call "Traded.")

Unlike T.I.'s project, Brown would be tapping feet rather than squeezing triggers in this flick. "Chris Brown is up for the lead guy on it," Sparks added. "Hopefully, that works out. The movie is a smash, and this'll be the icing on the cake. So, be on the lookout for it — it should be out at the beginning of next year. We start filming next month; we're rehearsing right now."

With a grin, the man who choreographed "Served" said that he'll be plotting out this movie's dance moves too. "We've got singing, we've got dancing, we've got ballet, we've got lyrical, we've got salsa. It's going to be the first movie to introduce every style, and have a musical sense to it, where you can hear people actually singing and doing spoken word and rap.


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Two dances of modern love - hip and balletic

TWO modern love stories about complicated romance, unrequited love and the battle of the sexes will be danced this week: one as a modern dance from Germany, the other a classic ballet from Russia.

The modern dance "And I Love You So ..." by Braunschweig State Dance Theater is about the complicated relations between couples. It will be staged at the Lyceum Theater on May 7.

The ballet "Red Giselle," considered the masterpiece of the Eifman Ballet of St Petersburg, presents the conflicts in a successful dancer's love life. It will be performed today at the Shanghai Grand Theater.

"And I Love You So ..." choreographed by Eva-Maria Lerchenberg-Thony, art director of 300-year-old Braunschweig State Dancer Theater, is a choreographic merry-go-round about love. The battle of the sexes is demonstrated by aggressive movements, while self-assertion is expressed in classical, or risky forms of dance. Even wacky elements of break dance remind us that sometimes love can make us laugh.

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Big Boi Dance With Atlanta Ballet

Staged at Atlanta's historic Fox Theatre, the unprecedented collaboration between Atlanta Ballet and Big Boi, marks the first time hip-hop and ballet have been combined on this level. Fusing Big Boi's own sound of music with Atlanta's professional ballet, the show will feature new and never heard material intertwined with the classical masterpiece of Verdi's La Traviata.

"big is the place, the event, and the experience where we leave our inhibitions at the door, and move forward," explained choreographer Lauri Stalling in a statement. "big is an example of possibilities...a place for the senses to open, and be lifted, setting a new height for creativity and awareness towards ourselves and the people sitting right next to us."

The show will feature music from the multi-platinum rapper's most popular cuts like, "Morris Brown" from the Idlewild Soundtrack, "Church" from the 2003 Grammy Album of the Year, Speakerboxx and "Bombs Over Baghdad" from Stankonia. Along with Jazz and opera selections, former Purple Ribbon members Janelle Monae, Sleepy Brown and Konkrete music will make up the score for the show.

Benefiting the Big Boi's foundation the Big Kidz Foundation and the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, there will be a fundraiser on April 10, 2008 hosted by Big Boi and Queen Latifah, immediately following the show.

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Don't Judge Me By My Tights

Being a male dancer means battling many stereotypes. But the rewards of my job are limitless.

By Sascha Radetsky | NEWSWEEK
Mar 17, 2008 Issue | Updated: 1:15 p.m. ET Mar 8, 2008


My business attire is a pair of tights. All right, there it is. I wear makeup onstage, and some of my colleagues are gay. Can we move on now? Can we leave behind the tired male-ballet-dancer stigma—that ballet is not a masculine pursuit—in order to move toward an appreciation of the athleticism and artistry involved in this line of work?

On an average day at the job, I handle lithe, lovely women, engage in duels and delight in the experience of an exotic locale. I move like a gymnast or martial artist and embody the vilest of pimps or the most chivalrous and passionate of lovers. I constantly expand the borders of my physical capabilities, and I hone my mind to a quick-learning, focused edge. Come 8 p.m., I'll fuse dynamic movement and storytelling with the grandeur of a full live orchestra.

Yes, I'm proud of my profession. Yet I find myself slightly guarded when I tell people what I do. Like some sort of incurable blight, the male-dancer stereotype has taken root and metastasized in our cultural consciousness. Pioneers like Baryshnikov or Nureyev might have opened some minds, but their days have long passed, and despite the noble efforts of a handful of current ballet leaders to expose fresh audiences to our art form, a whole new generation looks at male dancing with skewed vision. Some of my peers are foreigners; in many other countries male dancers are held in higher esteem. I studied in Russia for a year and always marveled at the way Russians celebrated their artists, whether their medium was dance, music or the written word. But I'm American, and I want to live in my own country, as a dancer, with some respect.



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NYC Ballet Plans Celebration

The Jerome Robbins celebration to feature 33 ballets by the great American choreographer who made New York City Ballet his artistic home for nearly 40 years. Guest artists to include dancers from American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, and The Royal Ballet.

The 2008 Spring Season to Also Include a World Premiere by Alexei Ratmansky as Well as Works by George Balanchine, Mauro Bigonzetti, Peter Martins, Susan Stroman, and Christopher Wheeldon

Principal Dancer Damian Woetzel to Give Farewell Performance on Wednesday, June 18

This spring New York City Ballet will celebrate Jerome Robbins, the groundbreaking choreographer and director who transformed American musical theater, and who also made NYCB his artistic home for nearly 40 years.

The Jerome Robbins Celebration, which will mark the 90th anniversary of the choreographer's birth in 1918, will take place at the New York State Theater from April 29 through June 29, 2008, and will feature 33 ballets that Robbins created over a span of more than 50 years.

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N.Y.C. Ballet's Four Voices

If last week's opening program of the New York City Ballet put the full company on view, the second set of works, performed over the weekend at the Kennedy Center Opera House, was a showcase of individual dancers. Dubbed "Four Voices," it was also a sampler of the creative output of the men who have contributed most to the company's current repertoire: former resident choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins and the two men who previously held that title, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

The four works -- Wheeldon's "Carousel (A Dance)," Martins's "Zakouski," Balanchine's "Agon" and Robbins's "The Concert" -- weren't in any way similar, but together they were a good fit, sharing a sense of cleverness, musical intelligence and polish. They furthered the company's brand attributes, if you will: the qualities of irreproachably good taste, well-directed physicality, clean technique and, in the brainy "Agon" as in the slapstick "The Concert," great wit.

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Philadelphia's BalletX Premieres Matthew Neenan's 'Right To Spring'

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Contemporary dance company
BalletX continues its inaugural season as the resident dance company of The
Wilma Theater (265 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia) and presents the world
premiere of Right To Spring, with five shows running Wednesday - Saturday,
March 26-29 at 8 pm, and Sunday, March 30 at 2 pm. Tickets: General $25,
Student/Senior $20 at The Wilma Theater Box Office, 215.546.7824 or at
http://www.WilmaTheater.org. Full information at http://www.BalletX.org.
Right To Spring runs with no intermission.

Right To Spring is a one-hour ballet choreographed by Co-Artistic
Director Matthew Neenan. The choreography embodies the essence of winter
giving way to spring. After a long dormancy, the world reawakens and bursts
forth with new life. The collaborative work aims to capture that process:
the changing of the seasons and how we react to it, mentally and
spiritually. Co-Artistic Director Christine Cox states: "Right To Spring is
a chance for us to celebrate a time of year that transforms our soul and
allows us to explore the process of change and growth."

The music will vary from classical to rock and will feature an original
score composed, arranged and performed live by Matthew Pierce (of the Lake
Trout band) joined by band members Mike Lowry and James Griffith. This is
the first production with live music for BalletX at The Wilma Theater.

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Shimmy Exclusive- Movmnt Is Coming!

When I was about fifteen years old my girlfriends' and I would pour over teen magazines. It was back in the mid-80's and everything was bright, bold and above all else, it was colorful. We would venture into the grocery store once a month and buy a copy of everything, then share custody of the newest issues. One day I walked into the store and found a new magazine called Sassy. It was aimed at my age but even the cover was different. I couldn't tell you why, it just was. I bought the issue and loved it from one end to the other. I never missed an issue after that and when they arrived I poured over every inch right down to the binding (There was always a message on the binding!). Did they deal with teen issues? Sure, but the approach was different. It was like a peer was talking to you. Did they do fashion spreads? Absolutely, but there was always a deeper message behind the clothes and setting. In a nutshell, Sassy made me think.

It has been twenty years since I've had that reaction to a magazine. One where you just absorb every ounce and still keep it tucked away on a shelf for fear you missed something that you'll be overjoyed to discover on some random day. This week for the second time in my life, I've had that same reaction. This time the publication that took me by complete surprise is called Movmnt. The latest issue includes a sit-down with SYTYCD fan favorites' Sabra Johnson, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell that actually puts readers at that table. Forget everything you already think you know about these three and just listen to them banter. The dance-fashion-in-action will blow you away and have you even heard of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings? Vintage Motown sound for a brand new generation of listeners. If you are not a subscriber already then you need to pick up a copy next week when it graces' Barnes & Noble shelves for the very first time.



David Benaym is the brilliant guiding force behind this innovative new magazine and he was kind enough to give Shimmy a bit of his time this week. What follows is a glimpse into how love of dance and journalistic vision collided in the form of Movmnt.

How did I find myself involved in the dance world? Well like many stories it is a love story. I grew up in France so I was familiar with performances, the ballet world, the Arts in general are really part of the everyday culture there. I grew up watching Maurice Bejart performing live on prime time TV. As a journalist I also specialized in the media and entertainment world. I covered the Oscars as well as the Cannes Film Festival many times. But I was never involved with the Dance world. While covering the 2004 Presidential campaign in New York I met Danny Tidwell. He really is the one that introduced me to the dance world, as he was a performer with ABT at the time. His knowledge and passion for the dance world, its history, the choreography, the technicality as well as the quest of sense in performances. I was hooked, so we worked together along with choreographer Lauren Adams, on a project called Moving Still. Mixing performance, photography and fashion, we created a show and book. At the time I really started to dive into the dance world, watching performances as various as classical ballet at the MET with ABT, contemporary pieces from choreographers Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin, and even intimate workshops by Mia Michaels (that was even before she started to judge on So You Think You Can Dance). So it was a very sudden, learning, breath taking initiation to the dance world, and the involvement came naturally. It's one of the rare places where there is no language barrier. The emotion is pure, there are so many layers of emotion, understanding and interpretation that if you ask an audience members what they feel at a certain moment of a performance, you might not get even once the same answer. My education, my passion as a journalist has always been about words and phrases. So coming from a different background, culture, with a different accent, I just let myself immerse, I am a child when it comes to watching a show. I forget as much as possible everything that makes me- me in order to feel, candidly, rediscover every time the beauty of a pirouette, the emotion of a silence... By doing this, I always discover more about myself. Even the worst in life is never disappointing.



Moving Still was a great success, and we kept on hearing from dancers how much they loved the photography, how different it was from everything they had seen before. At the time we were already talking about working on a different dance magazine. The book started to sell well at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I succeeded in selling some pictures from the book to Flaunt, a fashion magazine that loved the feeling of. But just doing a fashion dance magazine was missing substance, and we are all about the quest of sense, and definitely have the ambition to talk about issues for a generation that gets more coverage about Paris Hilton in Jail than any 'real' story. I mean I can't even dare to talk about conflicts in Africa, hostage situation in South America, or Health Care in America...

But there are many other ways to do so, and dancers, performers, have this capability to convey messages, ideas, changes. Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, The Bolshoi, they all were methaphores to talk about subjects that mattered at the time that they were written. I was looking for a new project at the time, particularly as a publisher (I launched two magazines in Europe 2 books in the US). Danny Tidwell and I analyzed the dance magazines that existed already and realized that they all were very technical, or targeting a very young audience and their parents, but the 18-35 year old generation, the dancers themselves, performers, musicians, entertainers in general did not have a publication that echoed to what they live and love.

These artists are trend setters, they create, innovate, they are very often in advance with the rest of the society, and yet, interact with the real world. With them there are a lot of young adults that we identified as the pop culture generation that are passionate about the art and want to know more than just what these artists have to offer on stage. With Movmnt, we wanted to give fashion photography both motion and emotion. Seeing the clothes in action, sometimes to the fullest, and still portrait dancers in editorials that make sense to who they are. With this new issue, with Neil, Sabra and Danny, I feel that we are starting to really get there.

Yes the pictures are gorgeous, but there is also a meaning to every single one of them and an article on the side for the journalistic aspect of the magazine. We brought together all these different aspects, fashion, dance, music, social issues and Movmnt was born. Each issue has a general theme, a feeling, it is never obvious, never written in a big way because it is not about education, but about experiencing a learning process. We have a wake up call in each issue. It's a double page spread featuring a different feeling that happens around the world. Last issue it was about the graffiti world, very colorful and yet historical. It encompasses the political murals in Nothern Ireland as well as the anti-poutine grafs in Russia, or the cultural revolution in China.



We want Movmnt to be entertaining, yet with meaning.

In the future issue we might look back at the 80's... I believe that our generation, the pop culture generation is missing a link. There is something about these years that has a huge impact today, plus the heart of our readership was born in the 80's and it might be nice to sing along and ask ourselves if video really killed the radio...we are going to look for Roxanne, live in a box, dance la lambada, wow, maybe not after thinking about it! We haven't approached ballroom really at all... not by snobism, but because we've yet figure out how to approach it the right way. I want to understand how Russians can be so incredible at latin dance and understand the passion of the fox trot. I'd love to do a shoot with some of these dancers but challenge them as individuals, see them away from the partner that they always rely on.

Next week when Movmnt comes to newsstands it's our first goal of course, to reach a wider audience. We want to bring the Movmnt family to dance lovers, and performers themselves. But personally, if I could touch just one person, to fulfill their dream. Just inspiring someone to reach and accomplish their passion, that would bring me a tremendous amount of joy

Visit Movmnt online HERE.
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Baryshnikov Not Ready For Final Bow

Mikhail Baryshnikov celebrated his 60th last week, a landmark generally accompanied by a few extra creaks in the joints. But the dance superstar who once thrilled audiences with unidentifiable jumps doesn't seem to be prone to prop up his feet.

The gypsy in this dancer's soul has taken him on an unparalleled journey, as actor, artistic director and producer -- and with his name even attached to a fragrance, Misha.

His original ballet partners are long gone from the stage. He has crossed so many artistic boundaries that they simply could not keep up: an Oscar nomination for "The Turning Point," the Emmy Award-winning "Baryshnikov on Broadway," the recent "Beckett Shorts" (which finished Jan. 20), and Carrie's love interest on HBO's "Sex and the City."

Despite a long-term relationship with former dancer Lisa Rinehart, four children, two grandchildren and a few close friends, Baryshnikov's primary love in life has been dance.

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Baryshnikov At 60

Happy birthday, Misha.

On Sunday, Mikhail Baryshnikov celebrates his 60th, a landmark that some of us greet with a sigh of relief, which is generally accompanied by a few extra creaks in the joints. But the dance superstar who once thrilled audiences with unidentifiable jumps doesn't seem to be prone to prop his feet up anytime soon.

The gypsy in this dancer's soul has taken him on an unparalleled journey, as an actor, artistic director and producer -- and with his name attached to a line of dancewear and a signature fragrance, Misha.

This grandfather's original ballet partners are long gone from the stage. So are many of his modern dance peers. He has crossed so many artistic boundaries that they simply could not keep up: an Oscar nomination for 1977's "The Turning Point," the Emmy Award-winning "Baryshnikov on Broadway," performances on Broadway in "Metamorphosis" and the recent "Beckett Shorts" (which finished Jan. 20), and Carrie's love interest on HBO's "Sex and the City."

In an art form where bodies generally mingle, he has had to go it alone by virtue of his adventuresome artistic nature.

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Source: ScrippsNews

Bolshoi Wins Big In London

National Dance Awards are the only professional awards in the UK, dedicated specifically to dance. They are presented by the dance section of the Critics' Circle, which brings together more than 50 dance writers.

The Bolshoi Theatre toured London in 2007, and their performances impressed both amateur and professional audiences so much, the company was listed in five out of eleven nominations!

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Source: Russia Today

Luna Negra Dance Company Debuts In New York

After years traveling with Ballet Hispánico, Bronx-raised Eduardo Vilaro decided it was time to set down roots away from New York dance stages.

He landed in a master’s program at the Dance Center of Columbia College in Chicago, and when he was done, his vision for Luna Negra Dance Theater had come into full focus.

“I wanted to create a ‘first voice’ in art,” says the Cuban-born Vilaro of his 1999 epiphany, “a company that would break free from the stereotypes attributed to our culture; that danced exclusively to the work of contemporary Latino choreographers.”

Luna Negra makes its New York debut on Jan. 25, marking also Vilaro’s first professional return to the city in more than a decade.

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Source: New York Daily News