dance

Six of Damine's 10 remaining children perform in the finale of the village's annual kabuki festival.

As A Japanese Mountain Village Shrinks, So Do Its Prospects For Kabuki

12:17pm February 23, 2016

by Elise Hu

For more than 300 years, children have performed kabuki, Japan's classical theater, in the village of Damine. But as residents age or leave for cities, Damine is running out of young performers.

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Misty Copeland (center) performed in the Washington Ballet production of Swan Lake in April 2015.

Misty Copeland Achieves #SquadGoals In The Documentary 'A Ballerina's Tale'

1:37pm February 16, 2016

by Leah Donnella

Misty Copeland talks body image, ballet and blackness in the new PBS documentary A Ballerina's Tale.

Sophina DeJesus, a gymnast for UCLA, performs a floor routine.

Video: UCLA Gymnast Sophina DeJesus Whips, Nae Naes, And Slays

6:03pm February 10, 2016

by Leah Donnella

The viral video of DeJesus' routine doesn't show an athlete dominating in a traditionally white sport despite her race. She's an athlete celebrating her identity in the sport she loves.

Lourdes Garcia-Navarro performs with the Vila Isabel Samba School during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

World News

In Rio, The Samba Parade Goes On Despite A Wardrobe Malfunction

6:41pm February 09, 2016

by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro donned an elaborate, colorful costume to samba her way through Rio's Carnival parade competition — and recovered quickly after forgetting to tie a crucial double knot.

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Matthew Rushing of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater during dress rehearsal of "Frames," Dec. 10, 2009 in New York.

Arts

At 42, Matthew Rushing Might Just Be The Peyton Manning Of Dance

5:15pm February 07, 2016

Dancers typically retire at a relatively young age. Rushing, however, is still going strong — and he's about to kick off a 20-city tour.

From Streets To Stage, Two Dance Worlds See Harmonization And Chaos

10:32am January 23, 2016

by April Dembosky

When a San Francisco-based choreographer decided to take turf dancers off of the streets and trains of Oakland and put them on stage with ballet dancers, chaos ensued. Until she let them all improv together.

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100 Years On, Cleveland Play House Stays True To Its Regional Mission

4:28pm January 01, 2016

by David C. Barnett

It's been called the oldest professional regional theater in the United States. The Cleveland Play House was founded in 1915 by a group of artists and social activists dissatisfied with the commercial fare that dominated theaters at the time. The theater has had its ups and downs, but it's stayed true to its original mission of presenting challenging work with a primarily local cast and crew.

HBO Documentary Explores Dark Underbelly Of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet

6:07pm December 21, 2015

by Elizabeth Blair

Russia's Bolshoi Ballet was rocked following the 2013 acid attack on the company's artistic director. A new documentary airing Monday on HBO, Bolshoi Babylon, looks at the culture of the company and how things got to that point. NPR explores how the paranoia and distrust of management within the ranks of the company is both very Russian and a symbol of the Bolshoi Ballet.

Arts

Boston Museum Exhibit Celebrates Legacy Of Black Mountain College

7:22pm December 01, 2015

by Andrea Shea

Black Mountain College was only open for 24 years, but it helped foment the work of several artists, musicians, dancers and filmmakers, including John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Cy Twombly. Now it's the subject of the first major museum retrospective at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art.

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Miller says it took her a little while to life as a standup. "I like illusion! I like changing costumes," she says -- but she relishes the role now.

Arts

The Queen Of Swing Takes Old Age In Stride

10:37pm November 15, 2015

by Renata Sago

At 95, Norma Miller is the last living member of Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, the pioneering group that helped popularize swing dancing. These days, though, she's swapped dance floors for a standup's mic.

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