arts•meme arts•meme
10 November 2010

Jack Cole & Marilyn Monroe reunite at Jacob’s Pillow

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It was my great honor to join a panel at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival on Saturday, August 14, 2010, to honor the peerless jazz choreographer Jack Cole, whom I revere and about whom I have written. As a former Denishawn dancer, Cole had a distinct history at “The Pillow.” Here I contribute a snippet about Cole’s choreography for Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” [...]

19 September 2010

Start ‘em young

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Jack Cole dancer Nita Bieber coaches her nephew, Christopher, in ballet at an early age. From Life Magazine in 1949. [...]

20 August 2010

Jack Cole bangs the drum, but not slowly

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Sometimes the drum took as much of a beating as Jack Cole’s dance students did. [...]

10 August 2010

Kenneth Anger recalls blacklisted Jack Cole dancers

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Experimental filmmaker Kenneth Anger recalls the impact a group of blacklisted Jack Cole dancers had on his life.

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6 August 2010

Mitzi Gaynor fabulous in Jack Cole’s “I Don’t Care”

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I’m loving Jack Cole’s choreography for Mitzi Gaynor in “The I Don’t Care Girl” from 20th Century Fox in 1953.

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1 August 2010

Jack Cole to be celebrated at Jacob’s Pillow

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An afternoon symposium at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will remember dancer/choreographer Jack Cole, August 14, 2010. arts·meme will attend.

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24 June 2010

Jane Russell remembers “Gentleman” Jack Cole

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Jane Russell speaks at Hollywood Heritage about choreographer Jack Cole, who coached her and Marilyn Monroe in Howard Hawk’s comic masterpiece, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.” She says Cole directed the film’s dance sequences. [...]

6 August 2009

Marilyn dances . . .

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Marilyn Monroe’s six-movie collaboration with Jack Cole began with 1953’s “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” the breakthrough film that made her a superstar. Yet the man behind the icon has been forgotten – an odd missing puzzle piece in view of Monroe’s staying power. [...]

2 August 2009

Why film community matters

In this coming Sunday’s Los Angeles Times Calendar section you will find my article about choreographer Jack Cole who coached Marilyn Monroe in movement over the course of six of her films. Most famously, he choreographed “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Jack Cole also choreographed “Put the Blame on Mame” for Rita Hayworth in Gilda, [...]

4 July 2008

Girl Power

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Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell are giant amazons in Howard Hawks’s comic masterpiece, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), projected on the humongous screen of the vintage Los Angeles Theater (1931) on Broadway in downtown L.A. in last summer’s Last Remaining Seats. [...]