Gomes transcends in Balanchine’s “Apollo” for ABT

Dance
It was not just “awesome,” but indeed a privilege to watch Brazilian-born Marcelo Gomes, a great personal favorite, stretch his lovely long limbs as the Greek god, Apollo, in George Balanchine’s plotless ballet dating from 1928. In the dance the young man encounters and frolics with three muses, Calliope, the muse of poetry, Polyhymnia, the ...

While in Moscow, California dreamin’: ABT’s Ivan Vasiliev

Dance
We very much enjoy seeing this photo of the divine Ivan …That would be Ivan Vasiliev, heading to Los Angeles for weekend performances with American Ballet Theatre. Here’s Ivan, caught by the camera pouring CALIFORNIA  wine at a recent Moscow dinner party. On his teeshirt: True Believer Los Angeles, California That is so righteous. We ...

Balanchine visits Grand Park, courtesy of Los Angeles Ballet

Dance · Reviews
Perhaps it was City Hall — imposing, authoritarian, standing “at attention” behind Grand Park’s platform stage — that riveted the crowd. People were afraid that if they misbehaved, they’d get busted. Or blame it on Balanchine. A huge throng of more than 3,000 respectful onlookers serenely watched Los Angeles Ballet present a double-bill of works ...

Cruising “Corsaire”s

Dance
Preparing for four “Le Corsaire” (1856-restaged) performances by American Ballet Theatre next weekend at the Music Center. I’ve not seen anything beyond the warhorse pas de deux of this pirate-themed full-evening ballet. The PDD’s a beloved ballet chestnut, an old and familiar friend, bearing the slight tinge of mothballs. My only-middling enthusiasm for a full-length ...

Gene Kelly’s witty number in “It’s Always Fair Weather” 5

Dance · Film
We enjoyed watching  “It’s Always Fair Weather” (MGM, 1955, co-dir: Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen) recently on Turner Classic Movies. The song-and-dance number in the video above, Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks, bears much influence of Jack Cole (he, too, worked with Gray, coaching the non-dancer in “Kismet” and “Designing Woman,” both at MGM). So ...

Remembering Rudi

Dance · Film
July’s onset has us excited about a special event taking place in the City of Lights in a week. A new documentary “La Passion Noureev,” directed by Fabrice Herrault, will have its premiere in Paris. The venue is the Cinéma le Balzac on the Champs-Élysées. Herrault clarifies, via email, that “La Passion Noureev” is not ...

Herb Alpert, Los Angeles bus driver, puts on the Ritz 1

Dance · Music
Choreography by Tabitha and Napoleon      … with a nod to Irving Berlin (1929), Fred Astaire (1946)  Like this? Read more:  Herb & Lani at Vibrato A royal Hollywood evening with Fred Astaire, John Travolta Paula Abdul, Choreographer’s Carnival honoree

Fred & Cyd march on tippy toe in “The Band Wagon”

Dance · Fashion · Film
In this publicity still for “The Band Wagon” (MGM, 1953), Cyd Charisse marches on gorgeous gams while her partner Fred Astaire embodies a human exclamation point. In the movie, Cyd dons a different frock. Costumes were by Mary Ann Nyberg, who has a wonderful film-costume portfolio. Nyberg ran into problems dressing Judy Garland in “A ...

How a genius choreographs: Jack Cole’s “Beale Street Blues” 2

Dance · Film
In this 30-second snippet from the men’s dance in “Beale Street Blues,” one of Jack Cole’s three great dance numbers from THE I DON’T CARE GIRL (Fox, 1953), the work of a brilliant dance maker is on display. It’s a game of craps gone wrong. It gets played out on a platform, ostensibly  (my reading) ...

Beach ballet 1

Dance · Visual arts
The Hollywood Negro Ballet troupe formed by choreographer Joseph Rickard practice on Laguna Beach, California. In 1956, Flemyng invited the Los Angeles-based First Negro Classical Ballet (also known very briefly as the Hollywood Negro Ballet) and its director, Joseph Rickard, to join forces with the New York company. Rickard was of English German background and ...