Triumvirate of critical talent to tackle TCM Fest
Mar
31
2017
It’s that time again. arts·meme is launching, for the eighth year running, its special coverage of TCM Classic Film Festival, a whopping four-day spectacular that would make Cecil B. DeMille proud. It’s when the popular television channel moves off the airways and into real time and space, taking over Hollywood Boulevard like the landing of ...
Bob Mackie for Barrie Chase, a collectible
This beautiful costume, a collectible, worn by a sensational and sultry dancer can be yours. The heavily embellished jumpsuit in autumn shades custom was made by Bob Mackie and worn by Barrie Chase on The Fred Astaire Show (NBC, 1968). Yes, you can buy it. Wow. But let’s just appreciate it for a moment. The ...
‘Googie World Expo’ slated to blast off at Corky’s
Mar
28
2017
If you think Obamacare is gonna ‘explode’ (or is it ‘implode’? … it keeps changing), watch out for the Googie World Expo. Wow! Heap-big explosion! The first of a two-day celebration of futuristic mid-century modern architecture and design is queued up for Sunday April 9. Its organizer is arts·meme‘s good friend Chris Nichols, the maven ...
Bujones blazes again, in new Herrault doc
If footage of the late Fernando Bujones (1955-2005) partnering Cynthia Gregory in Grand pas Classique, music by Daniel-Francois Auber, does not represent a pinnacle in American ballet, then what does? This outstanding pas de deux is on view [see 13:09] in a new online documentary about the amazing male dancer whose absence is still conspicuously ...
Marilyn, in red perfection, on auction this weekend 1
Mar
24
2017
BRUNO BERNARD (German, b. 1912) Marilyn Monroe At Niagara Falls, 1952 C type print, printed later Estate signed & numbered ‘20/50’ 40 by 30 inches What a woman. What can we say? This spectacular portrait of Double-M among several now on auction at Julien’s. Bid now, auction closes this Sunday. Marilyn Through The Lens – ...
Big & fun: Kubrick’s ‘2001’ in 70mm print
Mar
21
2017
Director Stanley Kubrick’s2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’s visionary sci-fi epic begs to be experienced on a big screen, and now’s the time with a screening of a new 70mm print of the film struck by Warner Bros. expressly for the American Cinematheque. Shot in Super Panavision 70, the film’s larger frame size — nearly double that ...
Thank you for your art and for reading arts·meme, Burt Barr 1
Mar
21
2017
At this time of sadness over the death of the great post-modern-dance choreographer, Trisha Brown, it stung to learn that Brown’s husband, video artist Burt Barr, too, passed away just last November. I met Barr when he accompanied Trisha Brown for her company’s performances at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the summer 2011. At the ...
Larry Keigwin’s irrepressible dance diplomacy
Mar
20
2017
The State Department’s getting de-funded; we’ve alienated the Aussies, the Brits and the Germans. Our newbie Secretary of State, who just admitted his wife made him take the job, has placed us at the brink of nuclear war with North Korea. Half the Arab world loathes us for our unconstitutional travel ban, and it’s a ...
Jose Limon: America’s great immigrant choreographer
Mar
20
2017
As the threat of erecting a barrier on our southern border looms, consider the saga of José Limón (1908-1972), a Mexican immigrant who after becoming a son of Los Angeles forged a distinguished forty-year career as one of the dance world’s most noble and magnetic figures. As a pioneering choreographer, Limón unflinchingly examined life’s thorniest ...
Gwen falls for Fred, but he does not fall back
Mar
13
2017
From an interview with James Heneghan, son of the great Gwen Verdon … remembers James: “We were walking down the street in Beverly Hills, and I was walking next to my Mom. I was grown up.” “All of a sudden she fell off the curb and landed on the front of a car! “I said, ...