Oriana Lerner

Dayton Ballet presents 'Tales From the Shadows'

Dayton Ballet is out to bring a little spook to the stage this weekend. Tales From The Shadows features two world premiere ballets. Christopher Fleming is inspired by the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, while Karen Russo Burke's...

Top 20 Announced on STYTCD

Last week we found out who our top 20 dancers are this time around. Apparently Melissa didn't start a trend--this time around there are no ballet dancers. There are, however, tap dancers for the first time, and...

Season 6 of SYTYCD auditions continue

This week's episode showed more auditions. Standout dancers include "Legacy" Perez, a b-boy with a smooth style, and several female contemporary dancers.The most interesting event of the show, for me, was letting Kelsey White...

Remembering Patrick Swayze

Patrick Swayze was a rare performer who brought his passion for dance to the fore. His death is a huge blow to the world of the arts. As a ballet dancer, I discovered his work through the ballet-centric One...

SYTYCD season premiere

Last was the season premiere of the sixth season of SYTYCD. The Hollywood auditions showed that Jeanine's success has brought a lot of talented female contemporary dancers to the show. Along with the sadly usual montage of "bad...

Ballet 101: dance bag essentials

For dancers, fall means back to classes and rehearsals. We are on the go constantly, running to classes. We pretty much live out of our bags, so let's look at five things you won't want to leave home...

'So You Think You Can Dance' season premiere tonight

Just when it seemed impossible to wait any longer for my SYTYCD, the sixth season has arrived. New dancers, new dreams.Last season, Jeanine Mason walked off with the quarter million and the cover spread, but the competition also...

New ballet about Michael Jackson

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the Peter Schaufuss Ballet's cancelled Elvis production. A week ago, I wrote about MJ. Synthesis=PSB does ballet about Jackson.It happened. Their next production is called "...

Dance Memories of Michael Jackson

I got lots of great responses from readers on my previous article about Michael Jackson's dancing. I thought it would be a fitting tribute to share memories of how MJ has impacted our dance lives.My first memory of...

Michael Jackson and the dance scene

We all know Michael Jackson as the King of pop, but what about as a dancer?I always thought of him as the Moonwalker, but he was more than. Not only did the raw provocative quality of his movement change...

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