Articles
Jenifer Ringer Reacts to Critic on The Today Show (Today Show)
In one of the most hurtful reviews I have ever read, Alastair Macaulay of the New York Times said of a dancer in the Nutcracker, “she’d eaten one sugar plum too many”. It has created a firestorm in the dance world, on blogs, Facebook and Twitter. Here, the dancer, Jenifer Ringer, responds to the critic's review.
Tracing the Spark of Creative Problem-Solving (NYTimes)
The very idea of doing a crossword or a Sudoku puzzle typically shifts the brain into an open, playful state that is itself a pleasing escape, captivating to people. To me this was all about the open-mindedness required to have an amazing dance - becoming one with the music and with your partner requires a very open-minded focus. It's almost a contradiction in terms.
First Lady’s Dance Moves Woo Indian Crowds (NYTimes)
Not all of the politicians’ wives have danced, though. In India, where everyone from teenage boys to septuagenarian aunts dance at weddings, a reticence to join the dance floor is seen as a troubling sign of a possible character flaw — one that Mrs. Obama certainly does not exhibit.
Dancers Are Genetically Different (Science 2.0)
An examination of 85 dancers and advanced dancing students in Israel found variants of two genes that provide the code for the serotonin transporter and arginine vasopressin receptor 1a. Both genes are involved in the transmission of information between nerve cells.
5 Reasons Ballroom Dancing Is A Good Idea (Arts)
There are men who believe that ballroom dancing is primarily an activity for women. How ever there have been some pretty manly men prove that they can dance with the best of them on hit TV shows like “Dancing with the Stars”.
US ballet companies to perform in Cuba
The American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet will perform in Cuba for the first time in half a century in November in homage to former prima ballerina Alicia Alonso on her 90th birthday.
Patrick Swayze Inspired Jennifer Grey to Try Dancing With the Stars (People)
A year after her Dirty Dancing costar's death from pancreatic cancer, Jennifer Grey says she wouldn't be competing on Dancing With the Stars if it weren't for Patrick Swayze – and the example he set of living life to the fullest in the face of any daunting challenge.
Scientists identify dance moves that attract women (CNN)
The scientists filmed 19 men dancing, then mapped their moves onto featureless avatars using technology similar to the computer animation used in making animated movies. Then they had 35 heterosexual women rate the attractiveness of the dancing, without the distraction of whether the dancer himself was good-looking.
Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love
As Zak and others deepen their study of oxytocin, we may better understand why people with friends live longer and get sick less, and why we are compelled to be social animals online and off. If these changes apply in the world of social media, the implications for business.
Use It or Lose It - Dancing Makes You Smarter
For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. More recently we've seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being.
Then most recently we've heard of another benefit: Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages.
