Lil Buck pays back James Brown
JB’s immensely funky riff from 1973, “The Payback” given exceptional dance interpretation today — first by the quicksilver Lil Buck, then by a less brilliant partner Jon Boogz. While Boogz dances, Lil Buck upstages him by leaning against a wall. Then he cycles through for a second round at video-end.
Nude ballet photos! Herman Cornejo, Ivan Vasiliev in near buff
Yes, budgets are tight. So we’re seeing our biggest ballet stars come on stage wearing less and less clothes! In this case, it’s no huge punishment. We are talking about two of the loveliest, most talented — and beefiest — guys in ballet today. Pictured at left, Herman Cornejo, who commenced the “Diana & Acteon” ...
James Brown’s rhythm-ecstasy, Paris 1971
Aug
6
2014
In the video: Fifteen minutes of free-form, ecstatic rhythm-rumination from the great James Brown performing at the Olympia auditorium in Paris in 1971. A re-creation of this amazing historic concert forms the high point of “Get On Up,” the touching James Brown bio-pic we saw tonight.
Pardon our French, but we’re loving “Hollywood Exiles in Europe” @ UCLA Film & Television Archive
Aug
5
2014
Whose good idea was this film series? One person, Rebecca Prime, author of the recent Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture, certainly inspired it. Working with UCLA Film & Television Archive, Prime has co-curated a line-up of works by Jules Dassin, Joseph Losey, Cy Endfield, Ben and Norma Barzman, and ...
Live it at the Levitt! Boco do Rio @ MacArthur Park Saturday
Aug
5
2014
Okay, guys we’re in it, it’s official, it’s on. It’s August! Summer 2014 is a happening thing; you could call it a “fait accompli”! Or, of greater concern, soon to wane! So the time is right for the swinging samba rhythms that always sound good, but somehow better on a sultry summer evening. Which brings ...
Jack Cole’s “Hindu Swing” revisited by Namita Kapoor
Aug
5
2014
We have been delighted to be in touch with fellow Jack Cole fantatic Namita Kapoor, a talented American dancer/choreographer and graphic designer who has found cultural connection in an odd (but awesome) phenomenon of nightclub culture from the late 1930s – 1950s. That is, Jack Cole’s mash-up of classical Indian dance with American jazz rhythms. ...
Mozart @ 18 in Glyndbourne’s “La Finta”
Haven’t heard of La Finta? Not to worry, few people have. Written when the composer was but 18 years old and very (very) rarely performed, the anonymous text is primarily to blame: The Podesta (Mayor) is in love with his new gardener Sadrina, which is too bad for the servant Serpetta who more than fancies ...
Catch it! Dance-movie posters @ The Pillow
Jul
30
2014
We last saw arts·meme friend Mike Kaplan at the wonderful display of his vast collection of dance movie posters at the William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Now Mike turns up in the company of lovely Marge Champion, the special honoree of his current poster show, GOTTA DANCE!, at ...
Boyhood revisited: in film, dance, and theater 1
Some contend that the final frontier is space. But in the creative world, that distinction has been relegated to childhood — an exploration lately undertaken by kids themselves. Many by now have seen Richard Linklater‘s astonishing and critically acclaimed film BOYHOOD. The movie tracks one young man’s bumpy coming of age, filmed in real time over ...
California women of dance recognized
It took a New Yorker, dance writer Wendy Perron, to draw attention to an interesting phenomenon … In her recently published essay, Wendy notes the surplus of women holding leadership roles in California dance across the board: management, production, presentation, talent representation, criticism and, indeed, as artists. Read Wendy’s blog item here. The story includes ...