REVIEW: A look at Mark Morris’s ‘The Look of Love’

Dance · Music · Reviews
The tenderness, the tenacity, the yearning, and the joy burnished in the lilting melodies composed by Burt Bacharach, so perfectly paired with the high-flown romance of Hal David‘s lyrics, formed the basis for “The Look of Love,” a new hour-long dance work that had its world premiere this weekend at the Broad Stage in Santa ...

‘Mozart of Modern Dance’ visits Santa Monica’s Broad Stage

Dance
It is problematic calling yourself “the Mozart of …” anything. And yet, that’s how the choreographer Mark Morris, in his press materials, chooses to frame his creativity — as the “Mozart of Modern Dance.” Morris, 65, whose 42-year-old Mark Morris Dance Group will present four performances of his 2006 creation, “Mozart Dances,” at Santa Monica’s ...

Kristina for king!

Ideas & Opinion · Theater
We already have a king. Some people feel we need a new one. Why not Kristina Wong? She’s nice. She’s funny. And she’s handy with a pandemic. When COVID-19 hit us with our proverbial pants down, she stepped into the breech, making face masks and using the radical route of the United States Postal Service ...

Memorial Day 2020: Los Angeles theaters we miss 1

Architecture & Design · Dance · Film · Music · Theater
coveted during covid quarantine – the egyptian theatrethis spectacular photo of the egyptian’s balcony by morgan glier for the ucla daily bruin It all feels surreal — but my essential problem during the theater shutdown of the Covid-19 pandemic is that for me, art happens at night. Rarely during the day, sometimes at matinees, and ...

Orpheus-themed event blends music, poetry, film @ The Edye

Film · Ideas & Opinion · Music
Black Orpheus (1959) dir Marcel Camus The tragic love of Orpheus for Eurydice has inspired poets, artists, and musicians—among them Rainer Maria Rilke, Christophe Willibald Gluck, and in our own time choreographer Mark Morris and composer Philip Glass, whose 1993 Orphee Suite was inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1950 film. An interesting event exploring the Orpheus ...

Ballet Hispanico’s all-female choreography-roster @ The Broad Stage

Dance
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Linea Recta, chor. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Ballet Hispánico. Don’t let the name fool you. It’s not a ballet company – although the dancers are beautifully trained in both ballet and contemporary dance – and it’s not folkloric either. According to the company’s artistic director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro: “We are the child of both in ...

Weather report: It’s raining female artists in Los Angeles

Dance
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in live performance with PussyRiot at The Broad Stage, photo by Ben Gibbs We’ve had some crazy tumultuous storms lately in Los Angeles, a weather pattern augured to continue as women are seizing the stages of the city’s performing arts centers. For a mighty wind of female fabulousness — and fury — has ...

Review: Kyle Abraham’s superlative A.I.M. @ The Broad Stage

Dance · Reviews
Only a handful of contemporary choreographers could pull off an evening of the magnitude and excellence that Kyle Abraham did last night, together with his 8-member dance company, Abraham.in.Motion, at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For this type of presentation, that featuring the voice of a single choreographer, Kyle is now kyng. He’s keeping ...

Now’s the time … for Kyle

Dance
Because he has such stellar musical chops, choreographer Kyle Abraham will undoubtedly dig the allusion to Charlie Parker’s be-bop anthem “Now’s the Time.” The title of Bird’s composition resonates like a call to action. Abraham, like Parker, is very much an artist of his time. Abraham’s swell dance company, Abraham.In.Motion, will perform this weekend at ...

Review: Memphis jookin phenom Lil Buck & pals wow @ Broad Stage

Dance · Music · Reviews
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Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is only eight blocks from The Broad Stage, but it took Memphis jookin phenom Charles “Lil Buck” Riley thousands of miles and several years to get from one to the other.  Six years ago, he was busking for quarters on the Promenade, but when a video of him dancing to ...