THE MAGAZINE
Winter Solstice: Dancing into a Bright New Year
Across continents and centuries, dance becomes a shared language of hope as communities greet the winter solstice. TWoA traces the radiant lineage from Iranian Yalda nights and Nordic Lucia processions to Peru’s revived Incan Inti Raymi, revealing how movement carries light through the year’s darkest threshold.
Nutcracker Stories
The Nutcracker may feel like an eternal Christmas fixture, but its history is full of doubt, crisis, and unexpected brilliance. TWoA traces the ballet’s journey from Tchaikovsky’s reluctance and Ivanov’s quiet ingenuity to Balanchine’s dazzling New York revival, revealing the hidden stories behind the world’s most beloved holiday ballet.
Secret Ballet History: Agrippina Vaganova’s Narrow Escape From Arrest
Agrippina Vaganova, the woman behind the world-famous ballet method, almost faced arrest under Stalin’s regime. Read how she survived a political crackdown that targeted many artists of her time.
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
How did a delicate pink slipper become ballet’s most powerful symbol? From flying machines and broken-in satin to Maria Taglioni’s game-changing rise en pointe, TWoA traces the wild, glamorous, and sometimes dangerous evolution of the pointe shoe. Discover the hidden history behind ballet’s signature shoe—and why its design still shapes the way dancers defy gravity today.
Whispers in the Wings: Meet Josephine Baker, Dancer and Spy
She wasn’t just the Jazz Age’s brightest star—she was a spy, a trailblazer, and a force for civil rights. In this electrifying TWoA profile, step behind the curtain with Josephine Baker, the dancer who rewrote the rules of fame, weaponized performance against racism, and risked everything in the French Resistance. A gripping story of art, power, and unapologetic brilliance.
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.
Death in Springtime: The Uncanny Power of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”
When spring arrives, most composers paint blossoms and sunshine—Stravinsky delivered terror. This TWoA deep-dive unravels why The Rite of Spring still sends audiences into a primal panic: pagan sacrifice, Nijinsky’s convulsive choreography, revolutionary harmonies, and a riot that changed music forever. A visceral journey into the masterpiece that blurs rebirth, brutality, and the uncanny pulse of nature itself.
Choreographer Spotlight: Jean-Christophe Maillot
Jean-Christophe Maillot turns ballet into an X-ray of human longing, crafting choreography where emotion leads movement and characters unfold with startling psychological depth—making his work feel less performed than lived.
Choreographer Spotlight: Justin Peck
Renowned for his energetic footwork and playful musicality, Justin Peck has built a remarkably prolific career as New York City Ballet’s Resident Choreographer. Two decades after beginning his choreographic journey as a student at the School of American Ballet, he has created more than 50 ballets and become one of the defining voices of American dance today.
Interview: Chloe Helimets, 15, Prix de Lausanne 2025 Finalist
Fifteen-year-old Chloe Helimets, a third-generation ballet dancer and two-time YAGP Youth Grand Prix winner, is one of just eighteen Americans selected for the Prix de Lausanne 2025. In this interview, she speaks about growing up in a ballet family, preparing for the world’s most prestigious competition, and learning to balance artistry, pressure, and passion.
Joseph Markey, American Ballet Theatre: On Turning “Crime and Punishment” into a Ballet
Fedor Dostoevsky’s dark psychological novel Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece of world literature. Last autumn, you could find it in the dance bags of many dancers at American Ballet Theatre: choreographer Helen Pickett and co-director James Bonas were turning the book into a ballet for American Ballet Theatre. The company will perform the production at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ins Washington on 12-16 February 2025. TWoA talked to ABT dancer Joseph Markey, who created the part of Luzhin, and who will have his debut as Raskolnikov in Washington.
It’s Movie Night: Dancer Edition
Looking for the perfect winter movie night? From Wim Wenders’ luminous Pina to the grit of Russian ballet in Ballerina, these four films reveal the beauty, power, and pain of dancers’ lives on and off the stage.