Twyla Tharp News

Atlanta Ballet board chair Allen Nelson announced today that executive director Arturo Jacobus will remain at the helm of the 85-year-old institution for at least another five years, as he has accepted an extension to his employment agreement.

New dances by Robert La Fosse and Andrea Miller, plus Twyla Tharp's 'Treefrog in Stonehenge'-- each created with the fresh vibrancy of youth in mind -- will be showcased during Barnard/Columbia Dances at Miller 2014, April 25 and 26. The short, but packed season also features 'Lamentation Variations,' a series of new interpretations of Martha Graham's 1930 iconic solo.

Northrop at the University of Minnesota reopens today, April 4, 8:00 pm with its Northrop Inside Out Grand Reopening Gala. The opening night gala features American Ballet Theatre, America's National Ballet Company performing the classic romantic ballet Giselle with live orchestra, a post-performance dessert and champagne reception, and Northrop Inside Out After Dark dance party featuring a live DJ and special performances.

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's upcoming production of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN runs now through May 31, 2014 and is based on the classic Gene Kelly film. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

What can I say but kudos to the Juilliard Dance Repertory's presentation on March 25, 2014? Yes, there will be a new and exciting generation of dancers. We won't have to worry. My only real concern is with the state of the art: Will there be enough companies for all these dancers to join? And what about the financial resources to sustain them? I wonder.

Wendy Whelan, whom The New York Times has called 'America's greatest contemporary ballerina,' has danced with New York City Ballet for nearly 30 years. With the company, she has mastered Balanchine's neo-classical repertory, dance classics such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake and created works with many of today's leading choreographers. Following hip surgery and a successful recovery period, Whelan, 46, will return to City Ballet this spring season and will dance her final performance with the company on October 18.

Scarsdale Ballet Studio, Westchester's premier destination for classical and contemporary ballet training presents Coppelia this weekend, March 29 and 30 at the Dance Lab at SUNY Purchase College.

Ballet San Jose will conclude its 2014 repertory season—the first under the leadership of new Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño—with Roland Petit's iconic story ballet, Carmen, and Twyla Tharp's masterful In the Upper Room in three performances May 9-11 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. Considered one of Twyla Tharp's most accomplished and striking works, In the Upper Room features a commissioned score by Philip Glass that both propels and liberates the dancers in Tharp's physically demanding choreography. Since its premiere in 1949, Carmen has remained one of inventive French choreographer Roland Petit's most popular ballets for its keen character studies, theatrical staging and soaring dances. Performances will be given Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, at 8 pm and Sunday, May 11, at 1:30 pm. For more information about Ballet San Jose, visit www.balletsj.org .

The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season continues this spring with a new staging of the singing and dancing musical based on the classic MGM film, Singin' in the Rain. Nearly twenty years after the show was last seen on a Frederick stage, Way Off Broadway's production will open tonight, March 28th and run through May 31st.

Carnegie Hall celebrates the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking contemporary music ensemble Kronos Quartet with a one-night-only concert in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage featuring collaborations with some of the group's close colleagues and longtime artistic partners tonight, March 28 at 8:00 p.m.

Jessica Lang Dance brings the 2013-2014 Eccles Center season to a close with a stunning collection of ballet-modern performance on Saturday, April 5. Performance begins at 7:30 p.m.

Looking ahead at Joe's Pub at The Public, now, March 24, through April 6, performances will feature: VINCENT D'ONOFRIO & DANA LYN - TRANS FORMATIVE: AN EVENING OF SONGS THAT PROPEL US - PT WALKLEY - UBU SINGS UBU - CHARLES YANG - COMPANY FREAK - JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND - BRIDGET EVERETT - NEVER SLEEP ALONE - MATES OF STATE - JESUS ON THE MAINLINE / NATALIE CRESSMAN - CARMEN SOUZA - SUSANNA - KYRA MILLER - THE STRAY BIRDS - BEN WATT W/ BERNARD BUTLER - ROY NATHANSON & SOTTO VOCE - STORM LARGE - THE LOSERS LOUNGE - CHAMPAGNE JERRY - ISLE OF KLEZBOS and EARL DAX & FRIENDS. Details below!

This month, Juilliard Dances Repertory presents repertory works by acclaimed choreographers Eliot Feld, Juilliard alumnus Lar Lubovitch, and Twyla Tharp. Juilliard dancers perform Baker's Dozen by Twyla Tharp; Concerto Six Twenty-Two by Lar Lubovitch; and The Jig is Up by Eliot Feld. All three dances were choreographed between 1979 and 1986, and Juilliard dancers have had the opportunity to learn the dances through intensive work with two of the choreographers - Eliot Feld and Lar Lubovitch - and with Juilliard alumna Shelley Washington, an original member of the cast of Twyla Tharp's work.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announces the subject matter of the upcoming works to receive their world premieres by the Orchestra as part of the groundbreaking artistic collaboration with the MusicNOW Festival and Artistic Director Bryce Dessner. On Today, March 21, the Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Louis Langrée, will premiere Nico Muhly's Pleasure Ground, a portrait work depicting the life of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. On Saturday, March 22, Mr. Langrée and the CSO will premiere mountain, a new work by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang depicting the life of American composer Aaron Copland.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein announced that Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award winner, Jason Graae, will bring his new one-man show, 49 ½ Shades of Graae, to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one performance only - tonight, March 20 (8 p.m.)

Looking ahead at Joe's Pub at The Public, performances running today, March 18, through March 30 include: A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN - JOHN CAMERON MITCHELL & HOLLY HUNTER - PAUL LOREN - FIRST ANNUAL FEMINIST BALL - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SONIA OLLA's TIEMPO AL AIRE - MOBY DICK, PART III: THE BALLAD OF PIP - ARBOREA W/ CASSANDRA JENKINS - THE HOT SARDINES - BENJI HUGHES - FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 2014: SILVIA PEREZ CRUZ & RAUL FERNANDEZ REFREE's CRUZ MIRO - FUEL FANDANGO - OUR LADY J - VINCENT D'ONOFRIO & DANA LYN - TRANS FORMATIVE: AN EVENING OF SONGS THAT PROPEL US - PT WALKLEY - UBU SINGS UBU - CHARLES YANG - COMPANY FREAK - JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND - BRIDGET EVERETT - NEVER SLEEP ALONE - MATES OF STATE - JESUS ON THE MAINLINE / NATALIE CRESSMAN - CARMEN SOUZA. Details below!

The USC School of Dramatic Arts, considered one of the world's premier theatre schools, honors cultural icon Jane Fonda with the prestigious 'Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists' at a gala fundraiser on Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 6:30 p.m., at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The multi-Academy Award-winning actress/producer is being recognized for her public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and for inspiring and empowering young people, as well as for the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of her vast body of work on screen and stage. The award, created in 2009 is named for its first recipient, Robert Redford. Proceeds from the event provide scholarship support for the next generation of artists at the School.

American Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, choreographed by ABT Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, is set to a score by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky and features scenery and costumes by Richard Hudson and lighting by Jennifer Tipton. The production was given its World Premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Howard Gilman Opera House on December 23, 2010.

On March 15, 2014, American Repertory Ballet will hold its annual Gala performance and reception, Diamond Gala, in downtown New Brunswick, NJ. The performance will begin at 6:00pm at Crossroads Theater, and the reception will begin at 7:00pm across the street at the Heldrich Hotel. The reception, designed by Cassandre Snyder Events and Design, will include a gourmet dinner, dancing to the music of The Kenny i Orchestra, live and silent auctions, and more. Princeton Ballet School students ages 12-18 years can enjoy a Junior Gala party with dinner, dancing and silent auction, also at the Heldrich Hotel.