Sara Mearns News

The 2016 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a prestigious honor that carries a $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to contemporary choreographer, dancer, and artistic director Camille A. Brown in acknowledgement of her vision and outstanding contributions to the dance field. Regularly garnering acclaim for her 'vividness and versatility' (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times), Brown holds a New York Dance and Performance ('Bessie') Award, two Princess Grace Awards, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, and her work has toured nationally and internationally. The Jacob's Pillow Dance Award was established in 2007 and, in honor of its 10th anniversary, the Pillow has broadened the scope of this honor with a commitment to the artist's growth and future work. In addition to the unrestricted cash prize, this Award also includes a committed engagement for the 2017 Festival and a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow. Previous recipients of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award include the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham; MacArthur Fellows Michelle Dorrance and Kyle Abraham; and John Heginbotham of Dance Heginbotham, among others.

Magic happened this past Thursday night at the gorgeous David H. Koch theatre as New York City Ballet lit the stage in the premiere week of their much-anticipated winter season. Getting back to their roots and showcasing what they do so well, the company's three-piece All Balanchine I program celebrated their master choreographer, dancing with undeniable effervescence as they attacked the movement to light up the music's striking affectations; it is an intrinsic quality, and one which makes the company so unique.

Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking ticket sales and attendance of Festival 2015, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces a new season of exciting programming featuring international artists, world premieres, and an impressive number of live music engagements. This season signals an exciting new era in Pillow history, as the Board of Directors plans to name a new Jacob's Pillow Director in early 2016. Former Executive and Artistic Director Ella Baff stepped down from her role in September of 2015, following a successful 17-year tenure.

The NYCB's performance of October 9th was an array of movements and interpretations: some of the works were incredible and others missed the mark.

There may be no better way to chase the gloom of an unseasonably chilly and wind-whipped evening in NYC than to watch New York City Ballet's delightfully varied quintuple-bill entitled "Americana X Five". On October 2nd 2015, with Hurricane Joaquin's approach bringing on a gusty downpour, I was among the lucky dancegoers at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center who enjoyed one of the best programs the company has offered in a long time. If you'll be in town through October 7th, don't miss the chance to see the works of four very different choreographers set to the equally wide-ranging works of a talented handful of American composers.

Linda Shelton, Executive Director of The Joyce Theater Foundation, announced today that due to altitude sickness that also caused her to cancel scheduled performances at the recent Vail International Dance Festival, Sara Mearns will be unable to appear in the August 13 and 14 performances of The Joyce's current Ballet Festival. American Ballet Theatre dancer Stephanie Williams will take her place in the work, Partita No. 2 in C Minor, by choreographer Emery LeCrone.

This remarkable Ballet Festival, designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting - and, in some cases, forming their own companies - will take place from today, August 4, through August 16 at The Joyce Theater and feature such rising choreographers and companies as Ballet X, The Ashley Bouder Project and

Fans of the arts and luxury travel will not want to miss the 27th season of the Vail International Dance Festival this summer, which will take place from July 27-August 10. 

Following its successful, sold-out festival of ballet in 2013, The Joyce Theater Foundation (Linda Shelton, Executive Director) will once again present a two-week long season of America's most exciting contemporary ballet companies and choreographers. This remarkable Ballet Festival, designed to recognize dancers and choreographers who are creating work outside the traditional large company setting – and, in some cases, forming their own companies – will take place from August 4 – 16 at The Joyce Theater and feature such rising choreographers and companies as Ballet X, The Ashley Bouder Project and Joshua Beamish: MOVE the company, among others. Tickets start at $10, and can be purchased online at www.Joyce.org or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800.  The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street.

The 2015 Tony Awards are airing on CBS tonight, June 7 at 8pm, co-hosted by Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, and, as usual, BroadwayWorld.com will be your one-stop shop for all things Tonys on Tony Day, Night and Beyond! The red carpet is streaming live right now, and BroadwayWorld has more photos of the stylish arrivals. Scroll down for our second batch of photos and click here for the first album!

The School of American Ballet's Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 raised more than $890,000 for scholarships and school programs. The evening began with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center, and concluded with a seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental. The evening celebrated the legendary Rudolf Nureyev and commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Scholarship.

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 tonight, June 2, 2015.

Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June.

May 26, 2015 - (Becket, MA) Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June. Highlights of Festival 2015 include Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a special dance and radio stage production starring Ira Glass, host of This American Life; the return of Nederlands Dans Theater 2; the world premiere of American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO; Cuban contemporary ensemble Malpaso Dance Company, performing with GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble; and the launch of Martha Graham Dance Company's 90th Anniversary, including a world premiere by eminent choreographer Mats Ek. 

On May 21, 2015, at the David Koch Theater, New York City Ballet performed three works created by choreographers of today.

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The evening begins with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center. A seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental will conclude the evening. For more information, please contact the special events office at SAB at

Hear the Dance:Russia, covered forty years of Balanchine accompanied by Stravinsky's music from his Apollo, created in 1928 for Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, to 1957's Agon, to two works from 1972, Duo Concertant and Symphony in Three Movements. In Balanchine's temple on Lincoln Center's campus, his choreography plagued the dancers with drops, trips, and slips.

The School of American Ballet announces the Workshop Performance Benefit 2015 on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The evening begins with cocktails at 5:30pm in Juilliard's Morse Hall, followed by the performance at 7pm in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center. A seated dinner at 9pm at the Mandarin Oriental will conclude the evening. For more information, please contact the special events office at SAB at (212) 769-6610. Tickets and tables are available at www.sab.org/workshopbenefit.

The spring 2015 season of the New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center boasts not one but two programs featuring George Balanchine's minimalist masterpieces that are affectionately referred to as the "leotard ballets" by dancers and devotees alike. On the evening of May 1st, "Balanchine Black & White 1" proved once again that plotless ballets stripped of elaborate sets and costumes do indeed achieve Mr. B's goal of focusing on the movement and the music. What is so remarkable is that each of the three works on the bill, all of them with the dancers in practice clothes, is uniquely compelling. This feast of Mr. B's earliest neoclassical creations holds the audience in thrall from start to finish without ever becoming repetitious.