Martha Graham Dance Company to live music from Wild Up
She was in her fifties during the forties — maybe that’s why this by-then mature artist was creating a litany of masterworks, nearly all to commissioned scores that got live delivery in performance. In an honoring of that dance history, the Graham Company will perform a fully loaded program of three Graham ballets — you ...
Alma would be happy. Celebrating the UCLA dance department, the nation’s first 7
It was nearly an uproar; a spontaneous outpouring of love and appreciation filled the room when the image of Alma Hawkins, the founder and guiding force behind the dance program at UCLA (now called World Arts and Cultures/Dance), was flashed on an on-stage screen. “A Celebration of UCLA Dance 1962-2017” was not the anticipated turgid ...
So chic: Azzedine Alaïa costumes for ‘Shahrazad’
Well who wouldn’t want to dress the gorgeous bodies of the Royal Ballet of Flanders? Couture master Azzadeine Alaia did so, to great effect, for the December 2016 premier of choreographer Jonah Bokaer’s ‘Shahrazad.’ In dressing this ballet, Alaia stepped into the rather massive footprint of Ballets Russes designer Léon Bakst whose ornate Orientalia, in ...
Free tix! DeMille’s ‘Cleopatra’ @ Chinese Theatre 90th birthday
Apr
20
2017
On May 1, 2017, Hollywood Heritage, the TCL Chinese Theatre, and NBCUniversal will celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the opening of the Chinese Theatre. It was known then, and for many still is nostalgically remembered as Grauman’s Chinese. The Chinese gives a prime example of Los Angeles’ kooky ‘themed’ architecture. The birthday bash will feature ...
Dissent through dance! Learn 15 new ways to talk to Donald Trump
Apr
19
2017
Here’s how to tell Donald Trump what you think — put your body to it. Ideas of dissent vary in different contexts, according to workshop leader Ananya Chatterjea. A native of Kolkata, India, she also is a professor of theatre arts and dance at the University of Minnesota. Chatterjea envisions her work in the field ...
Primitive wonderment by Eleanor Swordy at Moskowitz Bayse
Apr
17
2017
I like these vivid oil paintings by French-born artist Eleanor Swordy soon to be showcased at Moskowitz Bayse in Los Angeles. And I admit being intrigued by the show’s title, “Who Died?” Both the title and the imagery on display in this female artist’s work — the geometric shapes, the primary colors, the bulky human ...
Death of a dancer: Gary Bates 9
In this image from the Los Angeles dance troupe, Eyes Wide Open Dance Theater, Fred Strickler (top) and Gary Bates (bottom) appear in “Don Quixote,” choreographed by Bates to the music of Steve Reich. Bates, who was a cornerstone member of the Los Angeles dance community, passed away on April 15, 2017. Bates’ contribution to ...
Farber on Film: ‘Lady in the Dark’ @ TCM Fest 2017
A strong female character is at the center of Lady in the Dark, a forgotten 1944 film that was presented in a beautiful 35mm nitrate print at the Egyptian Theatre on the final night of the festival. This movie was adapted from a Broadway play written by Moss Hart, with music by Kurt Weill and ...
Go Grover! Grover Dale does the boogaloo in ‘The Landlord’
I so enjoyed seeing “The Landlord” (1970), Hal Ashby’s maiden voyage as a film director, screened at TCM Fest 2017. One of those rambling and intriguing seventies movies that is so direct, so real, and wearing its heart on its sleeve. As the credits rolled, an added bonus — the name of arts·meme friend, Grover ...
Farber on Film: ‘The Landlord’ @ TCM Fest 2017
Apr
14
2017
One of the special guests at this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival was actress and director Lee Grant, who gave a spirited interview before the screening of The Landlord, the film that earned her one of her four acting nominations for best supporting actress. Grant’s first nomination came for William Wyler’s Detective Story in 1951, ...