In a week dominated by the release of “Friends Reunited”, the dance studios re-opened and dance shows began performing to socially distanced audiences. Our team at Dincwear Dancewear spotted these points of interest for the pro dancer.

General Sightings

• UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said that he is very hopeful that theatres will be able to fully re-open on June the 21st, after a series of large scale test events resulted in just 15 covid cases among 58,000 people. The final decision will be made on June the 14th.
• Qdos Pantomimes, the largest pantomime production company in the UK, has been bought by global production company Crossroads Live. The new entity will be led by Michael Harrison & David Ian.
• Strictly star Johannes Radebe announced that his “Freedom” dance show would premiere on the 16th of March 2022 before touring.
• Arlene Phillips will be choreographing “Grease – On Tour“.
• The English National Ballet are at the Royal Festival Hall, London, from the 16th – 26th of June with a collection of classical ballets and contemporary favourites.
• UK commercial dancers Nick Gilligan & Caoife Coleman opened their own dance studio called “88 Studios” in Hollywood USA.
• The Birmingham International Dance Festival will take place online from the 3rd – 13th of June. It will star the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the Akram Khan Company & the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
• One Dance UK announced its “Writing Challenge” for young writers who are passionate about dance. The winner will be judged by leading dance critic Graham Watts.
• The June edition of the “Dancing Times” was published. Its Dancer Of The Month is Rishan Benjamin of the Scottish Ballet.
• Samuel E Wright who originated the role of Mufasa in “The Lion King” on Broadway has died at the age of 74.
• Ballerina Carla Fracci has died aged 84 after a long illness.
• Dance pioneer Anna Halprin dies at the age of 100.

Future Dance News

• Full casting was announced for the “Grease” UK tour. The production will open at the Curve Theatre, Leicester, in July. Peter Andre will play Teen Angel & Vince Fontaine at certain venues. The role of Danny will be played by Dan Partridge and Georgia Louise will play Sandy.
• The full casting was announced for the West End return of “Heathers” at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. Christina Bennington will play Veronika and Jordan Luke Gage will play JD. The “Heathers” will be played by: Jodie Steel, Bobbie Little & Frances McCann.
• The British Ballet Charity Gala, hosted by Darcey Bussell, will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on the 3rd of June. It will be available to stream from the 18th of June.
• Nominations for the One Dance UK Dance Awards will close on Friday the 21st of June.
• John Neumeier will present his new production of “Sleeping Beauty” for the Hamburg Ballet on December the 19th.
• Guy Salim will be Associate Choreographer for the production of “Wonderful Town” at Opera Holland Park this summer.
• A new “Winnie The Pooh” musical is opening in New York in the autumn.
• Axis Dance Company welcomed 2 new dancers, Tajh Stallworth & Louisa Mann, to the artistic team.

Appointments and Auditions

• David Nixon OBE is to step down as Artistic Director of the Northern Ballet and will leave the company after 20 years.

Dance Classes

• Li Li Hodge is doing an intermediate/advanced heels class on Monday evenings at 8.45 pm. Further information is in Li Li’s Instagram Bio.
• Christina Andrea has classes at Pineapple Studios on Tuesday from 3.30 – 4.30 pm & Wednesday from 8.00 – 9.00 pm. There is also a class at Base Studios on Thursday from 1.00 – 2.30 pm.

Film And Video

• Joan Collins will join the cast of “Tomorrow Morning” the new film being directed by Nick Winston.
• Will Kenning released a trailer for his new dance film “Tap Boy“.
• We spotted Kimberley Collins & Molly McGibbon dancing in Zak Abel’s new video for “Be Kind” – choreography by Emma Stansall.
• We spotted Hannah Swift & Leonie Wall on the latest Gumtree commercial.

 

On the 14th of June, we will be told by the UK Government if all of the covid restrictions are to be removed on the 21st of June. This would allow dance studios and performance venues to get back to life as it was before the pandemic. We will be monitoring events at Dincwear Dancewear and will report them back to you in next weeks Pro Dancer News.

 

 

From all the news team at Dincwear Dancewear, See you all next week!

This post has been created by the Dincwear Dancewear Team.