The Performance
Ballet productions, stagecraft, dance technique, and the magic of live performance
10 articles
How the Battle Scene Evolved
From slapstick to spectacle, every production stages the battle differently. As the one getting hit, I have opinions about all of them.
Opening Night Rituals
Before the curtain rises on opening night, there is a private performance the audience never sees -- the quiet rituals, the superstitions, the held breath before the first note.
Pas de Deux Chemistry
Two dancers. One melody. The trust between them is the most invisible and most essential thing on stage.
The Science of Pointe
A ballerina en pointe concentrates her entire body weight on an area roughly the size of a silver dollar. The physics are unreasonable. The artistry is in making you forget that.
Stage Fright and Snowflakes
The moments before the Waltz of the Snowflakes are the longest in theater. Then the music begins, and you stop being a person.
Stagecraft Secrets
The growing tree. The falling snow. The Land of Sweets made luminous. What you see on stage is the work of what you do not see.
The First Time the Lights Went Down
What happens in the hush before the overture is something no one can prepare you for.
The Forgotten Variation
There is a solo in the original Nutcracker that most audiences have never seen. Its disappearance tells a story more interesting than the dance itself.
The Snow Is Still Falling
Forty-eight dancers in white. The stage, bare. Then -- a single flake, turning in the light.
Why Every Production Ends Differently
Was it a dream? Does Clara keep the prince? Does she go home? Every production must choose, and no two choices are alike.