August 23, 2012 
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Though many came before her, Martha Graham is credited as the mother of modern dance.
Graham’s staggering influence has made her perhaps the most significant dancer in the 20th century, and Chautauqua Dance Circle’s co-founding president Bonnie Crosby trained at her school of contemporary dance in the 1960s.
With that in mind, Crosby wanted to share the film “Martha Graham: A Dancer’s World” at the final CDC program at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
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August 16, 2012 0 Comments
Returning to the subject of his Week Two lecture for the Chautauqua Dance Circle, Chautauquan Steve Crosby will again share stories of award-winning choreographer Jerome Robbins, otherwise known as the “demon master of ballet and Broadway,” at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
The American choreographer of shows including On the Town, West Side Story, The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof was infamously disliked by many of the dancers he worked with, said Crosby, who also serves as CDC treasurer.
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August 9, 2012 0 Comments
One came to George Balanchine a teenager and was transformed into a star of the New York City Ballet. The other came to Balanchine a star of the Paris Opera Ballet.
Both will forever work tirelessly to keep Balanchine’s legacy alive.
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride will tell Chautauquans about their lives with Balanchine — as they refer to the American ballet master with respect and admiration.
The Chautauqua Dance Circle will host the lecture from the two Balanchine dancers at 3:30 p.m. today in the Hall of Christ.
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August 2, 2012 0 Comments
At 19, Jon Lehrer, founder of LehrerDance, took his first dance class on a dare.
After living in Queens his entire life, Lehrer decided to head upstate to attend the State University of New York at Buffalo, because it offered many programs, and he had no idea what he wanted to study.
During his freshman year, he started to date a dancer. She bet Lehrer he couldn’t get an A in a dance class.
“She finally said, ‘OK, if you think it’s so darn easy, why don’t you take a dance class,’” he said.
Lehrer will talk about his transition in a lecture, “From Athlete to Dancer: the Story of LehrerDance,” hosted by the Chautauqua Dance Circle at 3 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall.
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July 26, 2012 0 Comments
Hollywood folklore says a studio executive for RKO Radio Pictures wrote “Can’t sing. Can’t act. Balding. Can dance a little.” for a screen test report on Fred Astaire.
With both the report and screen test long lost, there is no way of knowing for sure whether that is actually true, but Astaire himself mentioned the report in a 1980 interview with Barbara Walters. He said the report actually read: “Can’t act. Slightly balding. Also dances.”
Either way, the Chautauqua Dance Circle will host a lecture on the slightly balding man at 3 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall.
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July 19, 2012 0 Comments
It is not often that audiences see a man dancing en pointe, let alone a donkey. But that is exactly the type of wonder one encounters while watching Sir Frederick Ashton’s 1964 one-act ballet, “The Dream,” said Bonnie Crosby, co-founding president of the Chautauqua Dance Circle.
The role of Bottom the donkey is danced by a male dancer en pointe — the shoes creating the clip-clop of a donkey’s hooves — wearing a donkey head.
“It’s amusing, it’s childish, but it’s so well done,” Crosby said.
After showing an excerpt of the piece last season in a lecture about Shakespearean ballets, Crosby said she knew she had to show the whole ballet at some point, which is why she chose to show it for this week’s CDC program.
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July 12, 2012 0 Comments
When the Internet flourished in the 1990s, dance critic Jane Vranish thought the dance world would never be a part of it.
“Well, I was wrong,” she said. “Now dance, I think, has grown the most explosively, and that’s due to a lot of things, but one of them is YouTube.”
Vranish, former dance critic for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and creator of Cross Currents, an Internet magazine on dance, will give the lecture “You and YouTube: Changing the Landscape of Dance” at 3 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall, discussing how the Internet is changing dance.
Vranish was a critic at the Post Gazette for 34 years and still contributes to the paper and to The Chautauquan Daily as a guest reviewer.
With the Internet, she said, dance lovers can find a variety of things, including serious concert dance, up-and-coming artists and the latest trends.
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July 5, 2012 1 Comment
In 1945, when Jerome Robbins was choreographing Billion Dollar Baby, the show’s company watched silently as he backed up to the orchestra pit and fell in. He was so unpopular that no one bothered to warn him when he had reached the edge of the stage.
Many don’t realize that the award-winning choreographer of shows including On the Town, West Side Story, The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof was infamously disliked by many of the dancers he worked with, said Steve Crosby, treasurer of the Chautauqua Dance Circle.
At 3 p.m. today in Smith Wilkes Hall, Crosby will give the lecture “Jerome Robbins: Demon Master of Ballet and Broadway,” delving into the life of the American choreographer whose influence spanned many genres of dance.
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Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. Over the course of nine weeks, more than 170,000 visitors will participate in programs, classes and community events for all ages—all within the beautiful setting of a historic lakeside village. Learn more →
