A trio of sailors, pounding the pavement, sings the praises of New York City. An average Joe, twirling an umbrella, splish-splashes joyfully in a rain gutter. An expatriate painter, standing in the basin of an ornate Parisian fountain, cradles his lady in his strong arms. These images, wrested respectively from On the Town, Singin’ in the Rain, and An American in Paris, burn in our cultural memory. All iconic, all Gene Kelly, all high Hollywood.

Before the program, a long queue of fans wrapped ’round the Academy’s Wilshire Boulevard headquarters. Once seated in the theater, located not three miles from the Culver City sound stage where Kelly cavorted in fake rain, they learned that his sunny smile was also faked; he was running a 103-degree temperature the day “Singin’ in the Rain” was filmed. A roster of today’s stars paid their respects to a man who would have turned 100 this year. Indeed when he died in 1996, Kelly was among Hollywood’s last old-school movie stars.

Patricia Ward Kelly, the dancer’s third and surviving wife, hosted the extensive, three-hour celebration.

Beamed in by video from the set of Les Miserables (now in production), the avowed Kelly fanatic Hugh Jackman said, “Gene Kelly, honestly, to me, is a hero. [When I was] growing up in the Sydney suburbs, my father brought me a copy of Singin’ in the Rain. [Kelly] was an extraordinary dancer; his athleticism, his grace, his ingenuity, his sense of fun whilst he did it all… It seemed effortless.”

Justin Timberlake called Kelly “a master poet in motion … pure magic, also masculine, earthy and true.” He then confessed to being “one of the millions who … stole a move or two or three or four from Gene Kelly. But I’m cool with that. It puts me in the company of Michael Jackson.”

“Glee” dancer Harry Shum, Jr. admitted to being “blown away” the first time he saw “Singin’.” Then he said he “dug deeper … for Kelly’s syncopation, precision and athleticism.”

Director-Choreographer Kenny Ortega, a veritable Kelly protégé, and the last to direct Kelly dancing in a movie (Xanadu, 1980) noted, “He showed me his movies, [explaining] why he chose shots.”

Ortega, who’s now in pre-production for his reprise of Dirty Dancing, continued with emotion: “He was a great man, my mentor, educator, supporter. He put a viewfinder around my neck that he used for Singin’ in the Rain and handed me stop watch and taught me how to design choreography for the frame. He changed my life. I am forever grateful.”

Said film critic Leonard Maltin in private conversation: “What can you say? He was a great performer and a great creative force. He stands on the top of a mountain of entertainment. He was a complete performer.”

Chit-chatting as well after the show were two of the great male dancers from Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story. Russ Tamblyn reminisced about holing up for a drink with Kelly in the booth of a New York City bar. George Chakiris, who won an Oscar winner for his role as Bernardo and one of the most silken dancers ever captured on film, co-starred with Kelly in Jacques Demy’s Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.

Elated by the clips, Chakiris said, “Growing up as a kid, this was the thing that made me want to dance. He’s so committed, from the tip of his head right down, so precise and sharp. And Cyd [Charisse] in that green dress — good Lord!”

Ellen Harrington, the Academy’s Director of Exhibitions and Special Events said, “We were wanting to do something for Gene when he was still alive. Now, we’re doing the centennial. We want to show how vital and relevant he still is today, not just an old-time star.”

The statuesque Ward Kelly shared the story, with self-deprecating humor, of the couple’s first meeting. She had been hired, in 1985, to research a documentary about the Smithsonian Museum. Kelly was its narrator. The two fell in love reading poetry and playing word games. “He was a wonderful blend of erudite gentleman and Pittsburgh street kid,” she said. Kelly had prior marriages to actress Betsy Blair and dancer Jeanne Coyne, who also assisted him in choreography. He was the father of three children.

Friday evening’s “Gene Kelly Choreography and the Camera” dug deeper. The tech wonks of Academy’s Science and Technology Council moved in for analysis and dissection. Experts in animation, direction, lighting, and sound gave a huge thumbs up to Kelly’s contribution. The “Alter-Ego” sequence from Cover Girl and the Jerry the Mouse duet from Anchors Aweigh advanced not only the art of film making but also its craft.

The evening closed with spectacular “making of” footage showing Kelly directing the humongous parade sequence from Hello Dolly, choreographed by Michael Kidd. It more than demonstrated, in his widow’s words, that Gene Kelly was about “joy and celebrating life.”

Like this? Read more:

• Gene Kelly television broadcasts at the Hammer
• Say a dance prayer for Pittsburgh – no Gene Kelly statue

That’s the voice of choreographer Naomi Goldberg Haas concerning her latest creation, “Round Up” that’s happening now in New York. The event is in partnership with the Times Square Alliance/Times Square Arts. For decades, Goldberg Haas has been working with the kinds of people and bodies that traditional dance has neither patience for nor interest in.

“Round Up” is a circle in a square. It’s the”rounding up” of a diverse group of older adults from Croatia to the Philippines at Project FIND Woodstock Senior Center in the heart of Times Square. The seniors form an integral part of the performance, mixing in with professional dancers. Rehearsals took place for three months at a resident senior center. Those who opted out of dancing watched and gave notes.

Says Naomi: “The seniors are doing a great job. They’re getting spruced up — even coloring their hair! At first they were concerned they would miss their lunch. Their meals are at their Center, so they would miss a key meal. It’s a big deal. So the arrangement at the beginning was that they would get their lunch.

“Now they don’t care at all. They’re basking in the glory of Broadway!

“You are so exposed in Times Square, it’s people taking a daring move. Others, watching, say well why not? So they join in. It’s so liberating.

“By setting planters and chairs in a big circle, it feels safe. You are defining a space within this kookiness and the space outside seems dangerous. It’s a cocoon, but a very open cocoon. Every single person can perform for hundreds, but they feel very safe because they feel totally free.

“As a society, we are craving physical expression. [In "Round Up"] we’re saying, ‘It’s here. It’s available to you. This is your right to move.’ They just jump in and participate.

“It’s a very powerful thing: this is your body, your movement has an expression. I think it’s because it is not young people. The work says that this can happen for people with disabilities and limitations.

“We can’t sign them up fast enough,” says Goldberg Haas.

_{photo credit: Meg Goldman, Ka-Man Tse for the Times Square Alliance}

The din of art talk filled the Foundation’s sunlit third-floor loft. So did the industrious output of Herb Alpert creativity. No, not the trumpeter’s music nor his music producing, but rather his colorful paintings and outsized sculptures that decorate the space.

Chatting with choreographer Nora Chipaumire (on left in the photo) about her $75,000 Alpert Award stipend, the Zimbabwean expatriate (now Brooklyn-based) said with charming eloquence: “It’s a jump start on everything. It’s a rosy garden.”

Her flashing smile was equally rosy. The award is huge prestigious honor.

“It’s a promise, but it’s also scary … how to best move forward.”

Chipaumire, whose challenging solo dance-theater is charged with global and sexual politics, said: “I intend to wage relentless propaganda. And I’m not ashamed to use the cold war language.

“I come from the third world, so I’m willing to do more with less. But I’ve always been in want of a safety net. We work without a safety net — we’ve made an art of it.

“I’ve got no time to experiment — with what money? I say what I mean. I’m here to mess up peoples’ perceptions about African women.”

Winner slideshow here …

Herb Alpert speaking at his Foundation

2012 Alpert Award winner for dance Nora Chipaumire

2012 Alpert Award winner for music Myra Melford

2012 Alpert Award winner for theatre Eisa Davis

2012 Alpert Award winner for visual arts Michael Smith

2012 Alpert Award winner for film & video Kevin Everson

Chipaumire & Davis

arts·meme & the awardees

CalArts President Steven Lavine

Director, Alpert Award in the Arts, Irene Borger

Alpert Award honorees in dance constitute an interesting bunch. Over the years they have included

Like this? Read more:

• Herb Alpert, local hero
• Herb & Lani at Disney Hall [concert review]
• Back to school with Herb & Lani
• Rennie Harris discusses his Alpert Award in The Jewish Journal of Los Angeles

_{Photo credit: Scott Groller, CalArts, also Caroline Graham, C4 Global Communications}

The Herb Alpert Foundation and California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) have awarded the 18th annual Alpert Award in the Arts to five exceptional mid–career artists. The award, a prize of $75,000, recognizes past performance and future promise to artists working in Dance, Film/Video, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. Herb Alpert, the legendary musician and artist who created the Herb Alpert Foundation with his wife Lani Hall and gave the first Alpert Award in the Arts in 1995, says, “All of this year’s winners represent the essence of the Alpert Award. They take aesthetic, intellectual and political risks, and challenge worn-out conventions. They’re unafraid of the unknown.”

The 2012 Alpert Awardees are: Kevin Everson, Film/Video; Nora Chipaumire, Dance; Myra Melford, Music; Eisa Davis, Theatre; Michael Smith, Visual Arts

A conversation with dance awardee Nora Chipaumire — straight outta Brooklyn — to follow!

Like this? Read more:

• Herb Alpert, local hero
• Herb & Lani at Disney Hall [concert review]
• Herb & Lani at Vibrato [performance review]
• Back to school with Herb & Lani

_{Photo credit: Scott Groller, CalArts}

Films on the slate:

• Tonight & Every Night (1945)
  Full of dance; full of Rita Hayworth. Features the great Marc Platt and Cole himself dances. He jitterbugs!
• On the Riviera (1951)
  Wonderful dance numbers, Gwen Verdon sparkles, and “Happy Ending” is a masterpiece.
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1952)
  Jack Cole catapults Marilyn Monroe into the stratosphere with “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend” — and Jane Russell’s no slouch either.
• Les Girls (1957)
  Cole contributes dance sequences of Cukor-esque sophistication — and he choreographs for Gene Kelly.

Cole is #1 with a bullet around arts·meme. We call him Balanchine Junior.

It will be a great joy to co-host with Robert Osborne. I interviewed Robert last December when I was a journalist bobbling in the Caribbean on TCM Cruise.

For four years I have researched and written about Jack Cole. He changed my life as a dance critic and now I get to honor him. I’m thrilled!

I fly to Atlanta to tape the programs at the end of June.

Please stay tuned for further announcements  … and don’t touch that dial!

Like this? Read more:

• arts·meme’s thread of Jack Cole coverage here
• Jack Cole & Marilyn Monroe in the Los Angeles Times
• Jack Cole at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in The Huffington Post

Dear Miriam Rochlin, the lifelong dancer and Los Angeles dance instructor who died not two weeks ago, had a wonderful way of keeping fit. Thank you, Karen Goodman, for sharing the photo.

• Karen’s essay on Miriam’s life here.
• Obituary in the  Los Angeles Jewish Journal.

His “Violet Kid” took Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet to another level.

Read my review in the Los Angeles Times.

Choreographer Karen Goodman, pictured below chatting with her, knew the incandescent dancer well. The film, “Come Let Us Dance,” directed by Karen features Miriam teaching Yiddish dance.

Only breaking her collar bone in a car accident at age 66 caused Miriam to cut back on doing cartwheels and handstands — and walking on her hands — on the beach. But she taught dance till she was 90.

“My attitude is to assume from the beginning that everyone is beautiful. Isn’t that marvelous? Fly out! Fly out!” said Miriam, according to Karen.

Reprinted, with permission, from “REAPPEARING ACTS: From Jewish Life to Jewish Dance Theater,” an essay that addresses Miriam’s background and her contribution to Yiddish dance theater, along with fellow Jewish exiles, Nathan Vizonsky and Benjamin Zemach.

Miriam Rochlin’s paternal grandfather, Bernhard Cohn, was an assimilated doctor until an anti-Semitic smear campaign. In 1896, he published, almost simultaneously to Herzl, a pamphlet titled Before the Storm: A Serious Warning to the Jews of Germany. The family became important Zionist activists and most of his children immigrated to Palestine in the 1920’s, except for his son Rabbi Cohn [Miriam's father] and family. Because of his commitments to his congregation and to speaking out against the Nazis, he remained longer.

The Cohns’ friends included poet Elsa Lasker-Shuler and Catholic opera star Henny Wolf, who was called “aunt” by the children. Stage and film actor Alexander Granach was “uncle.” Miriam’s mother’s mother remained a successful banker after her husband’s death and was the only female member of a poker club in Muelheim/Ruhr. Her cousin married Gurit Kadman, the mother of Israeli folk dance. Everything was discussed at the dinner table: art, religion, love affairs, sexual preferences of friends. But the dinner was kosher and blessings said.

For about a year, when Miriam was 10, she and her father spent time every day translating Genesis from Hebrew to German. As Miriam explained this two-sided identity, “We were quick-change artists.”

Inspired to choreograph after seeing her first ballet at age six, she studied ballet and interpretive dance. She saw famous Expressionist dancers and Hollywood musicals. In 1933, the Nazis required Jews to attend Jewish schools only. In 1934, she applied for teacher certification in dance at a German institute, which would take her only under another name. Her mother refused. She was taken into the Juta Klamt Institute, but could only afford one day a week. After her second class, Juta’s husband, in the Nazi hierarchy, told her she could come every day at no extra charge, which she did for 2 years until it became too dangerous. She attended another an institute, taught by a Russian émigré, training in modern, ballet, anatomy and kinesiology. In January, 1937, she received her diploma, and left for Holland with her father. 

Following her family to San Francisco, it took three years to finally start taking dance class again. She worked with Benjamin Zemach for 20 years as his assistant and in both his dance and theater companies. She taught dance and drama for Jewish schools and for the city school system’s Adult Schools. She taught Confluent Education at Hebrew Union College, using movement, art and music to teach the Bible Through Improvisation, and the same class at a Catholic high school. In 1971, she choreographed The Dybbuk for USC, and in the 1980’s, Miriam led pre-performance discussions for a major L.A. production of The Dybbuk.

In 1986, she showed “The Art of Benjamin Zemach” at the 92nd St. Y for the conference Jews and Judaism in Dance. This important document is the only film of [Zemach] dancing, with dances dating back to early 1920′s Moscow and circa 1930 New York.

 _{Photos thank you, Karen Goodman, comeletusdance}