An artist embraced: Carmen de Lavallade

Dance · Theater · Visual arts
The amazing, still gorgeous, always regal Carmen de Lavallade — born in New Orleans, raised in East Los Angeles — exemplifies an Empress of dance, the kind of royalty spawned in Vernon, California. Thursday night, De Lavallade returned to Los Angeles — where she and chum Alvin Ailey attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where she ...

Hayworth by Hurrell … just because

Film · Visual arts
This stunning portrait of Rita Hayworth shot in 1942 by Hollywood glamour photographer George Hurrell  is featured in Mark Vieira’s massive coffeetable book, “George Hurrell’s Hollywood: Glamour Portraits 1925 – 1992.” photo courtesy mark vieira

Carmen de Lavallade, in homecoming, celebrated in CAAM exhibit with Geoffrey Holder

Dance · Fashion · Theater · Visual arts
So looking forward to viewing the California African American Museum’s latest exhibition, “A Memoir in Movement,” dedicated to the great dance/theater/visual arts couple Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder, an exhibit comprising photographs, paintings, sculptures, and costume designs. De Lavallade, a Los Angeles native, is a living dance treasure whose legacy ports names like Lester ...

Oh, Diane … DVF @ LACMA

Fashion
We admire the internationally acclaimed fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg — and occasionally mozey around her chic Melrose Avenue boutique perusing the imaginative and beautifully made clothing. Von Furstenberg first entered the fashion world in 1972 with a suitcase full of jersey dresses. Two years later, she created the wrap dress, which came to symbolize power and ...

Hooray for Hurrell 1

Film · Visual arts
We caught up recently with Mark Vieira, author of the newly published “George Hurrell’s Hollywood,” an image-filled tribute to the film industry’s lauded glamour photographer. When asked how Hurrell got his start in high-gloss movie-star portraiture, Mark explained,  “Hurrell was an unknown commercial photographer in the artsy Westlake District of Los Angeles when he made ...

Meet Marc Platt, stage & screen dancer 2

Dance
by 
Born ‘Marcel Emile Gaston Leplat’ in Pasadena, California, on December 2, 1913, Marc Platt’s passion (and training) for classic dance started at an early age. The son of concert artists, he began studying dance with Mary Ann Welles in Seattle, at age 12, when after watching her class he declared: “I could do that.” They let him ...