Photo by Kyle Froman for the NY Times

Daniel J. Wakin of The New York Times reports that the New York City Ballet will lay off 11 corps de ballet dancers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/arts/dance/26waki.html?ref=dance

"The corps, like the chorus in an opera, is the body of workhorses who provide the backbone for most of the repertory. Individual members often have featured roles and some may nourish hopes of achieving principal status someday. While listed in the program, they rarely receive the spotlight of soloists and principal dancers, who are often showered with flowers and recognition when they retire.

In this case City Ballet tried to keep a lid on information about the dancers, refusing to release their names or even to ask them if they wanted to be interviewed, for what it called reasons of privacy. The ballet master in chief, Peter Martins, who was the subject of grumbling by the laid-off dancers, declined to be interviewed, although when he announced the layoffs he called the decision “the hardest thing I’ve done my entire professional career.”"

SPAC ballet numbers decline overall, but up on average:

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=823216

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced today that it pulled in 24 percent more people on a per-performance basis for this summer's residency of the New York City Ballet, which concluded Saturday night. Total attendance dropped by 18 percent, from about 42,000 people in 2008 to 35,000 this year, but because City Ballet's stay was shortened to two weeks instead of three, the per-performance audience average climbed to about 2,500 from 2,000.

‘Kings of the dance’ going to Estonia

http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/23246/

“Kings of the Dance” is the joint project of arts groups “Orange County Center of Performance Arts”, from California, “Ardani Artists” out of New York, and “Adolf Käis Company” from Estonia, featuring world-famous ballet stars David Hallberg (USA), Nikolay Tsiskaridze (Russia), Marcelo Gomes (Brazil), Jose Manuel Carreno (Cuba), Denis Matvienko (Ukraine) and Joaquin De Luz (Spain).