"The Nutcracker" ballet, as most North Americans know it, is about magic. A wooden toy transforms into a prince, mice and toy soldiers engage in battle, a little girl journeys to a sugar-coated paradise where she is treated to a series of decadent dances.
As she sits at the front of the mirrored ballet studio and follows the dancer's movements, Olga Kostritzky looks very much the part of the classic Russian ballet mistress.
Russian-born ballet teacher Olga Kostritzky talks about being "smitten" with the American style.
Andile Ndlovu is one of South Africa's most prominent young ballet dancers, an international performer and award winner both at home and overseas.
A young South African is dancing his way into the U.S, bringing the vibrancy of his African heritage to his performance.
It's not easy running a fledgling business and working with a big celebrity at the same time.
In Kenya's giant Mathare slums poverty and crime are widespread. But youngsters there are getting a chance to realize their potential -- by learning ballet.
"icon" looks at the relationship between shoemaker and ballerina with Tamara Rojo, one of the Royal's principal dancers.
They are the most important element of a ballerina's costume: Pointe shoes, which allow dancers to stand on the tips of their toes, can make the difference between an amazing performance and a dismal show.
Most artistic directors' first day leading a new ballet company is all about meeting the dancers. But for Nacho Duato it's a challenge just to find the rehearsal room.
Ballet choreographer, Nacho Duato the first non-Russian for a century to take command of a major Russian ballet company.
When I was eight, my mother enrolled me in ballet classes. I loved it. Every Saturday we would trek across town to the building that housed the big bright room with the large mirrors. We would sit in the waiting room with the other girls my age, all of us in our pink leotards and soft pink satin shoes, with our moms at our side.
Margot Fonteyn, one of only two British dancers appointed Prima Ballerina Assoluta, is your most iconic dancer of the 20th century.
Living a role for a movie is hard work -- living the physically punishing life of a ballet dancer is even harder. But it's worth it when you get awarded with a Golden Globe for your efforts.
The Black Swan star says her on-screen hook-up with Mila Kunis appeals to men and women
As I sit down across from Ginnifer Goodwin in a Hollywood café, it hits me that she could easily pass for a French ingénue. In fact, with her simply chic T-shirt and cardigan, and her pixie haircut that oozes Paris, I wouldn't have been surprised to hear a "bonjour" come out of her mouth.
The dad-to-be has is a prestigious ballet dancer, who loves to cook and knows how to play drums
Glamorous, avant-garde and ground-breaking -- when the pioneering dance company Ballets Russes burst onto the Paris scene in 1909 it transformed classical ballet forever.
As Natalie Portman and Darren Aronofsky's controversial ballet-horror film "Black Swan" rolls out internationally, CNN's arts and culture show icon steps into the world of pointe shoes and tutus.
Dancer Dada Masilo has impressive credits to her name, including performances of "Swan Lake" and "Romeo and Juliet."
CNN's Adriana Hauser speaks with two members of the American Ballet Theater Company, before a historic trip to Cuba.
The executive director of American Ballet Theatre said Tuesday she hopes to help bridge the divide between Cuba and the United States when the company performs in Havana this fall for the first time in 50 years.
The Star Wars actress delivers a gritty performance - and a lesbian love scene - in Black Swan
A ballet dancer from a South African township leaps onto a new stage.
A South African ballet dancer from a poor township outside Cape Town has been given the chance to train in the United States -- all because of a documentary film, and an email from a caring viewer.
The State Ballet of Georgia is in rehearsal.
The actress and Counting Crows musician have a date night at the ballet
Actor Patrick Swayze has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. CNN's Brooke Anderson looks back at his career.
Patrick Swayze, whose good looks and sympathetic performances in films such as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" made him a romantic idol to millions, died Monday. He was 57.
Patrick Swayze, whose hunky good looks and sympathetic performances in such films as "Dirty Dancing" and "Ghost" made him a romantic idol to millions, died Monday. He was 57.
Waiting for news about my flight, I started to read the fascinating autobiography of Carlos Acosta, the man I was trying to meet half way round the world.
Carlos Acosta is the ballet dancer who breaks all the rules. Perhaps the most famous dancer of his generation, his is a career that wasn't meant to be -- a tough kid from the backstreets of Havana who was forced to study ballet and became a reluctant star.
If the seventh Super Bowl in Pittsburgh Steelers history seems just a little saner, more ordinary, a tad quieter than the previous six, it's because this is the club's first title game since the passing of one Myron Cope, the "Yoi!"-spouting radio legend and unofficial poet laureate of the 412, who died last February at the age of 79.
After surgery on his knee, Kumakawa regains his fitness.
Sir Anthony Dowell joined the Royal Ballet in 1961. He was promoted to principal dancer in 1966 and became one of the best classical dancers of his era. Amongst his most notable roles were as Oberon in The Dream (1964) and Troyte in Enigma Variations (1968). As artistic director of the Royal Ballet when Tetsuya Kumakawa arrived at the company Dowell is uniquely positioned to give a professional and personal insight in to the Japanese dancer. Here he explains to CNN what made "Teddy" stand out from the crowd.
Not only is Tetsuya Kumakawa the greatest ever Japanese ballet dancer, he is one of the best the world has ever seen. His athletic grace has won him fans wherever he has performed, and his dedication to the art continues to bring ballet to new audiences.
Miss Universe 2007, Riyo Mori takes us on a tour of her favorite places in Tokyo.
Classically trained ballet dancer Riyo Mori had dreams of dancing on Broadway, but her plans suddenly changed when, aged 21, she won the Miss Universe beauty pageant.
Riyo Mori is a classically trained ballet dancer who won the 2007 Miss Universe beauty pageant. She talks to CNN about Tokyo, dancing and baseball.
Congressman Rahm Emanuel used to be a ballet dancer – and his brother helped inspire Entourage's Ari Gold
It was a five cent Chinese yuan coin that gave Tan Yuan Yuan the chance to dance.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout talks to China's most critically acclaimed ballet dancer, Tan Yuan Yuan about her rise to fame.
"This is certainly different from Dancing with the Stars," she says at a N.Y.C. ballet event
Big Boi explains how this innovative production can help reach unconventional audiences.
As half of the famed hip-hop duo OutKast, Antwan "Big Boi" Patton is known for his bass-booming, chart-topping smash hits. His recording studio in Atlanta is lined with plush velvet, stocked with Courvoisier and has a swing hanging from the ceiling -- a place to settle in and do his work.
Take the family out this weekend: Richard Corliss picks the top three must-see Christmas spectacles in the Big Apple
Monica Mason joined the Royal Ballet in 1958 at the age of 16, becoming the youngest member of the Company at that time. Ten years later she was promoted to principal dancer. She has been director of the Royal Ballet since 2002. Here she gives CNN her assessment of Tetsuya Kumakawa prodigious talents.
Interviewed for Revealed at a sport's injury clinic near Tokyo, Tetsuya Kumakawa talks frankly about his beginnings, the Royal Ballet, the K-Ballet and his hopes to continue as a performer in the years ahead.
This month, we revisit one of Richard's most celebrated adventures as he sets out on a search for the world's best movers and groovers in a toe-tapping Quest to Dance.
Anti-fascist protesters demonstrated outside a London theater on Friday, shouting noisy slogans against a ballet dancer who belongs to a far-right political party.
Cambodia has selected Prince Norodom Sihamoni, a former ballet dancer to be the nation's next king.
Pilates is one of the most popular fitness trends today.
New York City might be in a fiscal crisis, but as the government has cut arts funding, Wall Street heavy hitters have pirouetted toward dance-related causes. Here's how the donors line up.
The Kirov Ballet's . . . program ((includes)) a new ballet that will tell you where the Kirov men are. This week, 32 of them will be running up an aisle of the Metropolitan Opera House and yelling ...
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