Dance

Arts

The story of love pulled apart by slavery is being told though dance

5:56pm July 29, 2024

by Kristen Cabrera

The legacy of the emancipation of Jim and Winnie Shankle spans generations. The true love story among former slaves is shared in a dance performance in the Texas town the couple founded in 1867.

Queue Listen Now

Simone Elliot holds a childhood photo of she and her sister with their mother.

Sisters make peace with dark memories through art, science and each other

7:00am April 13, 2024

by Gabriel Spitzer

Two sisters found they had different recollections of a traumatic childhood experience and learned that human memory is a lot less reliable than we tend to think.

Queue Listen Now

After childhood trauma, sisters use art and science to explore how memory can morph

4:53pm April 03, 2024

by Gabriel Spitzer

Two sisters struggled to remember troubling childhood events until adulthood. A neuroscientist and author gave them the science and the language to turn their work into a dance performance and a book.

Queue Listen Now

Arts

2 filmmakers capture a young Nigerian ballet dancer's journey in 'Madu'

5:14am March 29, 2024

NPR's Debbie Elliott speaks to Anthony Madu, a young Nigerian ballet dancer who's featured in a new Disney+ documentary about his discovery, and move to a prestigious ballet school in England.

Queue Listen Now

Alicia Graf Mack, dean and director of The Juilliard School's Dance Division (center), speaks with fourth-year dance students Kailei Sin (left) and Nyoka Wotorson (right) in between classes.

Arts

West African dance and hip-hop play a key role in a revamped Juilliard track

12:36pm March 26, 2024

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Alicia Graf Mack about how she's reshaping Juilliard's prestigious Dance Division to make it more relevant than ever.

Queue Listen Now

'Kangaroo Time' wins the annual Dance Your PhD contest in Australia

5:03am March 05, 2024

A former academic at Australia National University won the contest for his musical number about the behaviors of kangaroos. Scientists around the world relay their research through interpretive dance.

Queue Listen Now

Teacher Leslie Jones, center, poses with students from Alexandria City High School's drama department students in northern Virginia.

Virginia high school students take center stage for Black History Month celebration

5:11am February 29, 2024

by Shelby Hawkins

High school students in Alexandria, Va., honor Black history with art, dance and theater.

Queue Listen Now

<a href="https://youtu.be/3Is4CTrj4dc?si=r2RHzZhE4oRBtIpr" data-key="80"><em>Ode</em></a> is choreographer Jamar Roberts' tribute to Black victims of police brutality.

A dance about gun violence is touring nationally with Alvin Ailey's company

4:42am February 14, 2024

by Brandon Gates

Choreographer Jamar Roberts created a piece about gun violence and police brutality when he found himself sleepless over the issue. It's touring now with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

Queue Listen Now

Nigel Lythgoe poses at a ceremony honoring him with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 9, 2021, in Los Angeles.

Nigel Lythgoe departs 'So You Think You Can Dance' amid sexual assault allegations

2:31pm January 06, 2024

by Chloe Veltman

The 74-year-old TV personality, producer and choreographer is facing a lawsuit launched by high-profile co-host Paula Abdul.

Tap dancing star and choreographer Maurice Hines dies at 80

4:13pm January 04, 2024

by Andrew Limbong

Maurice Hines, dancer and choreographer — and evangelist for the art of tap dancing — died Friday at age 80. Hines and his brother, the famed Gregory Hines, helped keep tap in the public eye.

Queue Listen Now