Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Meryl Cates
Looking Back on American Ballet Caravan’s Intrepid 1941 South American Tour
In June 1941, after nearly two weeks at sea en route to Rio de Janeiro, George Balanchine and the dancers ofthe American Ballet Caravan barely had time to adjust their legs to solid ground before heading to the city’s lavish opera house. Balanchine waited for the 35 dancers onstage, ready to confront their mountain of repertoire. Their opening night in Rio,just days away, would kickstart a five-month South American tour toBrazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela.
Maria Tallchief: Making Ballet American, Chapter 1
Share The ballerina Maria Tallchief was having dinner with her husband, the choreographer George Balanchine, at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan when the impresario Sol Hurok approached their table. “Don’t you think it’s time to have your wife dance ‘Firebird’?” Hurok, who owned the Chagall sets and costumes for the ballet, asked Balanchine as he invited himself to a seat.“My reaction was pure terror,” Tallchief recalled of that dinner in the 1940s in her memoir.
New York City Ballet Pays Tribute to Maria Tallchief in Her Centennial Year Original
The ballerina Maria Tallchief was having dinner with her husband, the choreographer George Balanchine, at the Russian Tea Room in Manhattan when the impresario Sol Hurok approached their table. "Don't you think it's time to have your wife dance 'Firebird'?" Hurok, who owned the Chagall sets and costumes for the ballet, asked Balanchine as he invited himself to a seat. "My reaction was pure terror," Tallchief recalled of that dinner in the 1940s in her memoir.
Dancers’ Voices Across Time, in the Things Left Behind
Dance|Dancers’ Voices Across Time, in the Things Left Behind https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/arts/dance/ballet-dancers-archives-patricia-wilde.html The same five binders have traveled with Anya Davis for more than 20 years as she moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia to North Carolina. In them are personal records of her mother’s celebrated dance career and experiences in the early years of New York City Ballet.
Oklahoma’s Gift to Ballet: The Five Moons Ballerinas
A festival at the University of Oklahoma celebrates the impact of these ballerinas on 20th century ballet, honoring their Native American heritage. From left: Moscelyne Larkin, Yvonne Chouteau (center, on floor), Marjorie Tallchief and Rosella Hightower in photo from around 1957.Credit...University of Tulsa, McFarlin Library, Department of Special Collections & University Archives Aug.
Dancing by Herself: When the Waltz Went Solo
Grete Wiesenthal, a ballet-trained Viennese dancer, made the waltz modern and a vehicle for solo expression. Waltz with me: Grete Wiesenthal, in Vienna, around 1908.Credit...Rudolf Jobst/Österreichisches Theatermuseum, via Imagno and Getty Images Dec. 24, 2020 Waltzing can go on for hours in an endless rotation, as partners coiled in each other’s arms whisk around a brimming dance floor.
As Archives Become More Accessible, More Dancers Are Diving in to Research the History Behind their Roles
Martha Graham in Spectre-1914 from Martha Graham's Chronicle. Courtesy of Martha Graham Resources. Paul Taylor's Post Meridian was last performed 30 years ago, which is well before any of the company's current dancers joined Paul Taylor Dance Company. In fact, it's before some of the dancers were even born. Every step and extreme angle of the body in the dream-like world of the 1965 work will be fine-tuned in the studio for PTDC's upcoming Lincoln Center season.
As Archives Become More Accessible, More Dancers Are Diving in to Research the History Behind their Roles
Martha Graham in Spectre-1914 from Martha Graham's Chronicle. Courtesy of Martha Graham Resources. Paul Taylor's Post Meridian was last performed 30 years ago, which is well before any of the company's current dancers joined Paul Taylor Dance Company. In fact, it's before some of the dancers were even born. Every step and extreme angle of the body in the dream-like world of the 1965 work will be fine-tuned in the studio for PTDC's upcoming Lincoln Center season.
Inside the Rising Trend of Self-Made Summer Tours
Throughout your dancing life, you've heard the same corrections over and over. The reason for the repetition? Dancers tend to make the same errors, sometimes with catastrophic results. Dance Magazine spoke to eight teachers about what they perceive to be the worst habits—the ones that will destroy a dancer's technique—and what can be done to reverse the damage.Rolling In To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward.
Inside the Rising Trend of Self-Made Summer Tours
Throughout your dancing life, you've heard the same corrections over and over. The reason for the repetition? Dancers tend to make the same errors, sometimes with catastrophic results. Dance Magazine spoke to eight teachers about what they perceive to be the worst habits—the ones that will destroy a dancer's technique—and what can be done to reverse the damage.Rolling In To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward.
Inside the Rising Trend of Self-Made Summer Tours
Throughout your dancing life, you've heard the same corrections over and over. The reason for the repetition? Dancers tend to make the same errors, sometimes with catastrophic results. Dance Magazine spoke to eight teachers about what they perceive to be the worst habits—the ones that will destroy a dancer's technique—and what can be done to reverse the damage.Rolling In To get a 180-degree first position, dancers will sometimes let their arches roll forward.
Ballet Dancer, Drag Queen, Singer & Podcaster: Inside James Whiteside's Fearless, Authentic Life
Star performers never seem to trudge into work, and yet it is an instrumental sample of JbDubs' "I Hate My Job," the electronic pop song with over 3.5 million views on YouTube, that bounces listeners from one episode to the next of James Whiteside's podcast about being a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre.
The Power of Jerome Robbins' The Cage in the #MeToo Era
The encounter with man-eating female creatures in Jerome Robbins' The Cage never fails to shock audiences. As this tribe of insects initiates the newly-born Novice into their community and prepares her for the attack of the male Intruders, the ballet draws us into a world of survival and instinct. This year celebrates the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins' birth, and a number of Robbins programs are celebrating his timeless repertoire.
The Power of Jerome Robbins' The Cage in the #MeToo Era
The encounter with man-eating female creatures in Jerome Robbins' The Cage never fails to shock audiences. As this tribe of insects initiates the newly-born Novice into their community and prepares her for the attack of the male Intruders, the ballet draws us into a world of survival and instinct. This year celebrates the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins' birth, and a number of Robbins programs are celebrating his timeless repertoire.
The Power of Jerome Robbins' The Cage in the #MeToo Era
The encounter with man-eating female creatures in Jerome Robbins' The Cage never fails to shock audiences. As this tribe of insects initiates the newly-born Novice into their community and prepares her for the attack of the male Intruders, the ballet draws us into a world of survival and instinct. This year celebrates the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins' birth, and a number of Robbins programs are celebrating his timeless repertoire.
Zelda Fitzgerald’s Ballet Years
A fascination with Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s marriage ebbs and flows in our pop culture, and it is currently on the upswing, with shows such as “Z: The Beginning of Everything” and the new series “The Last Tycoon,” in which Zelda’s echo is faint and the viewer is left in the familiar position of wanting to know more about her life and her dynamism. A frequently overlooked aspect of Zelda is her passion for ballet.
Getting Dance to Look Right Onscreen
The critic in all of us gets particularly savage when watching a dance film or a musical. We demand great acting and exceptional dancing, seeking both to transport us. During this current resurgence of the musical genre, and as more dance-focussed films emerge, the choreographer has become central to many productions. Her role is clear on a show such as “ Crazy Ex-Girlfriend ,” which has some of the sharpest plot-driven song-and-dance numbers on television.
Favorite Recipes of Famous Women
The celebrity cookbook is a perennially popular genre, oscillating through the decades between self-indulgence and self-improvement. Well-known figures like Chrissy Teigen, the prolific Gwyneth Paltrow, and musician/chef Kelis will all guide you through their home cooking if you’ll let them. You can probably get better recipes from your grandmother, but privileged information from a big name—even just their kitchens—is a relatively dignified way to indulge celebrity worship.
A Day in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Gardens at Steepletop
A day in Edna St. Vincent Millay’s gardens at Steepletop. Millay at Mitchell Kennerly’s house in Mamaroneck, New York, 1914. In high school, I had a simple assignment to write a report on a poet. I searched aimlessly for the right one: more than a poet of some specific literary achievement, I wanted one who had died by suicide. Not to say I was a morbid teen—I was just fascinated by the arresting drama of that narrative.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Meryl
Contact Meryl, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack