Washington family affair: dance by Lula, music by Kamasi
A new dance work by choreographer and dance educator Lula Washington, who heads up Lula Washington Dance Theatre, now celebrating 35 years of existence, will soon have its premiere. Nephew Kamasi Washington — he of the soaring brilliant career as a tenor saxophonist — provides the score. It’s Re-run home, from Kamasi’s EPIC cd on ...
Mariinsky Ballet: Southern California viewing guide
Aug
18
2015
That life can be difficult is no news. We all have to make tough decisions all the time. The latest? Where to see the great Mariinsky Ballet, also known as the Kirov Ballet, lately reverted to its Imperial Ballet nomenclature, in the ballet-and-orchestra conglomerate’s upcoming visits to Southern California. The Mariinsky ports some of the ...
Jazz the weekend away @ the Aero
Jazz on a Spring Day Stormy Weather Jazz’s greatest artists in vintage shorts, digitally restored by the Cohen Film Collection. Includes: “Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life” with Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday; “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue” with Louis Armstrong; “St. Louis Blues” with Bessie Smith; “Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho”; “A Bundle ...
Let’s rock the glass armonica @ Velaslavasay Panorama
When we last visited the Velaslavasay Panorama, the charming former ‘Union’ movie theater converted into exhibition hall/theatre/gardens, we were shivering on a sojourn to the South Pole at a screening of silent-picture “South” (1919). The ‘polarizing’ event was part of the “Mush to the Movies” series co-sponsored by Los Angeles Filmforum. Coming soon to the ...
Arts visions of American West @ Autry Center 2
Aug
13
2015
Inspired by the gift of 49 paintings and sculptures from the collection of Loretta and Victor Kaufman, a new exhibition at the Autry National Center of the American West’s highlights the Griffith Park museum’s growing fine-art holdings. The powerful grouping of pieces represents diverse peoples and perspectives in bronzes, paintings, lithographs, watercolors and sculptures, all ...
Rita Hayworth to Jack Cole: You Excite Me
Clearly if Jack Cole excited Rita Hayworth, the feeling was mutual. The above beautiful, posed color still from Columbia Pictures’ marvelous wartime dance-filled musical, “Tonight and Every Night” (1945, chor: Jack Cole) captures “You Excite Me” — a wild rumba-rhythmed concoction Cole cooked for Hayworth. The photo features six of Rita’s dancing colleagues at Columbia ...
Oh, Omar. ‘Doctor Zhivago’ on big screen. 2
Aug
10
2015
As a tribute to the late Omar Sharif (1932 – 2015), Laemmle Theatres presents a 50th anniversary screening of DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965). The lush romance directed by David Lean was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 1965 and won five — best adapted screenplay (Robert Bolt), cinematography, art direction, costume design, and music (Maurice Jarre). ...
Four (special) hands better than two @ Piano Spheres
Aug
10
2015
Piano Spheres, the new-music presentation series devoted to showcasing contemporary works for the piano, offers as the opener to its 22nd season a double-barreled send-off, “Two Pianos, Four Hands.” The recital features a world premiere and performances by two leading lights of contemporary music. Thomas Ades’s “Concert Paraphrase on on Powder Her Face for Two ...
Photographer Jason House’s scenes of terminal transience
An upcoming photo exhibit features images from Rockhaven Sanitarium located in Montrose, California. Founded in 1923 by psychiatric nurse, Agnes Richards, Rockhaven was a private institution that tended to suffering “mild mental and nervous disorders.” Marilyn Monroe’s mother, Gladys Eley, called it home, as did Billie Burke. Abandoned in 2006, the decaying property stands in ...
Dick Van Dyke to introduce TAP WORLD @ Nuart Theatre
The delicious trailer, above, promotes TAP WORLD, a fun documentary about a special global dance community, the “tapfam,” a winsome and attractive multi-racial, multi-aged, multi-national gang of hoofers ’round the world. “Rhythm is the language of life,” asserts dancer Ted Louis Levy in the documentary’s opening minutes. Further, “It is an American art form.” Amendment: ...