Feel the emotion of the ballet ‘Nuit Blanche’, from behind-the-scenes to the closing performance at the Opera House in Rome. A voyage of discovery, from the savoir-faire that goes into creating the hand-painted flowers on Maria Grazia Chiuri’s creations, to choreography by Sébastien Bertaud and performances by Eleonora Abbagnato and Friedemann Vogel. This homage to the composer and musician Philip Glass created new bonds between Dior’s Creative Director, dance and the Spring-Summer 2019 collection dedicated to the art of movement.
Aesha Ash was often the only African-American ballerina at the New York City Ballet. Now retired, she founded the Swan Dreams Project to show the next generation that they, too, can achieve their dreams.
Thirteen-year-old Shamick Otieno left behind a one-room house in Africa’s largest slum to start taking an intense 10 ballet classes per week at the Dance Center Kenya in Nairobi.
Otieno is from Kibera, a sprawling and densely populated slum in Nairobi and the largest in Africa. Four years ago, he was taking dance classes with Annos Africa, a nonprofit that brings arts to kids living in poverty when his instructor noticed Otieno’s talent. He was offered a scholarship that now covers his housing, school fees, and dance training.
Living away from family has been hard for Otieno.
“The family was very poor. It was not easy,” his mother, Joyce Tawa, said. Even though she had her initial doubts about Otieno dancing, she now hopes his classes will be a ticket to a brighter future.
And there’s reason to believe that could happen. Otieno’s mentor, Joel Kioko, is also from the slums. He trained through the same program and now has a full scholarship at the English National Ballet in London.
Kioko and Otieno inspire each other and both hope to return to the slums as professional dancers to give other kids the same opportunities.
Five principal ballerinas of the Czech National Theatre open up to London and Prague-based director Tereza Bila’s Life On Point, an unflinching portrait of bodies pushed to the limit. Bila reveals the discipline and emotion involved not only when dancers step onto the stage, but in the hours and years that precede the moment of performance.
