Minori Sakita recalls being rather naïve about how to effectively cross-train when she was starting out in her career. “I used to always go to the gym when I was in my first year in the corps, but I would be exhausted or get hurt,” she explains. “There was no strength training, and if there was, it was something very little.”  With the guidance of her former Tulsa Ballet colleague, Chong Sun, a National Council on Strength and Fitness personal trainer, Sakita was able to learn the basics of cross-training and maintaining proper form. Now a Cincinnati Ballet first soloist, Sakita has a tho ..read more

This month, American Ballet Theatre will make the North American premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works. The critically acclaimed ballet, created for The Royal Ballet in 2015, is based on three works by 20th-century modernist author Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves. The triptych’s three acts are titled “I now, I then,” “Becomings,” and “Tuesday,” respectively. Set to an expansive score by Max Richter, Woolf Works pulls from Woolf’s characters and thematic elements, building an illustration of the author herself rather than following pure narrative. “Tuesday,” the final a ..read more

For 19-year-old Abigail Brent, getting promoted into The Washington Ballet’s Studio Company was, she says, “a dream come true.” After spending a year in TWB’s trainee program, the Charlottesville, Virginia, native started with the Studio Company—which performs in main-company productions as well as in its own shows—last fall. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with different choreographers and different ballets that I never thought I would get to do,” she says. Brent’s favorite performances so far include the featured role of Lead Cardinal in Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker, Silas Farley’s Such ..read more

You might remember Anthony Madu from a video that went viral in June 2020. Shared to millions on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) by celebrities like Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo, the video captured an 11-year-old Madu dancing barefoot and in the rain on a backstreet of Nigeria—and even then, the elements couldn’t dampen his lofty ballon. Now, millions more will get a glimpse of not just Madu’s talent but his story, which, at present, is unfolding at one of England’s most prestigious training grounds for dance: Elmhurst Ballet School. Released on Disney+ on March 29, Madu follows the young ..read more

We’ve all been in those situations before an important audition or performance—a crowded hallway, a cramped dressing room. It’s not always easy to prep your body for what’s to come when you’ve got a small space to work within. Integrative movement coach Bennalldra Williams, founder of Bové (located inside Kinected NYC), works with dancers of all styles, blending elements of Pilates, The Franklin Method, Gyrotonic, neuroscience, and other somatic practices. She recommends dancers find a workout that couples stability and mobility as they prepare for class or performance. “Our mobility is direct ..read more

Seth Orza grew up in a family of ballet dancers, and he followed them into the business. He studied at the San Francisco Ballet School, then enrolled in New York’s School of American Ballet, leading to a job in the corps at New York City Ballet. He was living his lifelong dream. But in 2005, a serious injury almost derailed his career. Orza was training hard, learning NYCB’s extensive repertoire, when he developed a severe case of plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of tissues in the foot that, in many cases, becomes so painful that sufferers can’t even walk, let alone dance. “I was trying to d ..read more

As one of the first Asian American artistic directors for a major U.S. company, Edwaard Liang has been a groundbreaker in ballet. BalletMet, in Columbus, Ohio, has been Liang’s home since 2013, but he was recently appointed as the new artistic director for The Washington Ballet, where he is the first person of color to lead the organization. Before he wraps his tenure at BalletMet, Liang will present Asian Voices, a program championing Asian and Asian American choreographers. Edwaard Liang. Photo by Chiun-Kai Shih, courtesy BalletMet. Asian Voices will run March 15–23 at the Davidson Theatre i ..read more

If you were asked to name the influential ballet choreographers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, you’d probably list a lot of men: Marius Petipa, Michel Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton. Maybe, if you really knew your stuff, you’d add Bronislava Nijinska. You wouldn’t be wrong, but there were others, too. And if you were asked what was happening dance-wise in France at that time, you might say “The can-can!” or “Isadora Duncan,” or “The Ballets Russes came to Paris then, right?” Again, you wouldn’t be wrong. But there was more. Little known fact: According ..read more

Midway through Harald Lander’s one-act ballet Etudes, part of the Royal Danish Ballet’s Giant Steps mixed-bill this season, a ballerina wearing a white, romantic tutu enters the Old Stage at the Royal Danish Theatre. The corps, which has been demonstrating classroom steps, disperses as she performs delicate and understated choreography: skimming bourrées, lilting port de bras, and carefully placed walks on pointe. Both her carriage and costume are reminiscent of the Sylph’s in August Bournonville’s La Sylphide (1836). This solo within Lander’s homage to classical ballet training, which premi ..read more

Alberta Ballet School believes that no student should have to compromise their education for their ballet training. For its Professional Division Grade 7–12 program, “it is our philosophy that education and dance training need to be equally prioritized so that all opportunities and pathways are there for our students,” says ABS director Ashley McNeil. Through its own on-site private academic school, students earn their high school diplomas, and, notes McNeil, “the education system in Alberta is well known around the world for its academic prowess.” The ..read more