A triumph for ABT, Ratmansky’s “The Sleeping Beauty”
American Ballet Theatre celebrated its 75th anniversary last evening at Segerstrom Hall with its sublime new “The Sleeping Beauty” staged by Alexei Ratmansky using original choreography by Marius Petipa interpolated with contributions of his own. The sheer beauty of the production and the revelation of how fresh and compelling the Petipa language positions our national ...
‘ghosts’ waft cooly amidst Clare Graham curios
The weather was dark and dismal last Sunday evening for the opening of Stephanie Zaletel‘s spooky site-specific “ghosts,” a dance performance that took place in one of L.A.’s most happening art lofts. While the rain fell on York Avenue in Highland Park, a nice crowd found cozy respite by cramming into moryork gallery’s many nooks ...
God dances. Bow down!
Mar
4
2015
At arts·meme, the words ‘Fred Astaire’ are not necessary. We believe the short code, “god,” will suffice. Here the 70-year old hoofer (now hoofer-in-heaven) gets pulled, ever modestly and reluctantly, into a solo performance by Bob Hope, at the 1970 Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The brilliant solo (we love his ‘do-the-swim,’ ...
Leon Bakst, Russian design genius, returns to Southern California
We await with great anticipation our voyage southward along Ye Olde 405 Freeway to Segerstrom Center for the Arts to experience the newly mounted production of “The Sleeping Beauty” — a joyous celebration of American Ballet Theatre’s 75th anniversary, choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky based upon original choreography by Marius Petipa. This production is a partnership ...
Meet arts·meme’s TCM Fest team of writers
Mar
1
2015
It’s March — and that means a fun countdown to TCM’s Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, the four-day maelstrom of movie mania that kicks in on March 26. arts·meme has enjoyed a regular presence at the Festival, having covered it annually since its inception in 2010. This year, it’s a divide-and-conquer strategy as critics Stephen ...
Martha Graham emblazoned by Barbara Morgan photo @ VPAC
Fascinating words that may have resonance today, excerpted from “Martha Graham, A Biography,” by Don McDonagh, page 148: “We must win back our audiences,” [Graham said, in an interview prior to the Company appearance at the Mansfield Theater in Letter to the World]. “We have alienated them through grimness of theme and a nontheatrical approach ...
Art director Gene Allen among guild members in “Landscapes” exhibition
In a wonderful example of a great truth of Los Angeles — that many fine artists have always made a commercial living by working in the film industry, the Art Directors Guild announces its second art exhibition of 2015, “Landscapes.” A featured artwork, among 60 by a host of nearly 30 artists, comes from esteemed ...
Oscar party a la francaise
Feb
24
2015
Generous pours of crisp Sancerre. Platters of gooey cheese. Smoked salmon and fresh shrimp cocktail. A complement of pristine patisserie. Perhaps not your typical luncheon fare for a workaday Monday. But on the day following the Academy Awards, it proved a bountiful buffet at a plein air reception for the cream of the crop of ...
Forceful Mamet patois bolstered in Deaf West Theatre “American Buffalo” 1
In the photos, actors playing a trio of small time Chicago criminals (Troy Kotsur, Paul Raci, Matthew Ryan Pest) stammer, stutter, sputter, and spew the kind of rat-a-tat-tat verbal-jousting that characterizes the dialogue of David Mamet. It’s on offer in a new staging, just opened, of the playwright’s groundbreaking two-act play from 1975, “American Buffalo.” ...
Library of Congress ABT exhibit to roost at Disney Hall
In this photo dated 1938, dancer John Kriza stars in choreographer Eugene Loring’s characteristically American ballet about the notorious outlaw, Billy the Kid. Loring created the work for George Balanchine’s Ballet Caravan to a score by Aaron Copland. American Ballet Theatre first performed the work in its Chicago season in November 1940. [Loring’s significant southern ...