Harper Watters talks about how living his truth improved his dancing, the importance of speaking up and listening, Black Lives Matter, and the systemic changes that need to happen to combat racism in ballet.…
Good ballet juju! Royal Danish Ballet's Vitor Menezes talks about finding motivation and joy while dancing at home in his living room, how he staged a ballet concert for his neighbours in lockdown, dancing as a twin, and shares his Netflix recommendations.…
I’ve been fortunate to make a bunch of new friends thanks to my work at C&V, but living in Singapore means I rarely get to meet up with my dancer friends living all around the world. So when I heard that the English National Ballet was touring to Hong Kong this July, I was sorely tempted to take the 3 hour flight up to see my friends in person. After a bit of hemming and hawing, I took the plunge…
A peek at Chun Wai Chan’s instagram makes it evident why he’s a social media star on the rise – whether it’s videos of him making pirouette combination or a series of pas de ciseux look like a stroll in the park, or demonstrating his flexibility and arched feet, or even just standing still, shirtless and with his abs on full display. It’s an impressive showcase of a male dancer’s #balletgoals. But Chun Wai doesn’t just do it for the…
The first time I met Xander Parish, he couldn’t see me. Literally. We’d arranged to meet outside the Mariinsky theatre in St Peterburg and as I neared the historic building I spotted him scanning the crowd for me. I walked up to him and but he didn’t notice me because I barely came up to his chin. I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to catch his attention before tugging at his coat, feeling very much like a small child.…
“That’s just who I am. I like to be loud, and to be fun.” Harper Watters is a demi-soloist with the Houston Ballet, but to simply call him that would be an understatement. Harper shot to fame after Instagram videos of himself dancing in pink heels went viral. His is an account dedicated to being himself, and along with his sizeable Instagram following, his Pre-Show vlogs on Youtube have garnered a loyal viewership. Harper draws back the curtain on ballet…
It’s strange to hear someone describe themselves as old when they’re just a smidge over 30, but Marijn Rademaker does so, matter-of-factly and without a hint of irony in his voice. It’s true, in a manner of speaking. While no one would seriously consider a person to be old at 33 years of age, ballet, like every other highly athletic occupation, is progressively unkinder on one’s body as the years go by. Not that anyone would think Marijn’s age is any limit on…
Alex Wong seems be able to do absolutely anything he sets his mind to. The former principal soloist of the Miami City Ballet left the company while his star was on the rise in the classical dance world in favour of a spot on hit T.V show So You Think You Can Dance. It was a risky proposition, by any account – leaving a steady job and a potential promotion for the sink-or-swim nature of reality TV. But Alex proved…
Tristan Dyer is a well-travelled man – from America to Australia to Canada, he’s been there, danced that, training at schools all over the world. But where he is now, at London’s famed Royal Ballet is where he feels at home. And he looks it too. Tristan graduated from the Royal Ballet School in 2009 and funnelled straight into the company where he was most recently promoted to soloist rank this year. Watching videos of him rehearsing for Liam Scarlett’s…
For a time, Xander Parish seemed like the Jody Sawyer of the English ballet scene. Now, we are not saying that Xander has poor turnout or bad feet (have you seen his feet?), or that he called Ethan Stiefel a sucky boyfriend. But rather, his tenure at the Royal Ballet seemed more or less spent, as Jody said in Centre Stage, “in the back of a corps waving a rose back and forth”.…