THE MAGAZINE
Furnishing a Woman’s Mind: Isamu Noguchi’s Vision for Martha Graham’s Stage Worlds
It was in the artistic milieu of Greenwich Village that Modern Dance icon Martha Graham met Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988), the Japanese-American sculptor who would become her longtime collaborator. Read on to find out more.
Étoile: What Does it Mean to Put Dance on Screen?
Television keeps trying to bottle the world of ballet, and most attempts slip through the frame. In this article, TWoA looks at Étoile and why a series filled with extraordinary dancers still couldn’t capture movement, risk, or the pulse that keeps artists glued to old rehearsal clips. Read on for a clear look at what televised dance needs—and why so few shows manage it.
Anastasia Cheplyansky, Dutch National Ballet: “Studying While Dancing Brought a Lot of Balance Into My Life.”
Balancing a dance career with an academic degree sounds impossible until you hear Anastasia Cheplyansky explain how she did both. In this article, TWoA looks at her path from Atlanta Ballet to Dutch National Ballet, and how studying psychology reshaped her approach to training, pressure, and performance.
A Life in Dance: Back to School Book Recommendations
As the school year begins, reading lists shift from summer novels to the books that shape a creative life. In this article, TWoA highlights three essential titles—Allegra Kent’s memoir, Twyla Tharp’s creative guide, and The Swans of Harlem—each revealing what it really takes to build a career in dance and the arts.
Ballet Across the Globe: Rudolf Nureyev and the Paris Opera Ballet
Rudolf Nureyev’s tenure at the Paris Opera Ballet didn’t just add new ballets to the repertoire—it transformed the company’s technique, taste, and identity. Read more to see how his directorship reshaped French classicism, expanded the repertory, and forged a generation of dancers who still define the company today.
Interview: Zenaida Yanowsky, Coach and Former Principal Dancer, The Royal Ballet
For many years, Zenaida Yanowsky was one of The Royal Ballet’s most singular principals—rigorous, magnetic, impossible to forget. Now a coach shaping dancers across major companies, she speaks with TWoA about precision, presence, and the quiet authority behind great performance. Read on.
Ballet Across the Globe: Marius Petipa
If ballet has dialects, the Russian one was written by Marius Petipa. His choreography for Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, and The Sleeping Beauty set the template for classical ballet as we know it today. Read on.
Ballet Across the Globe: Bournonville and the Danes
August Bournonville’s choreography gave Denmark a ballet identity of its own: rounded arms, delicately musical footwork, and allegro that seems to float rather than land. Learn how this nineteenth-century master shaped a national style that remains unmistakable on stages today.
Pointe Shoe Rewind: A Brief History of Ballet’s Signature Shoe
In the fashion world, pointe shoes have been having a moment. But pointe shoes are anything but a recent phenomenon; despite their current aesthetic popularity, their origins date back as early as the 1730s.
Whispers in the Wings: Meet Josephine Baker, Dancer and Spy
Josephine Baker (1906-1975), an icon of the Jazz Age, was a woman of many talents. In addition to being a groundbreaking dancer, singer, and actress—even being the first Black woman to star in a motion picture—Baker was a World War II spy and a civil rights activist.
Chun-Wing Lam, Paris Opera Ballet: “I never danced so well before I had my wealth management firm.”
Paris Opera Ballet’s Chun-Wing Lam is probably the only dancer in the world to combine a successful dance career with running his own wealth management firm. TWoA talked to Chun about moving from Hong Kong to Paris when he was fourteen, about the unique promotion system at the Paris Opera Ballet, and about the artistic and mental benefits of having two careers at the same time.